HotelChatter

Miami Hotel Mambo / Morgans Hotels / Florida Room / The Dutch / W Hotels / Hotel Restaurants / Hotel Bars / Hotel Valet / Hotel Crime / → All Tags

Closings at the Delano, The Dutch at W South Beach and a Stupid Thief at The Fontainebleau

As the high season gets closer in Miami Beach, there's been a hurricane (too soon?) of activities happening around the hottest hotels.

For starters, The Delano is apparently closing both their Blue Door Fish and Lenny Kravitz's Florida Room, even though both are fairly new to the property.

Miami New Times reports that Blue Door Fish will close sometime after Art Basel and will reopen as something called, Bianca. Brian Massie, a chef from the nightlife and resto outfit in Las Vegas, The Light Group, will take over the cuisine.

There's no word on what's replacing The Florida Room just that it will close at the end of December but reopen sometime before New Year's as whatever new club it's going to be.

more ›

Miami Hotel Mambo / Hotel Parking / Hotel Valet / Lebron James / Bad Celebrity Behavior / → All Tags

Lebron's Mom Goes Nuts on a Valet Guy at The Fontainebleau

Where: 4441 Collins Ave [map], Miami Beach, FL, United States, 33140

Maybe the LIV nightclub at The Fontainebleau should reconsider their $40 valet parking charge. How else to explain why Lebron James' mom Gloria went crazy on a parking attendant, resulting in her arrest for misdemeanor assault?

NBC Miami got their hands on the police report which said that the valet left her car running for 30 minutes while she talked with friends. When it became clear she wasn't getting in the car anytime soon, the valet turned off the SUV and returned the keys to the valet cashier. That's when Gloria unleashed her fury.

more ›

Video / Hotel Valet / Hotel Parking / Hotel Hell / Hotel Employees / YouTube / → All Tags

This is How Some Valet Parkers Treat Your Car at The Hotel

Where: 315 Chestnut Street [map], St. Louis, MO, United States, 63102

It's a scene straight out of "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." You pull up to the hotel in your expensive ride and after forking over an insane hotel parking fee, the valet parkers whisk your car off into a garage where you have no idea what could be happening with your baby.

You pray the valet guys aren't joyriding in your car and racking up the miles but at the Hyatt St. Louis, Cameron's your worst nightmare has come true.

CarScoop reports:

Employees from a valet company are being Accused of ABUSING guests' cars at the Hyatt Hotel in downtown St. Louis. A person who goes by the alias "election Underground" posted dozens of Videos on Youtube that show valet drivers doing burn outs, donuts and numerous other antics with all sorts of cars ranging from a Ford Focus to a Porsche 911 and a Maserati Coupe.

more ›

Hotel Valet / San Diego Hotels / Hotel Parking / → All Tags

Where Are The Best Hotel Valets In the Nation?

When you pull up to San Diego's Sofia Hotel or Del Mar's Hilton San Diego/Del Mar, rest assured that the valet will take good care of your ride. The hotels' valets are the best in the country, and it's not just hyperbole. The drivers won the inaugural Valet Olympics last month in Arizona. Yes, there is such a thing called the Valet Olympics.

Put on by the National Valet Parking Association during its annual conference, the Valet Olympics pitted about 10 valet firms, composed of more than 50 contestants, from throughout the country against one another in tests of driving dexterity. Events included Valet Relay, Key Jumble, Individual Maneuvering and Slalom, all of which showcased skills in vehicle movements, memory/quick thinking, parking and precision handling.

more ›

Hotel Hell / Hotel News / Hotel Parking / Hotel Valet / → All Tags

Yet Another Reason to Steer Clear of Hotel Parking

Where: 92 Cordova St. [map], St Augustine, fl, United States, 32084

We've made our distaste for hotel parking quite clear here in the past. When we're paying (usually) more than 20 bucks a night to keep our car at our hotel, we expect our shiz to be taken care of properly by the valet — and yet, day after day, we hear horror stories about leaving cars in hotel custody. There's the story about the valet who racked up parking tickets and stuck the guest with the bill; there's the one who took a $284,000 Lamborghini out for a spin and then, um, completely lost the car altogether.

And then there's the valet parker who drove a car straight into a hotel. Whoops.

According to the Miami Herald:

Five people were injured after a valet at a landmark hotel inadvertently put a car in reverse, sending it through a set of double doors and into the hotel lobby. The crash happened Thursday at the Casa Monica hotel in downtown St. Augustine, a castle-like structure built in 1888.

Officials said two men were standing near the doors when a Honda crashed into the lobby, flinging glass and plants across the room and knocking paintings from the wall.

According to reports, the staffer behind the wheel thought he'd put the car in park and hit the brake — but, unfortunately, he'd put the car in reverse and hit the gas. Oy.

Hotel Valet / Tips / Chris Elliott / Mandarin Oriental Hotels / → All Tags

What to Do When a Hotel Valet Earns You a Parking Ticket

So: you left your rental car in the hands of your hotel's valet parking people. A few weeks later, that car rental company contacts you to ask you to pay for a parking ticket that was issued while the valet was in possession of the car. Aw, hell naw. You ain't payin' for that. So what now?

A disgruntled individual wrote in to ask travel columnist Chris Elliott for advice when she found herself in a similar sitch. After staying at the Mandarin Oriental San Francisco, the car rental company had called the guest to hit her up for $85 to pay for a parking violation incurred by the hotel's valet.

After the guest called the hotel and "was reassured that the independent company used by the Mandarin would reimburse" her, there was no follow-up on the part of the hotel or the valet company — and then, after the guest persisted, the Mandarin folks told her they wouldn't take action until a copy of the actual citation was faxed over to them (which the guest was having a tough time obtaining). Ugh.

more ›