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Tags: Hotel Openings / Peninsula Hotels / China Hotels / Shanghai Hotels / Luxury Hotels / → All Tags
Please Welcome The Peninsula And Its Fleet Of Phantoms To Shanghai
We can talk about Art Basel Miami hotels and hotels for the holidays all we want, but we can't ignore one of the biggest hotel openings of autumn, that of the Peninsula Shanghai. It officially welcomed its first guests back on October 19, and yet it's already like a landmark on Shanghai's Bund—the street of shops, other high-class hotels, and historical buildings right at the bend of the Huangpu River.
The main thing to know about this Peninsula is its relatively low starting room rate: $295. With it, if you can score the deal (and we recommend searching for dates far into the future), you'll be sitting pretty in a room with the feeling of a suite, as each room is divided into living spaces and even features a dressing room in lieu of an itty-bitty closet. More on that dressing room, after the jump.
Tags: Party Dispatch Report / W Hotels / Hotel Openings / Hotel Parties / Santiago Hotels / → All Tags
Inside The W Santiago's Grand Opening Party
For the opening of the W Santiago Chile we were fortunate to have Jonathan Franklin and photographer Morten Andersen, the guys behind Addict Village attend the party and report back to us on what they saw. We know, we know, what a tough assignment. Enjoy.
W chose Santiago as its first ever South American location roughly five years ago. Finally on Tuesday, The W Hotel Santiago held its official opening party, a trademark WOW experience that included a rooftop pool adorned with three female synchronized swimmers in body gripping silver suits, live bands on various stages and the constant buzz from the estimated 1,200 guests.
Beginning at 8pm, paparazzi stalked the entrance as a virtual "Who’s Who" of Southern Cone businessmen, artists, models (lots), and a few Trustafarians gathered for a summit of a globalized tribe, a roving band of creatives. It felt like an art festival as painters, jewelry designers and Google nerds mixed with surfers and journalists.
W Hotels often brag about their "cool" but we have to admit, even the public spaces off the parking garage where the hotel's opening party was held, are cool. Three floors underground in "Great Room 2", hundreds of hotel guests listened to a rocking Argentine band. As the guests wandered amidst candlelit tables, they were tempted by Roman Empire-sized offering of cheese and wine. The wheels of cheese were the size of basketballs.
Fountains of chocolates and trays of oysters competed for attention. A migrating flock of waiters and hostesses swooped in to remove empty glasses, fill empty plates as they deliver a W trademark: friendly, worldy staff.
Where else does the elevator guy answer the question ‘where you from?’ with, “Born in Chile, raised in Belgium but lived in Singapore for a long time.”
Tags: Sneak Peek / Hotel Openings / Manhattan Hotels / Ascend Collection / → All Tags
Rooms at The Distrikt Not As Funky as the Hotel's Name Suggests
One of our favorite milestones when tracking a new hotel opening is the release of photos. Not renderings, not collages, but full color pictures of the guestrooms we’re so eager to check into. Today The Distrikt Hotel reaches that milestone by posting photos on its Facebook page.
We’ve been dying for a glimpse inside the hotel since the funky collages on the website--while arty and cool--left us without a clue as to room design. Now The Distrikt delivers and we’re both relieved and disappointed.
Relieved that the neighborhood theme is not an OTT mish-mash as it could have been, but a little sad that the décor plays it so safe. For all its savvy marketing, The Distrikt looks pretty middle-of-the-road when it comes to design. The rooms look nice in these photos—but "nice" means a place your mom would be comfortable staying. (That is, if she isn’t scared off by the funky name.) And that’s just not what we were expecting here.
Tags: Hotel Openings / Boston Hotels / Morgans Hotel Group / → All Tags
Watch Out W: The Ames Hotel Boston Is Now Open
UPDATE:Boston.com has some new interior pics of The Ames Hotel.
What a long way in such a short time The Ames Hotel in Boston has come. When we checked in on the hotel at the beginning of October, we were quite skeptical based on the construction work we saw going on.
