Could it be that the Maxim Bungalows in the Dominican Republic, which has only been open for a little over a six months, has closed?
A tipster let us know that the website wasn't working and indeed when we clicked the URL, it sent us to a GoDaddy.com page. GoDaddy is a URL purchasing site and while somebody does own the Maxim Bungalows URL, there's no info nor any redirection going on here. So we just had to find out what was up.
Tropical storm Fay is headed toward the U.S. after slamming Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and could be upgraded to low-level hurricane status as it moves ashore late today or early tomorrow.
As of this morning, a tropical storm warning remained in effect for the Florida Keys and parts of South Florida, and a hurricane watch had been issued for most of the Keys and along Florida's west coast to Tarpon Springs.
Keys officials earlier Sunday had issued a mandatory evacuation order for visitors and asked those who had not yet arrived to postpone their trips. Officials said hotels and businesses won't be forced to remove visitors, but they should use common sense.
Yikes. Due to the evacuation orders, it looks like Sheraton Key West is officially closed, as their website has a "Temporary Hotel Closure -- August 17 to August 21, 2008" advisory on the home page.
On Monday we were sad to hear that the hip Hotel G in Beijing had been shut down by the Chinese government due to a Free Tibet protest that has taken place in one of the guest rooms, much to the dismay of the hotel staff.
The closing had been reported by a journalist from New Zealand who had taken part in the protest.
However, today the hotel has sent us a statement about the hotel's closing saying it was not done by the government at all. Instead, the hotel has had some "technical difficulties" in its soft-opening and decided not to take anymore guests during the Olympics.
An official opening date for Hotel G as not been announced so until then, the hotel remains closed.
Read the full letter from the hotel's rep after the jump.
We were so excited when Hotel G opened in Beijing because it was a cool new hotel that wasn't a part of some big-box US hotel chain. Also, it opened a 25 degrees burger restaurant inside.
Yet the hotel's high hopes for high occupancy during the Olympic Games have been shattered. The Chinese government has closed down the hotel because one of its rooms was used for a Free Tibet protest.
From a news report:
The new hotel, near the Workers' Stadium, is painted a garish purple - a funky newcomer to the popular area around the stadium. Staff knew nothing about the protesters gathering in a room on the sixth floor. They were innocent bystanders who had desperately tried to stop journalists from accessing the room.
That didn't matter. The hotel has been closed, the guests shifted elsewhere. Chinese justice has spoken.
The New Zealand Herald has a blow by blow account of the relatively peaceful in-room protest. However, what really sucks is that hotel employees desperately tried to stop the protest even telling journalists "Please think of all the people who work in this hotel" to no avail. Now the hotel is closed down at least for the remainder of the Olympic Games or possibly for good. Sad.
Yesterday when we announced that the St. Regis Fort Lauderdale was to become a Ritz-Carlton on August 11th, one of the noted concerns was that the property was not actually located "on the sand" but rather across the street. And despite this, the Ritz would probably have higher prices than a sister Marriott property that is on the beach. Booo.
A few commenters wondered about the photograph that we used, saying the shot looks totally deceiving. So we had to dig up a better shot of the hotel to prove it was not on the beach.
When Andre Agassiannounced he would help Fairmont Hotels build a hotel in Idaho's Tamarack Resort, we were all excited. Think of those hotel tennis courts!
Yet, it was not meant to be. The tennis superstar and his wife, Steffi Graf have cancelled the resort. As usual, money woes are to blame for the development's collapse.
The husband-and-wife tennis champions pulled the plug on the development because Credit Suisse Group sued to foreclose on a US$260 million loan to Tamarack's founders, said Joel Goldman, chief operating officer at Echo Partners, which also invested in the development.
Deposits taken for condo units in the development will be refunded. Perhaps Andre and Steffi would want to look at Las Ramblas?
Snooze alert in effect for Fort Lauderdale: The troubled St. Regis Fort Lauderdale will stop operating under the St. Regis brand on August 11th and become a Ritz-Carlton. Great. Like as if we didn't already have enough Ritz-Carltons in South Florida. Oh, you think we are just exaggerating? Lookie here:
This would be its fourth South Florida property, with a fifth on the way. Ritz-Carlton already operates hotels in Key Biscayne, South Beach and Coconut Grove, and is building a luxury timeshare and condominium resort in Miami Beach. It also furthers Ritz-Carlton's big expansion push in Florida, where it operates nine resorts.
Another thing that sucks? The Ritz is going to want to charge more than its sister property, The Marriott Harbor Beach, which is actually located on the beach whereas this property is across the street. Booo....
Attention-loving magician Criss Angel will perform his latest stunt on Wednesday, July 30th in a hotel in Clearwater, Fla. just moments before the hotel is to be imploded.
Angel and the A&E crew from his show "Mindfreak" heard the old Spyglass Hotel was going to be demolished and decided the implosion would make a perfect setting for a death-defying stunt. Here is how it's all supposedly going to go down:
The plan is for him to be on about a fifth- or sixth-floor balcony, most likely chained to the outside for dramatic appeal. Then somehow he'll free himself, make it up to the roof, and be whisked away just in time for the building to implode.
250 lucky (?) guests will have front-row seats to the act and two large projection screens will be set up to show it to everyone else. If you aren't going to be in Clearwater for the implosion stunt, you can always see Criss at the Luxor in Las Vegas where his new show will start on September 1.
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by juliana
On Monday we were sad to hear that the hip 
