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Mister Cartoon Now Accepting Tattoo Reservations at The Marcel Hotel
Perhaps we spoke too soon about Hotel Graffiti being the new hot hotel trend. Perhaps Hotel Tattoo Artists are the new new hot hotel service instead.
The Marcel at Gramercy Hotel has announced today an ongoing art series called, M.O.A.R.--Marcel Original Art on Rotation. The program will bring "progressive, burgeoning artists" into the hotel to show off their work. But the first artist to come onboard will not be displaying his talent on the walls. No, try your skin instead.
Famous for tattooing celebrities such as Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, Eminem, Mena Suvari and Ryan Phillippe – Mister Cartoon will set up his very own Ink Suite at Hotel Marcel, where he will see his regular clientele as well as hotel guests while working on his masterpiece for the outside wall.
Guests of the hotel will have the unique privilege of skipping the one-year waiting list to get "inked" by Mister Cartoon.
His residency will run in two parts: his first stay will take place from November 15th – 24th 2009, with a two-week return visit at the beginning of February 2010, culminating with the unveiling of his exterior M.O.A.R installation.
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The Betsy Hotel Wants To Save The World; Starts With A Bus
Forget literary concierges, art curators, and suntan lotion butlers. The hot new hotel position is Philanthropist. You know, an on-premises Bono who can wax lyrical about Doing Good at flashy fundraising events, and entice fellow do-gooders, including celebrities, to rest their heads at a property all for a good cause.
To that end, The Betsy Hotel in Miami has just named Dr. Deborah Briggs as its Vice President for Philanthropy. Which is a big word for South Beach, but is actually in keeping with the hotel's intentions to be a sort of salon for artsy, wealthy types who like to engage in "energized discourse." Preferably with a mojito in hand. (Or is that just us?)
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The May Fair Has Private Nobu Dining, But It Will Cost You
Just in case you were worried that its trendy crown might be slipping since Fashion Week ended, the May Fair London has come up with a rather swanky restaurant partnership: getting Nobu to do in-room catering.
It’s probably out of the budget for most people – it’s Nobu, for a start, and it's being done privately, after all. But if you do have a spare £1500 to swing for the cheapest suite, plus £70pp for the food (that's the lunch menu - it goes up to £120 for dinner), you’ll get a “bespoke private dining experience” as it’s made for you and up to 120 of your friends in one of the May Fair’s signature suites (our favourite is the pink Schiaparelli).
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London's Hotels Are About to Get Arty
We blame Andaz Liverpool Street. Since they started a reader in residence programme with the lush Damian Barr, London hotels have gone literary-tastic. We’ve got book clubs, we’ve got poetry readings, we’ve even got book concierges. And, if we’re being honest, it’s getting a bit enough already. So well done to The Hempel which is bucking the trend by launching an independent art gallery in what was, until this month, the hotel restaurant (the restaurant has moved upstairs).
It’s called Art Work Space and it launches tonight with an exhibition by local artist Haslam Fox called A Tale of Two Towers - a socially worthy exhibition based around a posh tower in the City and a gritty one in Stockwell, south of the river.
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Regent Esplanade Zagreb Gives Guests Private City Tours
We've long admired the view from the Regent Esplanade Zagreb in Croatia, and now we think they're offering a package to fit: the Castle Tour package. It's a combination of private tours and anything involving castles sure makes us feel that bit regal.
The deal includes two nights' accommodation in a Superior double room, with breakfast included as well as internet access. (They say it's high speed, but we have a different experience of Croatian internet access so we're not making any promises).
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Like Kiddy Fairy Tales? You'll Love The Radisson Edwardian Bloomsbury Street This Month
Feeling intellectual today? Us neither, but we’re open to suggestions. Hence we’re glad to hear that the Radisson Edwardian Bloomsbury Street’s book club is in full swing.
As we told you last month, the hotel is capitalising on its literary history (Virginia Woolf et al used to hang around Bloomsbury) by starting a “Book of the Month Club” - guests can either read up in the hotel, or, more realistically, take home a free copy to read on the way home.
What the hotel would really like you to do, of course, is book (haha) up one of their two suites which come with a bath at the foot of the bed. You could have a good read there, or in one of the egg-shapped chairs suspended from the ceiling, like in the photo here.
Nice as they are, we’d probably go for the train option. Though if you really like the Tales of Hans Christian Andersen - this month’s book – maybe you’ll go crazy. Rooms start at £199 ($328).
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GEM Hotels Want Guests To Get To Know Their Neighborhood
The GEM Hotel Chelsea
Though they only opened less than a year ago, the three boutique GEM Hotels in Manhattan have been busy with promotions. So far, the brand has three properties in Manhattan: Chelsea, Soho, and Midtown West, with a fourth property to open off Union Square in 2011.
Back in June, we hit up the hotel's GEM Hotel Chelsea which we liked very much. What the hotel room lacked up in size, it definitely made up for in amenities and free perks. Haven't checked out a GEM Hotel yet? Amuse yourself with the chain’s very…musical…web site.
