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Don't Worry Your Bliss Toiletries Are Still Safe

November 2, 2009 at 4:55 PM | by juliana | 1 Comment

Yes, we know that most of you who shack up at W Hotels do it for the Bliss Toiletries that are placed in the bathrooms. Just admit it! But although Starwood announced today its plans to sell its Bliss unit, you can rest assured that the toiletries will remain in the W Hotel bathrooms. Also, Bliss spas and Remede spas in the St. Regis Hotels will still be open and functioning. It's just a business transaction, it won't harm your complexion.

We haven't done this for a while but here are some other news worth checking out today:
· Why Martha Stewart Got Married to Sandals Resorts [Hotel Check-In]
· Luxe Hotels Expands to Downtown LA [Press Release]
· Space Hotel Totally Opening in 2012. Far out! [Reuters]
· What To Look For In a Good Hotel Room [Philly Inquirer]

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Mice Check-in to a Space Hotel Before Humans Do

August 31, 2009 at 5:44 PM | by juliana | 1 Comment

There's always been a lot of talk about Space Hotels opening in the near future but it looks like mice--yes, mice--have beaten us humans to the Final Frontier.

MSNBC reports that six mice are shacking up in a little "hotel" inside an international space station:

The small rodents are part of an Italian study investigating the effects of bone loss in space, and researchers have set the mice up in orbital style. "Basically, it's a little hotel," said Joe Delai, Discovery's payload manager, of the cages holding the space mice. "They have a room and a place to eat and sleep."

The mice will stay in their space hotel for three months. The longest any other mouse has lived in space before is 30 days. Other mice have gone on expeditions within space shuttles before but this will be the longest stay in space, proper. Hopefully, keys to the minibar have been confiscated.

In other news:
· The Roosevelt New Orleans Bringing Hope Back to the City [NPR]
· Chris Noth DJs at the Fasano Hotel [NY Post]
· We're Not the Only Ones Who Love Tree Hotels [ABC News]
· Jamie-Lynn and Britney Spears Takes Their Babies to the Mandarin Oriental Miami [JustJared]

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Embassy Suites Won't Tolerate Jokes About The Palin Girls

June 16, 2009 at 6:18 PM | by juliana | 1 Comment

There's tons of hotel news flying around this week and we don't have time to give each and every story the love and attention it may deserve, so you will have to settle for some news briefs.

· Embassy Suites Pulls Ads from Letterman Show: The Hilton brand pulled its ads after Dave Letterman made jokes on his show about Sarah Palin and her daughters. Embassy Suites said they received letters and emails from concerned guests that convinced them to pull the ads. [Media Post]

· The Disneyland Hotel Will Get New Look: The hotel's much-anticipated renovation will begin this August but sadly, it won't be finished until 2012. We'll be too old for Disney then! :)

· Water at the Trump Chicago Wins Over Mini-Bar Lovers: The mini-bar is stocked with "four hard-to-find waters — Welsh Tau, Australian Tasmanian Rain, 420, and Bling H20." Or you could just drink tap water and save yourself some money.

· Later, Lady Leona: The Helmsley Hotel in NYC is getting a major, major facelife — "o obliterate many of the fingerprints of the late Queen of Mean herself, Leona Helmsley." Ha. [NY Observer]

· Sweet New Spa Deals at The Mirage: Our sibling VegasChatter's got a roundup of some discounted spa packages priced between $99 and $295 at The Mirage, including something called a "Vegas Quickie" — which we do not think involves a happy ending. [VegasChatter]

[Photo: CBS, AP via NYDN]

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Mexico Could Have Done Without The Acapulco Drug War Shootout

June 8, 2009 at 5:01 PM | by juliana | 1 Comment

There's tons of hotel news flying around this week and we don't have time to give each and every story the love and attention it may deserve, so you will have to settle for some news briefs.

