Let's get this out of the way right up front--The Millennium Hotel Broadway is in dire need of a full blown room renovation. At least on the 18th floor where we ended up bunking for the night.
Televisions are old, and there is no wifi, only wired access from the desk (for a steep price we might add), but this place is a true hotel Monet. At first glance the room looks large and fine (for NYC standards), however if you take a close look at the carpets, the walls, and the bedding, you will quickly begin chanting "ren-o-vation".
The view from our room was semi-cool, if only because we were starting straight out at an architecturally interesting building that reminded us of something out of a Marvel comic book. On the plus side, check in, though crowded was a breeze, and the staff went out of their way to let us check in early.
This is one of the few hotels in NYC that can be had for right around $200. The Millennium is a staple on TravelZoo and Priceline. With taxes, you will end up paying right near $300/night all in.
Meet Tank. He's a French Bulldog weighing about 26.3 pounds with a mild shedding problem, a regular oral fixation for rawhide and a tendency to pee during the night. Guess what? He's sleeping in your hotel room!
Last week, we were invited with our canine companion to test out the "Paws and Claws" package at the Wydnham Hotel Costa Mesa in Orange County, just across from the shopping mecca South Coast Plaza. While we have never traveled with our pet before this hotel stay, we always loved it when hotels offered pet-friendly services. Yet actually staying in a hotel room with a pet was not quite how we imagined it to be.
If you've got a well-behaved dog, you probably wouldn't think twice about traveling together. The Wyndham laid out the red carpet for Tank to prance along, offering loads of attention, tons of treats and even a special doggy turndown.
But we were quite horrified by Tank's lack of social graces. He streaked a cocktail hour naked, he chewed a "Chewgar" on the bed (we later placed a towel under him) and he barked at the door several times. That's right. Someone's going to the kennel on the next trip we take.
Yesterday we were able to get a sneak peek at the Hotel Palomar in Westwood which will open tomorrow thus making it the first Kimpton Hotel in Los Angeles. Hurrah!
We've actually waited a long time to see this hotel come to fruition and so far, things are looking very good.
This here is room 1918, a vista deluxe guestroom on the top floor. The reason that it's called "vista" is because it offers a killer view of the Westside. Some rooms facing west at this hotel will even give guests a view of the ocean, provided it's a clear day. Just remember, that doesn't happen in LA too often.
Nevertheless, all rooms have huge 42"inch flat screen TVs, iHome alarm clock, L'Occitane bath products, and the popular Kimpton animal print robes. The hotel's restaurant, Boulevard 16 is also gearing up for an opening this week and pretty much everything is completed in the hotel, including the small pool and lounge area out back.
It's kind of refreshing isn't it? A true hotel opening as opposed to a soft-opening with half-finished rooms. Special introductory room rates start at $229. The vista deluxe rooms start at $279.
Check out our photo gallery of the Hotel Palomar below.
Once again, HotelChatter contributing editor Tim Leffel is moving around Mexico, checking out the hotel scene in the colonial heartland. If you have a question about where to stay in Guanajuato or San Miguel de Allende, hit us on the tipline, or just comment below, and we will do our best to get you some sort of answer. Enjoy.
Prior to 2006, Casa de Sierra Nevada was already the top hotel in town. But then the Orient-Express company took over, making it their second hotel in Mexico after Maroma in the Riviera Maya. They got straight to work, sprucing up the place and renovating the main restaurant (in what was once the home of the local archbishop). While they were at it, they bought a cooking school just down the street.
Two years later they're still adding on to their collection of rooms in different buildings. A new spa will be finished next month and some additional guest rooms will up the total from the current 31. The newest section of the hotel (for now) is Casa Limon, where six suites surround a courtyard, a library, and a swimming pool set in a grassy lawn.
The video tour here is a trip through one of the Colonial Room Suites in that Casa Limon section. With this one--number 444--you get your private plunge pool/whirlpool on a terrace, two big flat-screen TVS, an iPod dock, and a spacious double-vanity bath with separate tub and shower--both lit by a skylight.
