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The Savoy in London is Looking at a September Opening
The Savoy in London has been undergoing extensive renovations for over two years and being such an iconic hotel in town, folks are getting antsy as to when this place will re-open.
Back in November, the hotel finally shed its scaffolding and just last month, we learned that the hotel was looking at a Spring/Summer opening date. Then this week we saw somewhere that it would be more like "Summer."
But now, London Hotel Insight has managed to find a more realistic opening date of "hopefully September." And that came straight from the managing director of the architecture firm in charge of the hotel's renovations, who is probably inclined to be more realistic than the hotel, who wants to fill those rooms ASAP.
As always, we'll be keeping our eye on this opening date for you.
Tags: Snapshot / Hotel Renovations / Hotel Reopenings / Fairmont Hotels / London Hotels / → All Tags
The Savoy Sheds its Scaffolding, On Track For Reopening?
Here’s an early Christmas present that just got opened for those of us in London – the Savoy just got deswathed of its scaffolding.
Last time we went by the front entrance, a couple of weeks ago, all we could make out were the signs for Legally Blonde: The Musical, which is currently defiling the stage in the onsite theatre. But by the looks of this photo that a tipster just sent us (the Savoy’s the middle building, with the green roof), it’s all come down.
You know what that means? It means that maybe the April/May 2010 reopening date may actually come true. Hallelujah!
Tags: Celebrity Scoop / Morocco Hotels / Hotel Reopenings / Jennifer Aniston / Orlando Bloom / Movie Set Hotels / → All Tags
La Mamounia Celebrates Reopening With A-List Celebs and Thankfully, No Lohans
While hotel opening parties stateside seem to be a thing of the past, in Morocco the parties seem more lavish than ever with a mind-boggling amount of celebrities in attendance.
We were just recovering from the Lindsay Lohan-Gerard Butler possible hook-up at the Mazagan Beach Resort last month when we heard that the famed La Mamounia Hotel threw an opening party with Orlando Bloom, Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Adrien Brody (who played the piano for guests), Juliette Binoche, Dree Hemingway, Paloma Piccaso, Jose Carreras, Glenda Bailey, Colin Cowie, Matthew Williamson and Salma Hayek in attendance.
So, what happened to Lindsay Lohan's invite? Well, considering that the hotel took about three years to renovate (done by internationally-acclaimed interior designer, Jacques Garcia), we guess they didn't want Lohan sullying up the opening festivities.
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The Hotel Ferrandi Is Dead, Long Live The, Um, 'BJ 2010'
Well here’s a way of getting our attention. The Hotel Ferrandi in Paris has closed for a rebuild, but lest you forget about it and fall for one of the establishments offering crazy deals all over the place, it’s making a bid for your attention by renaming the new hotel, BJ 2010.
Ok, it’s a codename for the rebuild project rather than a permanent moniker (at least, we sincerely hope), but still. The hotel’s blog says:
It’s our way of hiding the identity of the character who will be giving the hotel its new theme.
Er, whatever. We say it’s their way of getting our attention – and it’s worked.
Tags: Checking In On / Hotel Renovations / Hotel Reopenings / Fairmont Hotels / London Hotels / Luxury Hotels / → All Tags
The Savoy Will Finally Reopen In April Or May Next Year
If it seems like years since The Savoy closed its doors for its £100m restoration, that’s because it, um, is. It closed in December 2007, and was supposed to reopen 16 months later, but of course, 16 months in hotel speak is double the length of normal human time.
But, hallelujah, it looks like we’re coming to the end of the process - Fairmont just announced that they expect it to reopen in Spring 2010. And when we quizzed them what counts as spring, they said April or May. Here’s hoping!
We’re not sure what’s taken all the time up, but they’re adding a new two-bedroom Royal Suite, "remodeling" the River Restaurant, "relaunching" the River Suites, and adding a new bar, the Beaufort, and a rooftop swimming pool. Dare we hope it’s an infinity pool overlooking the Thames?
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Domain de Lonvilliers to Reopen December 1
The Domaine de Lonvilliers is getting a flash re-opening with a seriously flash restaurant. This 145-room resort is on the French side of St Martin and boasts of having both European stylishness and a laidback Caribbean nature – we're not sure if it's possible, but it sure sounds like a beautiful combination.
The new Domaine de Lonvilliers will include a restaurant from chef Christophe Leroy, who has already set up his famed "La Table du Marche" restaurants in other resorts in the Caribbean and beyond. That means the food should be pretty darn good.
The reopening is scheduled for December 1 and they've got some special rates from then until March 31, 2010, starting from $250 per night and $300 a night over the Christmas and New Year season. One gripe we have: French readers will be able to get a lot more restaurant and hotel info out of Christophe Leroy's website, but the rest of us will be scrounging around the site trying to find a button to turn it into English.
[Photo: Santino Corleone]
Tags: Hotel Reopenings / Hotel Renovations / Cannes Film Festival Hotels / → All Tags
Back to Hollywood Basics at Palais Stephanie in Cannes
If your hotel’s in Cannes, you have to spend a lot of moolah to keep up with the crowd. Which is why the Palais Stephanie has just shelled out €38 million renovating and reinventing itself – and now it’s ready for its close up.