· Acapulco Resort Area Under Fire: Mexico has had a bad enough tourism year with the recession and the swine flu but the deadly drug war shootout in Acapulco is absolutely frightening. [NY Times]

· Mulberry Street Hotel Tentatively Called Hotel: There's a new hotel about to open on NYC's Mulberry Street. The name? According to this snapshot, "hotel." [Curbed]

· It's Mojito Monday: At the Mad46 Rooftop Space on top of the Roosevelt Hotel in NYC. The mojitos are $10 but you do get one free ginger mojito. [Twitter]

· The W San Diego's Owners Having Money Issues: The owners of the W San Diego (not Starwood) are forfeiting the property to its lenders. The big question is: Will the W brand remain? [WSJ]

[Photo via the AP]

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The Drake Hotel Has a Pretty Potty

June 2, 2009 at 5:26 PM | by juliana | 1 Comment

There's tons of hotel news flying around this week and we don't have time to give each and every story the love and attention it may deserve, so you will have to settle for some news briefs.

· The Drake Hotel is Up for Best Restroom Award: Find yourself in need of a um...relief...in Chicago? Hit up the Drake Hotel's Powder Room in the Palm Court which is currently in the running for America's Best Restroom Award.

· No One Was Staying in Hotels in April: The hotel industry took a huge hit in April. Smith Travel Research reports that hotels had double-digit percentage decreases in occupancy and revenue per available room in April, compared with the same month in 2008. Many now think the worst is over but we'll wait until the May numbers come in first.

· Decoding European Hotel Star Ratings: A good read on how hotels are awarded star ratings in Europe and what to beware of.

· Desires Hotels Desires To Be International: The U.S. based hotel collection has created an international division. Mexico, Colombia, Portugal and Cape Verde Islands are all expected to get Desires Hotels.

[Photo: PhotoTram]

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Spend the Day at the Zoo, Spend The Night at the...Zoo?

May 26, 2009 at 6:20 PM | by juliana | 1 Comment

There's tons of hotel news flying around this week and we don't have time to give each and every story the love and attention it may deserve, so you will have to settle for some news briefs.

· The Columbus Zoo Hotel?: The Columbus Zoo in Ohio might be getting a hotel on-site which will surely please 5-year-old children who want to take the animals "home" with them. PETA? Not so much. [USA Today]
· Bid On Your Hotel Stay at The Graves 601: This Minneapolis hotel is letting customers decide how much their room rate should be. It's kind of like Priceline's Name Your Price feature, except you know what hotel you're getting. And that's the Graves 601. [Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal]
· Gamblin' Lady at The Borgata Sets Craps Record: It might be just what the recession-weary casinos in Atlantic City wanted to hear: a woman set the record for longest time playing craps at The Borgata with her time of 4 hours, 18 minutes. But no one knows how much she won or lost. [USA Today]
· Golden Tulip Hotels Are Bankrupt: Dutch hotel group Golden Tulip says 13 of its hotels, which it directly owns and operates, must file for bankruptcy. [Reuters]

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There's Something for Everyone On NG Traveler's Stay List

April 14, 2009 at 6:11 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

Hotel 1000 makes the NGT Stay List.

· National Geographic Traveler's Stay List: Here are 129 places to stay that are National Geographic approved. And you wanna know what we like about this list? It's not cluttered with Ritz-Carltons and Four Seasons. These are actual hotels we'd wanna visit. [NGT]

· W Hotel Scottsdale Officially in Foreclosure: W Hotels will continue to manage the resort. For now. [Hotel Business]

· Got Kids? Stay Here: Kimpton, Affinia and JDV Hotels top this new list of kid-friendly hotel chains. [Fodors.com]

· St. Regis Atlanta Opens and Everyone's Happy: The 151-room St. Regis officially opened today and despite economic fears, everyone's happy. At least for the media. [AJC]

· Ace Hotel NYC Seeks UK Influence: The folks behind the Ace NYC restaurant, the Breslin, are on a trip around the UK finding inspiration for the menu. [NY Mag]

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The Victor Hotel Says Biz Markie is Just a Friend

April 9, 2009 at 5:51 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

With so much hotel news flying around, we don't always have time to give every story the attention it deserves. Here's more of the day's news, in brief.

· Believe it or Not: Biz Markie is Still Alive: The 90s rapper celebrated his birthday at The Victor Hotel in Chicago and even got Sprite to sponsor the bash. [SoHood.com]

· In-Room Spas: Have the Spa Come to You [USA Today]

· Inside the Four Seasons Florence [Time]

· Don't Book the Shamwow Room at The Setai. [BNET]

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Google Will Have a New Hotel Neighbor

April 8, 2009 at 5:30 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

With so much hotel news flying around, we don't always have time to give every story the attention it deserves. Here's more of the day's news, in brief.

