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The Standard Hotel is The Best Building of the Aughts, So Says Curbed
Curbed recently put out the first of what will be many lists across the internet universe, saying goodbye to the aughts. But this being Curbed, they focused on the The Best New Buildings of The Decade for New York City. And wouldn't you know it? The Standard Hotel is the #1 best building of the decade.
Yes, The Standard. Since we tracked the opening of this hotel pretty much from its inceptions, we're a little surprised to see it top this list. We say it looks way better from the inside looking out then just on its own. But we guess naked people in the windows helps.
Here are some of our favorite moments of the Standard NYC...through the years.
Tags: AAA Hotels / Hotel Awards / Fort Lauderdale Hotels / Hotel News / Five Diamond Hotels / → All Tags
The Only Luxury Hotel in Fort Lauderdale That Lives Up to the Hype
If you haven't heard already, the new AAA Five Diamond list is out and while the usual suspects are on the list, there is one notable addition for 2010—The Ritz-Carlton Fort Lauderdale.
While Florida is well-represented by a number of Ritz-Carltons, this is quite the milestone for Fort Lauderdale, which is still trying to do-away with its Spring Break reputation. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s been to Fort Lauderdale recently, however. Have you seen the size of those yachts tied up on the Intracoastal?
Even more interesting is that this honor comes just over a year after the property joined the Ritz-Carlton family. Prior to August 2008, it was a St. Regis—and even then only for a year. So maybe Ritz-Carlton should carefully consider their restructuring strategy.
Tags: Hotel Awards / Design Hotels / Hotel News / London Hotels / Malmaison Hotels / → All Tags
London's Boundary Gets a Nod for 'Most Stylish Hotel' in Europe
Being from London, when we think about sexy hotels, we don’t immediately think London. We think a little lovenest on the Seine, private beaches on the Med, that kind of thing. But now we are thinking again, because Boundary in little East London just got named the most stylish hotel in Europe at the European Hotel Design Awards.
We’ve kept meaning to visit Boundary since it opened in January, but were put off by the fact that it’s a Terence Conran project and we think of him as a bit posh for our tastes (we once went to his Bluebird restaurant in Chelsea to find we’d missed Kate Middleton – AKA Ms Prince William – by a couple of minutes).
But turns out we were wrong.
Tags: Hotel Awards / Conde Nast Traveler / Four Seasons Hotels / Airport Hotels / Maui Hotels / → All Tags
Condé Nast Traveler Readers Choice Awards Favor Killer Views, Weird Bathrooms
The stunning coastal views from Hotel Du Palais
They say the customer is always right, and we generally agree. PR pushes and clever marketing can often make a hotel sound better than it is, but leave it to a consumer to give you the inside track with merciless honesty. This is precisely why Readers Choice lists are more trusted than other carefully cultivated round-ups.
Last week, Condé Nast Traveler's unveiled its 22nd Annual Readers Choice Awards, a respectable overview of the best cities, islands, resorts, airlines, and other travel-related miscellany. It's the location-specific hotel and resort "Top Three" lists that caught our eye first, of course, but there were some questionable standouts as well.
Some of the top picks were self-evident, like Biarritz' Hotel Du Palais, honored by readers as the Top European Resort and called out by our discerning HotelChatter family for its stellar beach and pool views. Here on the mainland, meanwhile, Pebble Beach's Inn at Spanish Bay was named one of the Best U.S. Resorts. Having taken in the coastal surroundings along Monterey Peninsula's famed 17-Mile Drive last year, we can vouch for the Inn's luxury credentials.
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Go Culture! Andaz London's Reader In Residence is Up for an Award
Apologies in advance for the fact that we bang on about Andaz London’s Reader in Residence service a lot but here in a way we’re kind of feeling vindicated.
Not only has it seemed to kickstart a whole load of other artistic endeavours in the capital, but last night it was nominated for a rather big award: the Lloyds Arts & Business Innovation Prize.
The prize rewards “unique projects that expose brands to new markets, deepen audience engagement and develop new audiences”. Well it’s definitely done that – the London social scene doesn’t exactly revolve around hotels but R-in-R Damian Barr definitely pulled in the trendies for his open book sessions. In fact, he’s done so well with that and a Literary Salon that he runs at Soho House that he’s now starting up his own country retreat reading holidays.
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Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza Wins Renovation of the Year
The Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza helped shed the shabby image typically associated with the budget hotel chain by winning Renovation-of-the-Year, an industry-wide award given by the InterContinental Hotel Group, for its makeover of the lobbies, restaurants and guest rooms.
Adjacent to the Merchandise Mart and perched on top of the Chicago Apparel Center, the 521-room hotel got J/Brice Design International to give it a facelift. Major changes are visible in the lobby, where designers chose more moveable ottomans and similar backless seating over sofas so that guests could shift things around and their own congregating areas. The design company also put the focus on the view—the hotel looks out over the Chicago River and the city skyline—rather than on installation artwork.