Naturally, the room comes stocked with all the pampering goodies: thick towels, robes, Molton Brown toiletries, and soft cotton sheets with a high thread count.
Published rates are roughly $300 to $600, with the suite featured here at the top of that range.
This is room 1134 inside the Hyatt Regency Denver where we spent some time this past weekend. As we told you yesterday, we had a successful check-in attempt with the self-service kiosks in the lobby and that probably set the tone for the rest of our stay.
Actually, maybe the feel-good tone started way before that when we actually booked the hotel room. We did it through Priceline, our first time booking through that site. And our bid of $75 was accepted right away.
Regular room rates at the hotel, which are higher during the week when conventions are in full force across the street, are about $235. That might be too high for us, after all it's a Hyatt in Denver near a convention center but the place is pretty fantastic.
And since the Dems have made this their headquarters hotel for the DNC this August, here's what they can expect.
Once again, HotelChatter contributing editor Tim Leffel is moving around Mexico, checking out the hotel scene in the colonial heartland. If you have a question about where to stay in Guanajuato or San Miguel de Allende, hit us on the tipline, or just comment below, and we will do our best to get you some sort of answer. Enjoy.
Until two years ago, there was only one luxury hotel in Guanajuato, Mexico. (More on that later.) Then Villa Maria Cristina came along a few blocks away on the town's swankiest street and raised the bar a few notches. This member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World is an impressive space that manages to keep the old world charm elements while adding steam showers, whirlpool tubs, and phones from Bang & Olufsen.
Be prepared to climb a lot of stairs in this multi-level inn with various courtyards and terraces. The formal restaurant and pocket bar are on the second floor. The spa and indoor pool are down a level and more rooms are one floor up, where there is a Jacuzzi for four with a view. Only a few of the guest rooms have a killer view though: most face toward the courtyards.
Room sizes range from spacious standards with a dressing area to master suites with plenty or room for stretching out, at rates running from $180 to $390. This includes taxes, continental breakfast, and--the real shocker for the top luxury hotel in town--free WiFi! Check out the video tour here to get a view of the interior.
Once again, HotelChatter contributing editor Tim Leffel is moving around Mexico, checking out the hotel scene in the colonial heartland. If you have a question about where to stay in Guanajuato or San Miguel de Allende, hit us on the tipline, or just comment below, and we will do our best to get you some sort of answer. Enjoy.
Imagine you had traveled around Mexico for a decade or so, buying every piece of folk art that caught your eye. Now imagine you opened a bed and breakfast and had a chance to stuff every one of those masks, paintings, and Day of the Dead figures into seven rooms, a dining area, and a lobby lounge/library. Then imagine that you also took trips to Rajasthan, India now and then and you decided to jam all those souvenirs into one suite and a garden lounge area while you were at it.
The result would be La Casa de Espiritus Alegres, a trippy hotel in the village of Marfil, on the edge of Guanajuato in Mexico. Set in shady gardens and made up of buildings that date as far back as the 1700s. You can't look in any direction here without seeing something interesting. It gives the phrase "a hotel with personality" a whole new meaning and here there really is a skeleton in the closet--in every room!
Rates run $145 to $165, including taxes and a magnificent full breakfast. See the video tour here for a taste, then check out their website for a pics of each room and suite.
The only hitch we encountered on our recent romp through Uruguay was a lack of English-language info on the country. Now, that's sorta our fault; if we knew more Spanish, there wouldn't have been an issue.
Luckily, friend-of-HotelChatter Matt Gross had visited Punta del Este before us and scouted out the hotel scene. His verdict? Avoid it. You're better off staying in La Barra, just outside the madness of downtown Punta.
He stayed at La Posta del Cangrejo, a sprawling hotel whose (only?) claim to fame is a visit by George Bush, Sr. years ago. Easy to see that, too: The place definitely appeals to the old white guy demographic.
Let's get this out of the way right up front--The Millennium Hotel Broadway is in dire need of a full blown room renovation. At least on the 18th floor where we ended up bunking for the night. 
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by markj