But lo and behold, The Ames has gone ahead and opened itself up. Boston.com has the scoop on the hotel execs that made it out last night to the hotel's opening party:
The opening party for the Ames drew a long list of VIP guests including the project’s celebrated architect and designer David Rockwell, hotel partner Seth Greenberg, former “Top Chef’’ contestant Sam Talbot, who’ll be at the Ames restaurant, Woodward, until he moves on to another job in SoHo.
Congratulations, Ames! We're happy to see you made the opening date. And we're happy that Boston is getting some Morgans Hotel cool. No reason why NYC and Miami should have all the fun. But we bet the W Boston can't be too happy about this. Room rates at The Ames start at $225 a night for a 350-sq.ft. minimalist-designed superior room. If you use the special opening code we told you about--Spgrat--the rates come down to $180 a night. Meanwhile, the W Boston starts at $242 a night.
Tell us where you would rather stay--The W Boston or The Ames Hotel? Put your thoughts in comments below.
Tags: Hot Hotelier News / Celebrity Scoop / Barry Sternlicht / Molly Sims / Stephen Hanson / BR Guest Restaurants / Hotel Openings / → All Tags
Barry Sternlicht Surfaces With Molly Sims On His Arm at The Postcard Inn
Barry Sternlicht, chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group, celebrates the opening of Postcard Inn on The Beach in St. Pete Beach, FL with model/actress Molly Sims.
We're not sure what's happening with 1 Hotels but it looks like Barry Sternlicht has set his sights on more low-key projects.
Last weekend, he showed up for the opening of the Postcard Inn on The Beach which is a joint venture between him and Stephen Hanson, the founder of BR Guest Restaurants. Looking good BS! It doesn't look like the recession has aged you one bit.
As you can see, Molly Sims was there to celebrate the opening but she was also celebrate her new HSN jewelry line, Grace. While she dined at Wildwood BBQ & Burger with her family, new boyfriend Aaron Eckhart was not there.
The Postcard Inn on the Beach opened last month and its surf culture-inspired rooms start at $99 a night.
Photo: Peter Richardson/Red Eye Photo
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Quikbook Still The Way To Go For The Strand, Now Opening December 1st
While we had high hopes of seeing one of our hotly anticipated new NYC hotels opening before Thanksgiving— The Strand in the garment district—it now looks like we'll have to wait another couple of weeks. Cross out that November 16th opening date, folks, and pencil in December 1st. That is the first date showing up on both the hotel's online reservation system, and on Quikbook.
As we reported in our last update, Quikbook is definitely the way to go when booking a night at The Strand. Previously it was showing a saving of $40 per night compared to the rates on the hotel's website. Now those savings are $70. A Superior King is going for $329 a night through the hotel, but just $259 on Quikbook. If waiting a bit longer for the doors to open can save us money like this, we might even be content to wait another week or two.
Tags: Hotel Openings / Phuket Hotels / Outrigger Hotels / → All Tags
Where Can You Find Three-Bedroom Pool Villas for $270 a Night? The Answer: Phuket
The executives of the Outrigger Hotels group, we suspect, are a bit partial to vacationing on Phuket in sunny Thailand. Earlier this year they opened the first Outrigger in Phuket with the Outrigger Serenity Phuket, and from December 1, they're adding yet another spot to stay when the Outrigger Laguna Phuket Resort opens up.
It's part of the Laguna Phuket "destination resort", so it's the kind of place you can go and never venture far away from. Within the Laguna there are some thirty places to get food and drink, there's a spa, and also the Laguna Phuket Golf Course.
If this kind of resort suits you, then pay attention to their opening specials: they've got two-bedroom villas from 6,000 Baht ($180) a night, or three-bedroom pool villas (covering 500 square yards) for 9,000 Baht ($270). Share these villas between four or six people and the prices are already more than reasonable, but they also include breakfast delivered to your villa each morning, transfers, butler service and our pet fave, free WiFi.
Oh, and the deals go through to March 31, 2010. This resort is a place to relax, rather than get cultural, but sometimes relaxing is all you need.
Tags: Hotel Openings / Chicago Hotels / Hotel Hype / Kimpton Hotels / → All Tags
Hotel Palomar Chicago Won't Open Until May But You Can Make a Rezzie Now
UPDATE: The hotel's reps tell us that it will actually open a few weeks before May 1. So Spring 2010 is the preferred opening time frame. Rezzies are still being accepted for May 1 and beyond.