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Willard InterContinental Is Good For The Earth But Still Too Expensive For Us
While we continue to ponder the hefty price tag on DC’s very-soon-to-open Jefferson Hotel, another chi-chi Washington hotel has caught our attention. The classic Willard InterContinental received a Conde Nast Traveler “World Savers” award for its commitment to the environment and communities in need.
This is CNT’s third year to give out the awards, which honor global travel companies for their leadership in social responsibility causes. The Willard was the overall winner in the City Hotel category (we guess living across the street from the White House must be inspiring). You can find the rest of the winners here.
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Survey Says: People With the Dough to Stay at Four Seasons Are Happy
The economy has put everyone in a bad mood. From the banker dudes who had to downgrade from the company-covered Ritz's to (gasp) Marriotts and such, to the families who wisely made the most of one double room instead of booking a separate room for the kiddies — things in the industry have changed because of the downturn, both on the guest's side and from an operational standpoint.
Today, this year's J.D. Power and Associates 2009 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study was released — and it had a few surprises. Mainly, this one: after two years of claiming the number one spot, Ritz-Carlton was bumped below Four Seasons in both the overall satisfaction index and the luxury segment satisfaction index, rankings that were compiled after 66,000 hotel guests rated their satisfaction with their stays.
Tags: Adelaide Hotels / Expedia / Hotel Awards / Australia Hotels / → All Tags
Nobody's Heard Of Australia's Best Hotel
Expedia gave Australian hotel-goers a bit of a surprise this week when they announced that their top 1000 hotels list included an Adelaide hotel as the best Aussie representative.
The South Australian capital city doesn't get too much attention from either vacation or business travelers, but at least according to this survey it's got the best hotel in the whole country: the Majestic Roof Garden Hotel. The 120-room Majestic rated 24th best in the world, even though it's only been open for five years.
As you'd be guessing from the name, this place does have a pretty cool roof garden. It's also in a good location near the main shopping area of Rundle Mall, and since two thirds of its guests are business travelers, it's obviously well-placed for them as well.
And the big bonus is that you get the apparently best hotel in Australia for a pretty cheap rate. For example, they've got an autumn special (that's now in Australia) with a Deluxe King room plus breakfast for A$165 ($125) a night and there are last-minute rates around that are even cheaper.
[Photo: ellieannef]
Tags: Hotel Awards / London Hotels / Hyatt Hotels / Andaz Hotels / → All Tags
Why Andaz London Is the World's Best Hotel For 'Party People'
There's nothing quite like being right, is there? Since it opened, we've been loving Andaz London — and now, hotel booking website Trivago has joined the Andaz fanclub by naming it the best hotel in the world for "party people."
They reckon that Andaz has the best "design, atmosphere, location and style" for nightlife-minded visitors, as well as an "uncomplicated style and prime location." Meanwhile, the original Gansevoort in New York came in at a mere number 10.
Tags: Green Hotels / Eco-Hotels / Beverly Hills Hotels / Hotel Awards / Hotel News / → All Tags
Montage Beverly Hills Scores the LEED Gold
The ulta-posh Montage Beverly Hills, which opened its doors in '08, has managed to score itself another distinction (you know, besides being on Brit-Brit's radar and having seriously high opening rates): the hotel has achieved LEED Gold status, and is now the "first certified ultra-luxury hotel in Southern California for LEED for New Construction" — and is one of only four Gold certified hotels on the planet.
Though there's a whole lot of LEED chatter here and there, a surprisingly low number of hotels are actually LEED certified at any level:
A total of 18 hotels worldwide have to date achieved LEED certification at Certified Silver, Gold or Platinum levels. The specific LEED for New Construction V2.2 rating system designations reflect assessments of factors such as site selection, water efficiency, energy efficiency, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. LEED, begun in 2000, now encompasses more than 22,000 registered and certified projects in the U.S. and 91 countries and is administered by the USGBC, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit coalition of building industry leaders.
Is it worth the $395-and-up room rate to you? Your choice — but lets hope LEED Gold status doesn't mean rates will get jacked up so high that you've gotta be impossible-baller status to afford 'em.
Tags: Hotel Awards / Conde Nast Traveler / The Hot List / → All Tags
Who Made The Condé Nast Traveler Hot List?
It's that time of the year again folks when Condé Nast Traveler puts forth their annual Hot List.
The 140 hotels on this list include the three newest Los Angeles-area hotels--The Montage Beverly Hills, The London West Hollywood and the SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills. In New York, The Greenwich Hotel and The Thompson LES are the stand-outs. Down in Miami, new hotels made the list as well like The Viceroy, The Fontainebleau and The Mondrian South Beach, Miami Beach, Fla.
In Europe, we were pleasantly surprised to see that Citizen M made the list and in Asia, several of the new hotels that opened in time for the Beijing Olympics made the list as well.
We're still going through the list as we type (it also includes restaurants, nightlife and spas) but already we've spotted a questionable selection. It's the Arctic Club Hotel in Seattle which will turn into a Doubletree in May and has downgraded itself from a four star hotel to a three star hotel. While an eye-pleasing place to spend the night, the hotel has also suffered from terrible service.
Hopefully, with a Hot List award under its belt and the expert staff training from Doubletree, this hotel will manage to find its footing.
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