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Hotel Bar
Don't Judge a Hotel Bar by Its Chain
October 18, 2006 at 1:37 PM | 0 Comments
To be honest, the following combination is a surprising one: Hampton Inn and great hotel bar. Not only just for us but also for beer snob and Daily News reviewer Norman Miller. It took him 5 years of working right next to the Owen O'Leary's bar of the Hampton Inn-Natick to even venture in.
Assuming he'd find a slew of domestic letdowns and generic watery beers, he was pleasantly surprised to find a homemade microbrewery right there attached to the Hampton Inn:
Unfortunately, head brewer Dan Kramer said, a lot of people think the same way.
"When I started here, we weren't selling a lot of beers," said Kramer, who, along with Dave Thompson, produces the six beers on tap at Owen O'Leary's. "We needed to make people want to change."
Kramer went on to continue that his beers maybe needed some work and sure maybe they weren't in the most obvious of locations but hey, if you keep pushing and improving, they will come. Over time he continued to introduce newly shaped handcrafted microbrews, IPAs, Oktoberfest, pilsners, you name it. Slowly people were catching on, just like Norman Miller.
Those who know about it and those who dare to enter this Hampton Inn are all pleased with the plethora of designer brews right there in an unlikely locale.
Then again, this is Massachusetts. Aren't they taught microbrewing in junior high or something?
Related Stories:
· The Beer Nut: Eyes Wide Open [Metro West Daily News/Boston Herald]
· Hampton Inn Natick Reivews [TripAdvisor]
Hotel Bar
Hoopla for the Hut: Trying to Save a Hilton Head's Fave Hotel Bar
October 3, 2006 at 11:17 AM | 0 Comments
Trouble is brewing for Hilton Head's most loved and best known bar, the Tiki Hut. Since 1977 the Holiday Inn's Tiki Bar has been the place to get your fruity cocktail, chill on the beach, and live la vie de Jimmy Buffet. Its friendly service, live music, and sense that when you're there, you're drinking on the beach is what has given it such long-lived popularity.
But all this may come to an end. Renovation is the word in the hotel world so what could be replacing the area's fave bar? A barbecue pit. Wait a minute, this doesn't seem like an upgrade. But, the problem is deeper, the entire Holiday Inn may go:
It's still unclear when the owners of the hotel will start their plans to level the five-story Holiday Inn and turn it into a condominium complex -- converting the Tiki Hut into a barbecue pit in the process. But they are pushing the proposal along quickly, say town planners.
For Lori Cassidy, a 10-year Hilton Head resident whose license plate on her Toyota Prius translates to "Island Time," and for other fans of the Coligny Beach mainstay, losing the Tiki Hut would be like watching their own homes washed away by a vindictive ocean.
Cassidy isn't alone, a petition with around 650 signatures is currently in effect to attend a "Hoopla for the Hut" on October 8th. From there, only time will tell whether or not the hut will beat the pit.
Related Stories:
· Need Headline [The State]
· Holiday Inn Hilton Head Reviews [TripAdvisor]
Haunted Hotels
A Little Bit of South Beach in Santa Monica
July 21, 2006 at 4:03 PM | 0 Comments
The Georgian Hotel in Santa Monica is an old historic hotel (it's a registered Historic Hotel of America), built in 1933 that once housed LA's first speakeasy during the Prohibition area.
Back in Hollywood's golden days, film stars like Clarke Gable and Carole Lombard would come here for quick getaway. These stars and other dubious figures (Bugsy Siegel and Fatty Arbuckle) liked to hang out on the oceanfront veranda for martinis and jazz. This was when Santa Monica was a secluded and relatively unknown spot. The hotel also used to have a beauty parlor, barber shop, playground and dining room.
Times have changed today and Santa Monica is ridiculously crowded this time of the year. The hotel has lost its luster and some clientele over the years thanks to stiff competiton nearby but still serves drinks on the veranda from 4-7 every day. Lunch is also served from 11:30am to 2:30pm.
Here's a video we shot the other day just before Happy Hour. Aside from the Art-Deco style of the hotel, the veranda kinda reminds us of places along Ocean Drive in South Beach. Only with not so many naked people.
The hotel is also rumoured to be haunted with both guests and staff reporting odd noises like running footsteps, loud sighs and gasps, especially within the old speakeasy walls.
Some still pictures after the jump.
Hotel Bar
aria Bar Opens at Fairmont Chicago
July 12, 2006 at 10:10 AM | 0 Comments
The Fairmont Chicago has opened a new bar, aria (lowercase intentional.)
The bar is described as a "playroom for adults," with a Far East theme, anchored by a gold sofa with metal-accented, Italian-imported tiled flooring that offers up a mosaic effect, glass beaded wallpaper, sari-inlaid tables inspired by noodle houses of Japan, and private "nooks" with coild drapery can easiy seat a few VIPs.
Despite the fancy decor, the real star of the bar is the sushi chef, Byung Kyu Park, aka BK, who stands behind the custom-designed and illuminated sushi bar. He flies all his sushi in from Japan, flavors his own soy sauce, and insists you let him order for you.
As far as the food, aria serves sushi day and night, with a lunch menu that offers up ancient noodle house fare. For dinner, choose from Thai chicken satay, tiger shrimp tempura, grey salt steamed edamame, Peking duck-maitake mushroom pot stickers, hoisin-sake glazed barbecue chicken wings and lobster avocado spring rolls.
But what we really care about is the drinks here. At aria, they serve sakes representing different regions of Japan, wines from Washington and Spain, Caribbean cocktails and more than 20 types of beers.
That should quench your thirst in the Chicago heat. But not that we think you should sample each one, we wouldn't want you to end up pulling a Hasselhoff or anything.
Related Stories:
· Fairmont Chicago reviews [TripAdvisor]
· Philippe Starck practically responsible for near-death of Hasselhoff [HotelChatter]
Hotel Bar
Bryant Park Hotel's Cellar Bar Probably Plays Bon Jovi
June 26, 2006 at 9:40 AM | 0 Comments
[Ed. Note: The Bryant Park Hotel has undergone some changes, most of them for the better. But Hotel Maven Mnot wasn't too pleased with the crowd at the hotel's Cellar Bar.]
I dropped by the Bryant Park Hotel when I was in NYC last month, because I was in the neighbourhood and remembered the vaulted cellar bar. Boy, was I in for a shock; it was full of the bridge-and-tunnel crowd, with a DJ playing really bad 80's hits to a crowd that was just a bit too enthusiastic about them. We left quickly.
In the hotel's defense we hear Saturday night is the better night to go and your chances of hearing Living on a Prayer are slim to none.
Related Stories:
· Bryant Park Hotel reviews [TripAdvisor]
· Viewlicious: Bryant Park Hotel [HotelChatter]
