Tag: Hotel Lobbies
View All TagsHotel Lobbies / Hotel Design / Hotel Libraries / Panama Hotels / → All Tags
Who Needs A Club Lounge When Your Hotel Has Its Own Mini Library?
Wandering around Gamboa Rainforest Resort in Panama recently, we were excited to discover the hotel had its own private library, accessible via a small staircase leading up from the lobby.
Which is, in many ways, far superior to the usual "VIP" club lounge experience. For starters, all guests are welcome, it's always quiet and peaceful, and you can actually educate yourself about your surroundings with bookshelves full of texts on Panamanian history and wildlife. Plus, it kind of reminded us of the library scene from Beauty and the Beast—except way smaller. And in the middle of a rainforest.
Check out our photos after the jump!
Chinese New Year Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Mandarin Oriental Hotels / Hotel Afternoon Tea / Hotel Lobbies / → All Tags
Don't Go Alone To the Tea of Togetherness At Mandarin Oriental New York
Chinese New Year rolls around on Monday, and the Mandarin Oriental is feelin' festive. The hotel's annual Tea of Togetherness is all about good fortune, well-being, and—of course—togetherness, but as major dim sum fans ourselves, we're just stoked to get our snack on.
Everyday starting at 2:30pm, dumplings, rolls, cakes, and scones will all pop up in the hotel's 35th floor Lobby Lounge, where a more traditional Afternoon Tea is normally served during the rest of the year. But instead of Devon clotted cream and marmalade, over the next two weeks you'll find things like Jade Vegetable Dumplings, Pork and Watercress Wontons, Shrimp and Mango Rolls, Dragon Duck Wrap, Chinese tea cakes, and ginger scones.
Hotel Design / Chicago Hotels / Fairmont Hotels / Hotel Art / Hotel Lobbies / → All Tags
You Can't Miss Fairmont Chicago's Reception Desk
Wow. It has been a while since we last stepped into the lobby of The Fairmont Chicago. In fact, the hotel came out of a $50 million renovation in 2010 and we only saw the place in its shiny newness just last month. First impressions? Niiiice. Oh, it's still vanilla enough to please the majority of travelers, but there's a hint of an Amazon jungle in those dark woods and LED underlights.
Specifically our attention was drawn to the reception backsplash—an undulating wave pattern of lights that begins at the ceiling, and flows down underneath the desk, out towards the center of the lobby floor. We like it and yet...
Does this look like a Fairmont to you?
[Photo: HotelChatter]
Hotel Design / Design Thursdays / Armani Hotels / Milan Hotels / Hotel Lobbies / Fashion Hotels / → All Tags
Piecing Together Giorgio Armani's Puzzling Pristine Milano Palazzo
Though we took a quick look last month at what Tripadvisor reviewers were saying, we still feel a little out of the loop about the new Armani Hotel Milan, which has been open for almost two months now.
What kind of fancy Armani unforms do the staff wear? Are the rooms really that big? How do the hotel's Lifestyle Managers fit in, exactly?
Sadly, the hotel provided little in the way of a response—choosing only to reiterate Giorgio's vision of creating a "precisely defined ambiance of total comfort." But we have managed to scrap together at least a fragmentary sense of the interiors. For starters: similar to the property in Dubai, the Armani Milan's rooms are homogenized in soft beiges, tans, and dark browns. Emphasis here is more on texture—with limestone bathrooms, backlit shingled headboards, and cabinets that vanish into walls. All of which, hopefully, don't get in the way of comfort.
What Is This? / Hotel Lobbies / Hotel Design / Manhattan Hotels / StarHotels / Hotel Mirrors / → All Tags
What Is This at The Michelangelo?
We like to keep it fun but informative here at HotelChatter so our newest series, What is This? is devoted to odd-looking items in hotels that upon first glance look as if they serve only a decorative purpose. But everything happens for a reason, right? And we're here to tell you what these things really do.
We possibly made a few wishes come true yesterday when we broke the news that Public Chicago had decided to offer a limited quantity of $1 rooms this winter. Wahoo!
But what about all your other wishes? Your hopes and dreams? Your hidden, innermost desires? Well, that's where The Michelangelo, and its awesomely flamboyant mirror, come in. You see, this gilded looking glass, propped up on a wooden easel in the west corner of the lobby, is actually believed to bring good luck.
Upon arrival, guests are supposed to stand in front of it and make a wish. And after seeing some of the hotel's sweet suites yesterday, we know what we'd be wishing for if it was us standing there: an upgrade!
Hotel Renovations / Hotel WiFi / Hilton Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Design / Hotel Lobbies / → All Tags
Millenium Hilton Gets Upgraded (But the WiFi Still Isn't Free)
Notice anything different?
We really thought we were getting somewhere with Monday's news about Bryant Park Hotel offering free WiFi. But it seems real change is slow to come.
Though the lobby, restaurant, and bar (above) at Millenium Hilton all benefited from a recent freshening up—new furniture, new colors, new floors—a self-described "technology upgrade" isn't turning out to be quite as state-of-the-art as the hotel would have you believe. Yes, high-speed internet connection is now available from anywhere inside the hotel. But? That convenience comes with a price.
It might be possible to overlook that minor setback and just admire the pretty new granite floors and earthy tones brightening up the whole lobby—if it weren't for our other beef with the unfortunately-located hotel: its proximity to the construction noises of Ground Zero. Now, you know what would be a great, sensible way to compensate for the endless crane-hauling and rock-blasting? No, not earplugs. Free WiFi!
