Ah, those fine folks at Kimpton simply won't stop the animal-lovin': not only do they welcome kitties of all kinds with open arms, but now we've found out that they open their doors to even the craziest of fame-seeking cat ladies too!
According to the Dallas Morning News, Meow Mix has a game show in the works that challenges cat owners to "think like a cat" (yeah, ok). The traveling auditions are stopping at a Kimpton property Dallas:
Interviews are scheduled for July 5-6 at the Hotel Palomar (details here); you have to bring your cat. Finalists will be flown to L.A. to appear on TV.
That kitty right there can be a star -- and so can you, Crazy Cat Lady. God bless America.
Monkeys in Gibraltar trash hotel rooms, bears in Orlando crash hotel pools and a raccoon in Berlin hangs out in a hotel's garage. But not all hotel animals exhibit such brazen entitlement in stopping by without a reservation; some are kind enough to actually book a room.
The folks at Kimpton rounded up a list of animals that have checked into their various hotels, thanks to the chain's policy of allowing any animal of any size or breed to stay at its properties. Some of the more interesting guests:
· The Muse New York once hosted a sloth, whose slow pace at check in certainly teed off more than a few New Yorkers, we bet.
· Hotel Rouge in Washington, D.C. shacked up some snakes. We're talking true reptiles here, not politicians.
· Alexis Hotel in Seattle has welcomed penguins who--even though the Alexis is a luxury boutique property--came a bit overdressed in their penguin suits.
There's tons of hotel news flying around this week and we don't have time to give each and every story the love and attention it may deserve, so you will have to settle for some news briefs.
· New Boutique Hotel for Philly: The City of Brotherly Love continues its hotel boom with the opening of the Independent Hotel on June 20th. Interestingly, the hotel only has 24 rooms, making it like a mini-boutique hotel.
· DeNiro's "Labor of Love": Robert DeNiro is defending the illegal penthouse at his Greenwich Hotel today in front of the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission. The commission may order him to tear it down and start over.
· Sushi by the Sea: The Delano Hotel in Miami Beach has just announced its "Sushi by the Sea" dinners. Sushi is served by the pool Thursday through Saturday from 8pm to 1am.
· The Summer of Hotel Animals: It's officially the Summer of Hotel Animals. This time a raccoon is hanging out in the garage of the Park Inn in Berlin. The staff has nicknamed him Alex. Alex doesn't like the hotel food. He likes the trash bins outside the Burger King next door. Hah!
There's tons of hotel news flying around this week and we don't have time to give each and every story the love and attention it may deserve, so you will have to settle for some news briefs.
· Another Bear Sighting: A cinnamon baby bear was spotted swimming in a pool with guests at the Best Western Peaks Motel in Ouray, Colorado. Apparently the little guy "just jumped in for a little bit, and then crawled his way out." Much like his counterpart in Orlando.
· Deer is Hilton's First Guest: A deer crashed through a window at the Hilton Garden Inn in Sioux City, which is in final stages of construction. The deer "galloped a round a room and destroyed a designer chair." The Garden Inn will still open on schedule in July.
· A Hotel for Zohan: Men.Style.com has a hotel suggestion for Zohan-wannabes in Tel Aviv--the 12-room Hotel Montefiore.
The meticulously renovated 1920s mansion has been updated with more contemporary indulgences, like a haute Southeast Asian eatery on the ground floor. Upstairs, rooms have private balconies and original period furnishings--think chairs, tables, and sofas by German designers Thonet--and art by the city's contemporary up-and-comers.
· $4 Rooms (kinda) at the St. Regis New York: NewYorkology reports that the St. Regis in New York is offering rooms for $4 for a night as a way to celebrate its history but there is a catch. You have to book two nights in a suite and the first night will cost ya at least $2,100.
· Presidio Hotel?: The Presidio in San Francisco, a historic military base, might be getting a 125-room hotel along with a museum and an entertainment center.
Man, it must be hot in Orlando. According to police reports a black bear was spotted taking a swim in the pool of the Hard Rock Hotel early this morning.
The hotel was not evacuated and no one is in danger as this breed is particularly shy but the search for the bear is on at nearby Universal Studios.
Still can you blame the bear for wanting to take a dip? The Hard Rock has a 12,000-sq.ft. sand beach pool area with an underwater stereo system, a 260-foot water slide, and themed cabanas like "The Yellow Submarine" or Stevie Wonder's "Musiquarium" which have ceiling fans, plasma TVs, wireless internet, and dedicated server to bring you drinks.
Or perhaps the bear was just trying to reserve some chairs for the family. We know how heated these pool chair wars can get.
Gibraltar, the British-owned peninsula on the southern border of Spain, is famous for its Barbary apes, which tourists love to attempt to take pictures with, only to be peed on or have their wallets stolen by the wily creatures. But these monkeys are now in the process of being culled, partially for messing with the wrong people: hotel guests.
Rooms at Gibraltar's Caleta Hotel recently were vandalized by a "rogue pack" of the apes scouring for food. "What has to stop is the damage that apes are doing to Gibraltar--private properties and individuals--without anyone taking responsibility for it," the hotel's general manager Franco Ostuni recently told Reuters.
Of course, animal rights groups are in a tizzy over this, with the International Primate Protection League (who knew there was such a thing?) calling for tourists to boycott Gibraltar if the cull continues. So we wonder, would such a thing make you curtail your travel plans? Or are you more apt to book a room at the Caleta Hotel now?
Let's say it loud and clear first of all: we don't think that the Jurys Boston Hotel has bed bugs. And they don't either, but they're using something special to make sure that it remains that way and they never have a case of ex-guests feeling itchy and bad-mouthing them to the world.
It's not a high-tech solution at all, but a cute one instead: Jurys Boston has a kind of a contract with a bed bug sniffer dog. Every three months, the dog takes a walk through all 225 rooms at the hotel and barks if he finds the vaguest scent of a bed bug or its eggs.
Late last year the sniffer dog barked in two rooms: as a result, Jurys fumigated both the rooms and burned the mattresses, even though they'd had no guest complaints. We kind of like this low-technology approach to make sure we have a good night's sleep without any bites or other nasty surprises.
· Hotel Animals: We know that the Hilton Waikoloa has a yet-to-be-named baby dolphin in its care but let's not forget the little Sgt. Pepper, born in July, in the Mirage'sdolphin habitat.
· Jock Jam Hotels: A shooting goes down outside the Conrad Hotel in Indianapolis. Word is Pacers b-baller Jamaal Tinsley and his crew were the targets.
·Hotel Blacklists: Jane Fonda is not welcome at The Breakers Hotel, so says Page Six. But it's not the hotel that won't have her. Its the American Legion members who say she isn't welcome.
· Hotel Filfth: You may not want to step into any of Vancouver's hotel pools. Apparently, they are all filthy.
· Hotel Retreats: The layoffs at Time Inc. can't be that bad as Gawker reports that the entire LA staff of "Entertainment Weekly" was flown to NYC and put up in the Le Parker Meridien Hotel just so they could attend company Christmas party.
· Hotel Billboard-itis: Lastly, Curbed says the folks at Manhattan Mini Storage might be trying to offend the Trump SoHo people with their bootylicious billboard ad.
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by Jenna