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Gondolas Rides Don't Usually Come with Couples Massages, Do They?
Excuse me, Mr. Gondolier Man. Keep your eyes on the water!
We swoon at the idea of taking a gondola ride with our honey and we're big fans of massages (who isn't?), but we're not so sure about combining the two. The Loews Coronado's latest romantic rudbown deal may have missed the boat. The hotel offers couples' massages on 33-foot gondolas while cruising down the waterways of the Coronado Cays.
As part of the Voga Voyage package, you'll hop on an authentic Venetian gondola—though, the two massage beds aren't so authentically Venetian—and depart from the resort’s private marina. You lovebirds get a sunscreen application, since the sun can be especially harsh while out on the water, and a 40-minute massage. Afterward, if you aren't seasick, you'll sip Champagne and nibble on strawberries for the final 10 minutes of the cruise/spa treatment.
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Need Fashion Tape or Tweezers? Consult The EPIC Hotel's 'Forgot It? We've Got It' List
As more and more airlines start charging more and more money to check passenger bags, the chances that you forgot to pack some very-necessary toiletries into that quart-sized plastic bag to stuff into your carry-on suitcase, so you can avoid the ridiculous $20 fees, are probably going to increase as well.
That's why we're loving the EPIC Hotel's "Forgot It? We Got It!" list of complimentary and for sale toiletry items. What's free? Toothbrush, toothpaste, fashion tape, straightening irons, humidifiers, some other female products and a new quart-sized plastic bag for the flight home.
What's for sale? $2 tweezers, $2 nail polish remover wipes, $4 contact lens solution and $3 deodorant. For anyone who's ever been late to a meeting and forgot to pack deodorant and a hairbrush (that's what we forget the most!) $5 seems to be a reasonable charge to pay for a quick fix, especially if that straightening iron is free. All you have to do is dial-up the front desk.
Now if only there were a Pitbull stain eraser for sale at the hotel.
[Photo: HotelChatter's MsRebecca.]
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Goodbye, Brownies on The Pillow: Hotels Ditch Services in an Effort to Save Some Cash
The Gramercy Park Hotel, which by the way, is still a five-star hotel.
All of the sudden the outlook for the hospitality industry seems to have gone from bad but with hope on the horizon, to worse with drastic cost-cutting measures now taking place.
Indeed, 2009 has been one of the worst years in history for hotels but yet the best year for travelers looking for steep deals. However, just because you got that five-star hotel for half of its usual price, doesn't mean you'll be getting all the perks you'd expect.
A new report says that hotels have begun dropping stars from their star ratings so that they can reduce their level of services and save money. Some hotels that have already done this? Starwood and Hilton Hotels. And here's why.
Hotel operators need to reduce services to conserve cash. Occupancy rates for luxury hotels worldwide fell to 57 percent in the year through July from 71 percent in the same period a year earlier, a bigger drop than for other types of accommodation, according to Smith Travel Research.
The average daily room rates at the most luxurious hotels around the world dropped 16 percent to $245.13, the Tennessee- based hotel-data company estimates. Prices for mid-range hotels fell about 13 percent to $87.12.
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Paper Airplane-Making Lessons With Your Room: Inside The Sparhawk Gallery B&B, Texas
Bored of cutesey B&Bs and faceless motels? We feel your pain. Want to sleep where Elvis once did? Us too. That’s how we ended up making an unscheduled stop in Abilene, Texas last week. Not because we wanted to visit Abilene, but because of a place to stay that sounded pretty special: the Sparhawk Art Gallery B&B.
In its previous incarnation as the 1930s Sunset Lodge Motel, it was Abilene’s premiere motel and the place of choice for the likes of Elvis, Al Jolson, and the magnificent Marlene Dietrich, all of whom stopped by when they were touring Texas. A few years ago, all but the front annex of the motel was demolished. That was set to go as well, but a local artist, Donovan Sparhawk (we hope that’s his real name), fell in love with it, bought it, and opened up an art gallery inside, along with three rooms to rent. So now, although it’s on the main road into Abilene, it feels like you’re staying in a nice secluded cottage surrounded by lots of trees.
Room Reaction
There are only three rooms here and they’re all pretty simple but tastefully done. We took the cheap one on the end—it had a tiled floor, lots of rugs and throws and funky blue furniture and a tiled table and mirrors in the corner of the room—definitely a step up from other motels. The bathroom had the original green tiles and bathtub left over from the motel days, so although the tub was a little stained from the decades, we were very excited to think we could be sharing Elvis’ bath (they don’t know which room he stayed in, but we decided it was definitely ours).
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A Book Club For Radisson Edwardian Bloomsbury
We blame Andaz London. Since their reader in residence programme went down a storm last spring, it seems like the rest of London’s hotels are lining up to prove their literary credentials.
Since its refurbishment this year, the Langham has been offering a ”book butler” service (just tell him your tastes when you book, and he’ll have the tomes lined up for your arrival). And now the Radisson Edwardian Bloomsbury Street Hotel is going one further by starting its own book club.
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