Hotel Hot Chocolate / W Hotels / Hotel Freebies / Hotel Beverages / Hotel Snacks / Hotel Lobbies / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
W Downtown Warms Up New Yorkers The Only Way It Knows How: Free Hot Chocolate
New York most definitely was getting too cold for us yesterday, when we found ourselves strolling through lower Manhattan, near the 9/11 memorial. So cold, in fact, that we made an impulse decision to go hide out in the W Downtown for a few minutes, seeing as the crowds on a Wednesday afternoon were minimal.
The hotel's relative emptiness also worked in our favor when we got up to the fifth-floor Living Room bar and noticed, to our sheer delight, the bar was offering free cups of hot chocolate. And not, like, a one-cup-per-person deal. It was self-serve. And it was gooood!
Tucked in a corner at one end of the bar was a small thermal dispenser, surrounded by candles, as well as a small placard that read: "Yummy hot chocolate! Enjoy!" So we did.
Twitter / Hotel Music / Sheraton Hotels / Starwood Hotels / Hotel Lobbies / Hotel Snapshots / → All Tags
Twitpic of the Week: A Children's Choir Always Livens Up The Lobby
In the ever-expanding universe of Twitter, there is one particular trend @HotelChatter happens to quite enjoy: candid hotel photos. These Twitpics range from stunning views to anti-views to celebrity tomfoolery and everything in between. And we can't get enough of 'em! Every Monday, we will feature one "Twitpic of the Week" to commemorate our favorite hotel-themed snapshot. Got a favorite of your own? Want to show off your sweet suite? Send it in!
How adorable is this photo, tweeted by @SheratonYHM, located in Ontario, on Thursday. Shown gathered around the hotel's gold-and-pink themed Christmas tree is the local St. Joseph's elementary choir, who sang carols in the lobby, accompanied by a violin.
Unlike some other bands we've seen recently, these guys didn't take up an entire suite just to perform a song.
Holiday Hotels / Hotel Christmas Trees / Hotel Art / Hotel Lobbies / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
The Dream Downtown's Christmas Might Just Go On Forever
Forever in search of Christmas cheer (even with only two days to go!), we poked our heads inside the Dream Downtown to see what they had cooked up. And boy were we not disappointed! The entire lobby has been transformed into a winter wonderland. From the snow white peacock greeting visitors at the front door, to the giant polar bear towering over by the back windows, you feel like Santa's about to walk in at any moment. The friendly-looking reindeer peeking out from behind a cluster of evergreen trees (above) certainly doesn't detract from the illusion either!
As it turns, the hotel enlisted the services of an upstate New York taxidermist, who, apparently, did such a great job that Dream is now considering making the as-yet-unnamed polar bear a permanent member of the space. Unsurprisingly, the feedback from guests has been extremely positive. What bad things are there to say about a polar bear?
Hotel Lobbies / Hotel Art / Manhattan Hotels / Video Tours / → All Tags
With A Little Video Art, the Nolitan's Walls Come To Life
Instead of boring old Christmas trees, the Nolitan is making use of a different kind of greenery for the holiday season: computer-generated images of flowers and hanging vines. As part of a local art gallery partnership, a very beautiful, soothing ambient video is currently being looped and projected onto a wall adjacent to the Front Desk.
Produced by artist Jennifer Steinkamp, the video is entitled Rapunzel, and in many ways, it's the perfect complement to the Nolitan's quiet, intimate lobby, which essentially doubles as a waiting area for Ellabess, the hotel's restaurant. Lush, gently-swaying tendrils move almost as if blown by an invisible breeze, and have a kind of hypnotizing effect. To see what we mean, scroll down and watch a clip from the video!
Design Thursdays / Hotel Design / New Orleans Hotels / Hotel Lobbies / Hotel Furniture / Hotel Openings / → All Tags
A Sparkling Saint Descends On New Orleans Later This Month
In order to accurately represent the neighborhood's unique history, Saint Hotel owner Mark Wyant supposedly spent months scouring the archives at the Library of Congress for photos of the original Audubon Building, which first opened in 1910.
But Wyant wasn't only interested in pressed tin tiles and exposed brick—the hotel's design team also wanted to go for an "ethereal" feel, especially in the ground-floor lobby, which can be accessed from two entrances on Canal Street and Burgundy Street. Once inside, sheer drapes hang delicately from 22-foot high ceilings, and broad white columns punctuate the space like pillars in a church. Add in a gold-plated chandelier, cast in the shape of a giant bell, and you can practically hear the saints singing in jubilation.
Hotel Gift Shops / Hotel Shopping / Hotel Lobbies / Facebook / Social Media Hotels / Tacoma Hotels / → All Tags
Hotel Murano Turns To Facebook To Find A New Tenant For Its Lobby Gift Shop
Dropping off portfolios, sitting down to meetings, providing references—sooo old-fashioned. These days, all it takes to get your foot in the door is quick glance at your prospective employer's Facebook wall.
Yesterday afternoon, the Hotel Murano Tacoma posted that their lobby retail space is currently available for lease, and that interested parties should get in touch with the GM, Stan. Of course, a more traditional interviewing process would likely follow, but we're still fascinated by the way social media has managed to tap into every single aspect of hotel life. And why shouldn't it? If you want a late check-out, check in on Foursquare. If you've accidentally locked yourself in the hotel bathroom, tweet about it.
And if you feel like owning your own hotel gift shop, hie thee to Facebook!
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