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Taking The Bad With The Good: Reviews of The Surrey So Far
When we had the chance to check out The Surrey Hotel’s $60-million “re-creation,” we were impressed by the sheer prettiness of the new guest rooms. But not everyone shares our take. Over at the UK site, Globalista Travel Journal, this week The Surrey copped a dressing down for what the nameless reviewer called “a pointless refurbishment.” In the nature of being “fair and balanced,” we decided to compare Globalista’s opinion to recent reviews on TripAdvisor.
Let’s start with those Gloablista grumbles, shall we? The things that ticked them off included: a huge discrepancy in the size of the lowest category Deluxe Salon rooms (some box-like and others spacious, but the same price); the noise; spotty housekeeping service; the complicated or non-functional TV; and the lack of weekend breakfast until 8 a.m. Globalista also said, “The 1920s homage to Lanvin decor is quite simply ghastly.”
Tags: Miami Hotels / Miami Hotel Mambo / Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Inside the EPIC Hotel (Home of that Rooftop Pool)
Yes, indeedy, those pools from yesterday’s Guess The Hotel game are on the 16th-floor terrace of the EPIC Hotel in downtown Miami.
Last week, we had the chance to see if all those good reviews for the EPIC were warranted and we have to say, the EPIC hotel does indeed have a lot of amenities that will make hotel guests very happy.
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WSJ Finds Montage Beverly Hills to Be a Little Shaky
The Wall Street Journal's "Finicky Traveler" spent the night at the Montage Beverly Hills, the urban sibling to the Montage Laguna Beach that was just (finally) completed in Beverly Hills — and she found things to be a little bit, er, up and down, if not kinda shaky for the super-steep price (which, cause o' the economy, had been reduced to $395 nightly from the originally-planned $480 - $595).
Though she was impressed with the sheer size and design of the place — 201 rooms done up in a building that has a Spanish Colonial revival design, with its 20,000-square-foot spa with 17 treatment rooms, salon, fitness center, and yoga and Pilates studio — there was some, uh, room for improvement during her experience.
A few highlights (or lowlights): she mentioned the dining room "could lighten up a little" (the word "pretentious" was thrown around in there too), poopy views (and an unimpressive courtyard her Garden Suite looked out onto), and a comfortable but a bit too high-tech room (she had to call on staffers to help her figure out how the lights, drapes and sheers operated).
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Have Beer For Breakfast at London's Fox & Anchor
Boozing and hotels. They're both well up there on our list of things we love. But boozing in hotels isn't always as straightforward as it seems; sometimes it seems like a lot of effort to dress up and do it in a swish bar. And, frankly, most times we can't afford to do it from the minibar.
So the Fox & Anchor sounds like just our kind of place. It's a lovely old pub right in the heart of London (trendy/edgy Clerkenwell) that just happens to have six rooms above it.
And though it's "just" a pub, the rooms are a cut above; it's owned by Richard Balfour-Lynn, the man behind the Malmaison hotel chain. We could have worked this out, really, from the annoyingly chirpsy wordplay on the menu (ie, "Hops & Chops, Cuvees & Duvets").
Tags: Country Hotels / Oxford Hotels / UK hotels / Luxury Hotels / Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Has Le Manoir Aux Quat' Saisons Gone Down the WAG Route?
We were a little perturbed this weekend when we opened up the usually excellent Mail on Sunday travel section and found this review of Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons. Not only is Le Manoir meant to be one of England’s top country hotels and gastro retreats (as well it should, given that its cheapest room costs Ł430, or $632), but when we paid a visit last year, we were pretty enchanted.
For a start, it’s 15 minutes away from Oxford, one of the best towns within an hour’s distance to escape the madness that is London, given that the whole place and half its inhabitants look like they stepped off a film set. But yet, it’s total country manor – 15th-century manor to be precise, with the perfectly manicured grounds to match. And the rooms that we saw and stayed in were lovely and rustically simple, unlike the over-the-top frills that you get in lots of other country hotels.
Tags: Ice Hotels / Hotel Reviews / Germany Hotels / → All Tags
Aren't We Over This Ice Hotel Thing Yet?
Where: Garmisch-Partenkirchen/Grainau at Zugspitze, Germany
The "Romantik" suite. Please note the disco ball.
We need to be careful with our money, people. The Ice Hotel craze was big and cool (har har) back in '06, but aren't we over that by now? Dropping big bucks to sleep in freezing cold temperatures is... well, sort of what we do in our poorly-maintained NYC apartments in the winter anyway. Not to be frigid (ha!), but this hotel trend — and its baffling staying power — is one, we must admit, we simply don't understand.
