HotelChatter

New Year's Eve Hotels / Miami Hotel Mambo / W Hotels / Drake / Hotel Clubs / → All Tags

Party With Drake At The W South Beach on NYE (You Can Thank Him Later)

Where: 2201 Collins Ave [map], Miami Beach, FL, United States, 33139

All week long, we'll be fantasizing about some of the Over The Top New Year's Eve events and packages that ritzy hotels are putting together. Who knows? Maybe one of you moneybags out there will invite us to party with you! Know of an OTT hotel package for NYE? Send it to us!

How's this for OTT--a poolside party to ring in 2011 with one of the year's breakout stars? Drake had a helluva 2010, with his debut album Thank Me Later going platinum and snagging him a Grammy nomination.

Now, if you've got somewhere between $400 and $10,000, you can help him celebrate the year that was and welcome the new one ahead at the W South Beach.

more ›

Miami Hotel Mambo / Hotel Clubs / LeBron James / → All Tags

The Fontainebleau Ditches Blade, Adds New Lounge Called Arkadia

Where: 4441 Collins Ave [map], Miami, FL, United States, 33139

It's only fitting that with LeBron James in town, Miami sets itself the task of polishing up its nightlife. And the King himself was in the house for the grand opening of Arkadia, the new lounge at the Fontainebleau.

The brand new "ultra-lounge and pool experience" (we'll get to the pool in a sec) had a private opening party about a week ago, where A-Rod, Edward Norton & Elle Macpherson all joined James to get the bottle service rollin'. Now, Arkadia has officially opened to the public this past weekend.

more ›

Hotel Clubs / Miami Hotel Mambo / Beach Hotels / Private Hotels / Hotel Amenities / → All Tags

More Members-Only Clubs For Miami: ONE Bal Harbour's New Beach Club

Where: 10295 Collins Avenue [map], Miami Beach, FL, United States, 33154

Watch out, Soho Beach House, you're not the only new members-only club to hit the Miami hotel scene this fall. ONE Bal Harbour Resort & Spa is also getting into the exclusivity game with the debut of its Beach Club in early November.

While membership applications for Soho House properties are (ahem) always subject to scrutiny, membership at ONE Bal Harbour's Beach Club will be by invitation only, with 500 fabulous and famous folks getting the nod. Need to know what company you'd be keeping as you wait for that invite to hit your mailbox? Charter members include Stephen Dorff, Harry Morton, hair god Oscar Blandi and designer India Hicks.

more ›

Hotel Clubs / Hotel Memberships / Santa Monica Hotels / Private Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags

Casa del Mar in Santa Monica Now Offering a Private Membership

Where: 1910 Oceanfront Walk [map], Santa Monica, CA, United States, 90405

How close you are to the beach at Casa del Mar.

Looks like The Standard NYC isn't the only hotel interested in going "private." The Hotel Casa del Mar, a luxury beachfront hotel in Santa Monica, has just announced their own private club membership that gives guests year-round access to the pool and fitness center, along with spa discounts and priority seating at the hotel lounge and restaurant, as well as one-time "benefits" such as a one-night stay in the Penthouse, breakfast in bed for two and several spa treatments. Total cost per year? Just $2,500.

Here's the complete breakdown of what you get:

One-Time Benefits
· One night, Penthouse stay
· Breakfast in Bed for two
· One 60 minute facial treatment
· Two 60 minute massages
· One 70 minute Thai Ritual
· Two personal trainer or yoga sessions
· One Moonview session of your choice (a half-day mind/body/spirit experience)

more ›

Hotel Clubs / Gansevoort Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags

NYC's Hotel Gansevoort Gears Up For New Club 'Provocateur'

Remember the heyday of the Hotel Gansevoort in New York's Meatpacking District, before The Standard came and when the Gansevoort still had bedspreads without cigarette burns in them? It was the place to go on a Friday or Saturday night in summer, for a drink at their rooftop "Plunge" pool bar or down at their garden restaurant/club.

Now that the garden lounge has closed, leaving the corner of the Meatpacking eerily quieter at night, what will move into the prime space? Another club of course, but this time not of your typical $19 cocktails and black minidresses sort, or so it seems. The new venture will be called "Provocateur" and is billing itself as "The [heart] of Progressing, Vocal & Indie Music."

more ›

Hotel Pools / Four Seasons Hotels / Hotel Clubs / Private Hotels / Santa Barbara Hotels / → All Tags

The Coral Casino Beach and Cabana Club Pool By the Numbers

Where: 1281 Channel Drive [map], Santa Barbara, CA, United States, 93108

Guests of the Four Seasons Biltmore Resort in Santa Barbara have a choice when it comes to pools: the "intimate" Resort Jungle Pool or the "legendary" Olympic-sized pool across the street at the private-membership Coral Casino Beach and Cabana Club.

The spa, and fitness facilities here are open to club members and Four Seasons guests only. And with that kind of exclusivity, numbers matter.

more ›

Rande Gerber / Hard Rock Hotels / Hotel Clubs / Hotel Bars / Hotel News / Tarsadia / → All Tags

Hard Rock San Diego's Nightlife Gets Messier

Where: 207 5th Ave [map], San Diego, CA, United States, 92101

As promised, we have an update on what's happening with the Sweetwater and Moonstone Lounges at the Hard Rock San Diego. Yesterday, Page Six reported that the lounges' operator Rande Gerber was at odds with the hotel management company, Tarsadia. Tarsadia has effectively shut out Gerber and his crew from the bars and Gerber himself seems resigned to settling the matter in court.

But here's how it all went down, according to a source inside the hotel. Apparently, last Thursday employees arrived at the hotel for work to find the doors to Sweetwater and the upstairs roofdeck pool lounge, Moonstone, locked. Tarsadia allegedly fired 150 employees, from waiters to alcohol buyers, and then rehired only about nine employees back on their team. Apparently, Tarsadia has reached out to the club operators behind Body English at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas to rework their nightlife.

more ›

Rande Gerber / Hard Rock Hotels / Hotel Clubs / Hotel Bars / Hotel News / → All Tags

Have Rande Gerber's Bars at the Hard Rock San Diego Closed?

Where: 207 5th Ave [map], San Diego, CA, United States, 92101

According to Page Six, Rande Gerber's two bars inside the Hard Rock San Diego have shuttered because Gerber's bouncers "physically and verbally abused clubgoers." The Sweetwater Saloon and The Moonstone Lounge opened inside the hotel in December 2007 and were considered a pretty big deal for San Diego. Afterall Gerber is a well-known bar impresario who has done several of the nightlife options for W Hotels.

But the hotel management company, Tarsadia Hotels, says that the Gerber Group's security staff were anything but hospitable to guests.

According to a press release sent out by Tarsadia Hotels, which runs the Hard Rock chain, Tarsadia has videotapes showing "extremely brutal physical abuse by Gerber Group security staff against Sweetwater patrons, including choking, blows with fists, knees and objects, and in one case, a patron handcuffed during his beating."

Of course, there are two sides to every story and Rande Gerber insists that the reason his bars have closed inside the hotel is because Tarsadia has been jacking up the rent from $400,000 to $900,000. He then told Page Six the matter will be resolved in court.

As of this morning, the hotel's website still lists the bars as open and there is no mention of either one of them closing. Coincidentally, we have an operative in San Diego right now so we'll update you on what's going on there. In the meantime, if you've got your own Sweetwater or Moonstone experiences to share put 'em in comments below.