· New Hotel Next to Google: A high-end hotel will be going up soon near the Google Headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. and it might be a Kimpton. But the hotel won't open until sometime in 2013 or 2014. Boo. Until then, shack up at the Hotel Avante. [Silicon Valley Biz Journal]

· Affordable Weekday Stay at the Empire Hotel: This new deal has rooms starting at $149 a night at The Empire Hotel Sunday-Thursday stays through June. [Travelzoo]

· Hotel Rooms Filling Up For The Masters: The legendary golf tourney begins tomorrow in Augusta, GA and hotels are getting some much-needed business. [The State]

· NYLO Website is Top: Only having two hotels, the NYLO brand has won the Best Website award for the hotel and lodging industry in the 2009 Internet Advertising Competition Awards. [Hotels Mag]

[Photo: Angelo]

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The Swarovski Crystal Hotel Looks Better Than a Crystal Swan

March 31, 2009 at 5:05 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

There's tons of hotel news flying around this week and we don't have time to give each and every story the love and attention it may deserve, so you will have to settle for some news briefs.

· Check-in at Hotel Check-In: Looks like the old Hotel Hotsheet at USA Today is gone. In its place is now the Hotel Check-In blog run by longtime business travel reporter Barbara De Lollis. [USA Today]

· More Manhattan Deals: The Manhattan Users Guide has helpfully mapped out NYC hotels that are going for less than $200. [MUG]

· Choice Hotels Now All Up in Your iPhone: Choice Hotels has launched the first global iPhone booking app allowing you to make reservations at all Choice properties right from your iPhone. Is there nothing this gadget can't do? Oh yeah, that's right. Video. Download the Choice Hotels app from the iTunes app store. [Choice Hotels]

· First look at the Swarovski Hotel: The $100 million hotel using Swarovski crystals is surprisingly not as fug as we thought it would be. It sure beats some of the jewelry we've seen. [Sparkling Hill]

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Hugh Grant and SJP Get a Sneak Peek of The Mark Hotel

March 25, 2009 at 5:45 PM | by juliana | 0 Comments

There's tons of hotel news flying around this week and we don't have time to give each and every story the love and attention it may deserve, so you will have to settle for some news briefs.

· Movie Stars Get First Look at the Mark Hotel: The Mark Hotel has undergone some extensive renovations and while us hotel guests have to wait it out to see what's inside, Hugh Grant and SJP are filming a movie there. [Page Six]

· Detroit's Hotel Slump: Despite the upcoming Final Four tournament, Detroit's hotel scene is having major issues. [Portfolio]

· Become Friends with Us: We know the new Facebook redesign sucks but if you are still hanging around, become a fan of HotelChatter. Otherwise, follow us on Twitter. [Facebook]

· Starwood Building Rebranding Think Tank: Expert more changes from your favorite Starwood brands as they try to keep up with the changing hospitality industry. [Real Estate Channel]

[Photo: Daily Mail]

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Dear Stalkers, 'Do Not Disturb' American Idol's David Cook

March 24, 2009 at 5:31 PM | by juliana | 1 Comment

There's tons of hotel news flying around this week and we don't have time to give each and every story the love and attention it may deserve, so you will have to settle for some news briefs.

· Don't Stalk American Idol Stars at Their Hotels: Last season's AI winner David Cook says fans are too aggressive and he wishes they would not stalk him when he's staying at hotels. Excuse us, but if you are stalking David Cook's hotel rooms then you really need to prioritize your stalking pecking order. Couldn't you at least go for Zac Efron or Robert Pattison or anyone with a little bit more of an A-list status? [People]

· iPhones Heart Marriott: Marriott Twitters to let us know that the iPhone is the most popular device used to connect to their mobile website [Marriott Twitter]

· Remember When Hotel Spas Were Like, A Necessity?: Thanks to the crapped-out economy, not only are hotels hurting but all businesses inside the hotels are hurting, like hotel spas. Some are trying to lure in locals with discounts and incentives. [NY Times]

· Beware of Increased Vegas Room Tax: Your room rate taxes are increasing in Nevada and that includes Sin City. Taxes are going up by three percent. [Online Casino Sphere]

· Holla' for a Dolla' a Little Longa': The Alexander Inn has extended its $1 room promotion through June 11. [ABC News]