The hotel sits on the fancy Croisette boulevard, on the original site of the Palais des Congres – AKA where the first Cannes film festivals took place.
Thanks to the refurb, it’s looking pretty sleek – modern design in the 261 rooms, lots of butter, greige and chocolate colours, “hand stitched leather accents” and glam black and white pictures of classic film stars. The room photos also shows that the hotel's into technology too with flat-screen TVs in each rooms and MacBook laptops popped open on the desks (We're assuming you provide the laptop.)
On the roof, meanwhile, is a swimming pool and Le Panorama bar serving organic snacks. There's also a casino onsite and of course, a 820-seat theater. Perfect for Festival time. Rates start next weekend at 230 Euros a night.
Tags: South Africa Hotels / Hotel Renovations / Hotel Reopenings / → All Tags
Durban's Oyster Box Hotel Opens Again, Better Than Ever
We've been waiting for the big renovation of Durban's iconic Oyster Box Hotel to get finished up in South Africa – and now the wait is over. Last week the new Oyster Box was unveiled with an 800-guest party including all the local celebrities, with at least one prince and one king along for the fun.
The Oyster Box is often described as an "architectural treasure" of Durban, so the new owners (the Red Carnation group) have been careful to leave all the good historic bits of the place intact. That includes murals, paintings and antique furnishings, and to complement all that they use natural timber and stone features in a lot of the décor – and the result looks pretty impressive.
Tags: Rosewood Resorts / Antigua Hotels / Hotel Reopenings / Hotel Renovations / → All Tags
Jumby Bay Gets Jumbo-Sized Renovations
Win a big award, then close down for a year: probably not the strategy that Rosewood Resorts' Jumby Bay in Antigua had in mind, but perhaps that just shows they were modest enough not to expect to win last year's T+L Best Caribbean Resort award. Shortly after that burst of publicity, Jumby Bay closed up most of their resort to get to work on $28 million worth of renovations, and now these are finally almost done.
As you'd expect, $28 million buys a fair amount of new and improved stuff, and the revamp includes complete overhauls of 12 existing guest suites as well as the addition of 28 brand new suites. The new design style is meant to be a combo of "tropical hideaway" and "romantic British Colonial".
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Checking In On The Taj Mahal Palace, Post-Terrorism
It's a couple of months now since the terrorist attacks and, two weeks later, an accidental fire, caused havoc for the poor Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai. We figured it was time to check in on this Taj and see if it's really up and running again.
And it looks like, just as they promised, the Taj Mahal Palace reopened the rooms of the Tower Wing plus the restaurants, banquet hall and chambers on December 21. That's a pretty impressive at just 24 days after the attacks.
A brass and bronze sculpture named the "Tree of Life" which was already on display in the hotel has now been turned into a memorial to the 31 people who died at the Taj during the terrorist attacks, with their names inscribed at its base.
Since the reopening there hasn't been too much gossip amongst guests; a traveler who stayed there a week after the reopening said it was "good to see things starting to buzz again albeit a bit quietly". But hey, we can understand being a bit quiet about things there.
[Photo: Dey]
Tags: St. Regis Hotels / Starwood Hotels / Hotel Reopenings / Beijing Hotels / Olympics 2008 / Olympics Hotels / → All Tags
St. Regis Beijing Reopens After $27 Million Upgrade
Just in time for the 2008 Olympics, The St. Regis Beijing has reopened after dropping $27 million big ones into a seven and a half-month, top-to-bottom restoration and renovation of their hotel. From the official press release:
Overlooking the property's tranquil gardens, the upgraded guest rooms and suites feature extraordinary furnishing including cherry wood armoires, Chinese silk upholstery, fine European tableware, flat-panel LCD televisions and spacious work desks. In addition, WiFi service is available to all guests, throughout the hotel.
The St. Regis Beijing is located in the city's diplomatic district, near Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The hotel has one of the city's best Italian restaurant, Danieli's, as well as The St. Regis Spa & Club. Topping off the services, each guest will be able to take advantage of the St. Regis Butler Service.
Of course, you'll have to pay for that WiFi service. This is a St. Regis afterall. Nothing is for free.
We couldn't find anything open in the second week of August but if you are interested in visiting Beijing during the games, Starwood is directing guests to this site to leave their hotel stay requests.
Tags: Morgans Hotel Group / Hotel Renovations / Hotel Reopenings / Manhatttan Hotels / → All Tags
What's Black and White and Reopening Sept. 2?
If you guessed Morgans Hotel, of Ian Schrager-fame in New York, you win! (What's that you ask about a prize? Well, it's our undying love and affection for being so darn hotel smart.)
The hotel is currently closed but is taking reservations for September 2 and beyond.
Morgans original designer, Andrée Putman, is returning to kinda-sorta revamp its black-and-white interior, by adding--wait for it--graduations of black, white and gray tones, according to The New York Times. Sounds cutting edge!
But then again, why mess with a design past guests enjoy, though admit needed a little updating? We guess that's where the gray comes in.
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