But the Times UK isn't over the ice hotel thing just yet — they've gone and reviewed Germany's relatively new Iglu-Dorf, touting it as "the lone traveller's low-cost answer to Sweden's famous Ice Hotel."
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Perhaps Atlantis Dubai Isn't So Craptastic After All
It’s almost too easy talking trash about the Atlantis Dubai on Palm Jumeirah. You know the drill: man-made island, home to hostage Sammy the Shark, breeding ground for cash debauchery and craptastic service. The list goes on.
But! Either the Atlantis has hit its stride, or the hotel’s PR person is working overtime. Yes indeed, yesterday’s review in the LA Times is really quite flattering. Sure, the reviewer lands a few swipes at the “garish” nature and “eyesore” pink exterior. At one point, the writer likens the Atlantis theme to “stepping onto the set of a live version of ‘The Little Mermaid.’” (We suppose that’s a burn, but that actually makes the place more appealing in our book.)
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What Hotel Did LastMinuteTravel's 'World For a $1' Get Us in Hong Kong?
Now that we're back from Hong Kong and safely checked out of our free room thanks to LastMinuteTravel's "World for $1" promotion, we feel it's time to tear it apart. Granted that one shouldn't criticize free things, but it's kind of our job, and we only mean our criticism to be constructive. In any case, our experience of scoring seven nights in Hong Kong at L'Hotel Nina was a good one, as good as a week in a tourist-class hotel can be.
Tags: TripAdvisor / Desires Hotels / Hotel Openings / Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
The Iron Horse Hotel is Purring Like a Kitten
The Iron Horse Hotel, the motorcycle-themed Milwaukee boutique property we've been going on and on about, has been open for just over a month. Since we haven't swung by Milwaukee ourselves, we checked in with TripAdvisor to see what the first round of guests were saying.
We were especially curious to see what kind of guests were into the hotel: since the hotel's motorcycle theme was inspired by the nearby Harley-Davidson Museum, we were wondering if the hotel catered to Harley enthusiasts only -- or if, like, non-bikers could get into the whole thing too.
Well, so far all the reviews on TA seem to be from guests who didn't roll in on Harleys, and they're all glowing.
Tags: Renaissance Hotels / Marriott Hotels / Boston Hotels / NYT Reviews / Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
NYT Says Boston's New Renaissance "Has Nice Nailed"
With a soft opening in January, a grand opening in February, a party in June, and lots of fun fall packages, we've been keeping our eye on Marriott's break-out new Renaissance complete with nautical-themed decor, the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel.
And they have finally arrived with a review in the New York Times. If you're in a hurry, we'll ruin the surprise ending for you:
If you're in town for a convention or to do business in South Boston, the Renaissance would be a no-brainer -- convenient, with high-end tech toys and a friendly, helpful staff. For families or those looking for a classic Boston scene, the out-of-the way location may override the positives.
If you can stick around, we've got the Times' pros, cons, and dirty details after the jump.
Tags: Reader Reviews / Lithuania Hotels / Business Hotels / Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Reader Review :: Zemaites in Lithuania is Functional, Not Fancy
Every so often we feature a hotel review from one of our readers that we feel should be shared with the rest of you dear hotel guests. These reviews are highlighted because they are timely, about cool hotels in cool places and are relatively level-headed. Think you can submit one just like this? Send it in. Now, we present you with reader J's review of the Hotel Zemaites in Vilnius, Lithuania. Enjoy.
The place is called the Zemaites, and it's a lot like Lithuania itself. Functional, but not fancy. Its mostly a hotel for LT businessmen, as its not in the center (3 km), and on the other side of the center from the snazzy shopping areas, etc.
The hotel was redone, I would guess in the last year. I chose the suite because it was only $25 more than the 'standard' room. Standard room, 97 USD, Suite $122 (I got 50% off because my company has a deal here).
Tags: Hotel Openings / TripAdvisor / Hotel Reviews / Hotel News / Chicago Hotels / Airport Hotels / InterContinental Hotels / → All Tags
InterContinental O'Hare :: "More Kinks Than A Chiropractic Convention" or Smooth Sailing?
Look, we're not ones to take the word of TripAdvisor reviewers as gospel -- especially since we understand that sometimes folks won't really take the time to write about a hotel on the Internet unless their experiences at said hotel are exceptionally miserable or fantastic.
Nonetheless, we like to consult TA when hotels are in their first days of operation because we like to get a 'lil peek at what folks are saying about it (especially if we haven't had a chance to check the place out ourselves). So we did our usual TA-spying on the brand new InterContinental Chicago O'Hare and it looks like the hotel got off to a bit of a rocky start during the soft opening at the beginning of the month, but everything seems to be going a bit more smoothly now.
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