Just as you start to hunker down for the winter in Chicago, we'd like to give you something to look forward to when the ice thaws--the upcoming Hotel Palomar Chicago has just announced that it will be opening in May 2010.
Located in Chi-town's River North neighborhood the 261-room hotel will be as Kimpton as you expect it to be (stylish decor, eco-friendly practices, free wine hours etc.) but it will also have a heated indoor pool and sundeck and a restaurant adjacent to the hotel with what will be "the city's largest mixology station." Um. Yeah, you will find us here at 5pm. Not in the lobby drinking wine.
Now, May is a long ways off so forgive us if we're not clicking immediately to make a reservation but for those of you who can't wait, the hotel is accepting reservations for May 1. Rates start at $190 a night for a king deluxe room.
Tags: Amanresorts / China Hotels / Hotel Openings / → All Tags
Amanresorts Go All Cultural In China, Again
Staying in Beijing at Amanresort's luxury Aman At Summer Palace - the hotel that's actually built in part of the Summer Palace so you don't need to leave your room to go sightseeing - is apparently not enough. Amanresorts are now saying they're giving travelers to China the "town and country" version of a Chinese vacation, because in 2010 they will open the Amanfayun Resort on the outskirts of one of China's seven ancient capitals, Hangzhou.
Hangzhou is about a hundred miles south-west of Shanghai, and the Amanresort will be twenty minutes outside of its center, in the buildings of an old village. Tea farmers used to live in the 47 stone courtyard houses which have been turned into 16 rooms, 21 suites and 5 villas, and with a pilgrim's circuit of Buddhist temples passing through the area, it's currently under consideration to become World Heritage listed.
Tags: Hotel Views / Hotel Openings / InterContinental Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
Scoping Out the View From the InterContinental Times Square
Often in New York City hotels, views are non-existent, or they’re of the poor suckers in the apartment building across the street. So when we get a chance to gaze out across the city—or even New Jersey!—we are much happier campers. Which is why we were thrilled to see these photos of the view from the InterContinental Times Square, opening in July 2010.
When we last checked in on the hotel’s progress, there were just renderings of the tower. We’ve got nothing against renderings, but you can't beat seeing a building in living color—or even in muted grays like in these shots taken on an overcast day in Manhattan. The photos come courtesy of InterContinental’s Facebook page—which we applaud. Hotels and chains using Facebook and Twitter to give us sneak peeks at upcoming properties or new promotions is definitely a trend we support.
Tags: Hotel Openings / Trump Hotels / Hotel News / Waikiki Hotels / Donald Trump / → All Tags
Trump Waikiki Is Now Open for a Lei
If you're a discerning traveler who only enjoys spending the night at Trump Hotels, then you can finally start booking your Hawaii vacation as Trump Waikiki has finally opened its doors to real live guests yesterday. The AP reports:
The 38-story, 463-unit tower is located steps from the sand and Fort DeRussy Park. It features a library, wine cellar and a spa, along with 24-hour room, valet and concierge services. The fully furnished suites, which have views of the Pacific and the Honolulu skyline, feature everything from high-end appliances to Italian marble counters.
Oh and let's not forget about the hotel's very kid-friendly services!
Tags: Hotel Openings / Ritz-Carlton Reserve / Thailand Hotels / Ritz-Carlton Hotels / → All Tags
Ritz-Carlton Reserve At Phulay Bay Almost Ready To Open
Okay, so their opening date moved from April to June and finally to December 22, but at least the rather special Ritz-Carlton Reserve Phulay Bay in Krabi, Thailand, is finally getting close to being ready for us. We've been waiting ever since Ritz-Carlton announced that their new Reserve brand was especially for stressed people wanting to get away to new cultures and adventures in exotic locations. That really sounds like us.
The resort will open just in time for Christmas, on December 22 this year. There are just 54 villas in it, and the views across the water from each villa are incredible. To make you feel relaxed, they've designed the resort with oversized beds, chairs, baths and doorways – this is meant to create a sense of comfort, though it could also make you feel rather small!
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