Tag: Hotel Websites
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Mandarin Oriental Gets A Flash New Website
We’d like to think that there isn’t much debate about the importance of having a decent hotel website these days. Yet, some major hotel groups still get it wrong, with limited imagery, poor design, and inconsistent room descriptions (InterContinental, we’re looking at you).
Browsing around Mandarin Oriental’s fancy new website, we’re happy to say there’s a lot to love. Particularly the lush, plentiful images. Aside from the ability to easily find practical information and make a reservation at the right rates, a hotel website should give us two things: a comprehensive idea of what the property looks like, or, if without immediate travel plans, a serious case of wanderlust. How could the below shot of the terrace at Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi (Chiang Mai) not make you want to pack your bags?
Hotel Openings / Hotel Deals / Sheraton Hotels / Macau Hotels / Hotel Websites / Starwood Hotels / → All Tags
Sheraton Macao Will Move Heaven And Earth To Let You Stay For Just $130 a Night
Only one month away from its grand opening, the Sheraton Macao is set to become the largest hotel in Macao, as well as the largest property in Starwood's already-sizeable portfolio. With 3,863 rooms built inside two separate towers (dubbed, appropriately, 'Sky' and 'Earth'), the hotel is going out of its way to help guests make the most of their Macao stay.
How? Well, for starters, Sheraton launched new website earlier this month that helps guests navigate the "wide variety of experiences" available on the Cotai Strip. To do this, they've assembled a cast of four "themed" proto-guests, who each offer a different perspective on the city: food, heritage, adventure, and shopping. So even though you're likely to spend hours wandering the halls trying to re-locate your own room, at least you'll know how to maximize the rest of your time.
Hotel Opening Rates / Hotel Openings / Hotel Indigo Hotels / Brooklyn Hotels / Hotel Websites / Aloft Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
Hotel Indigo Brooklyn to Open on October 4 at $224 a Night [UPDATED]
UPDATE 8.15.12: Sike. The Hotel Indigo Brooklyn actually opened as initially promised on August 1st, even though when we wrote this story the hotel's website was saying October 4. Nevertheless, you can check out our in-person visit of the new spot right here.
A few weeks ago, we learned that the forthcoming Brooklyn hotel, Hotel 718, would instead turn into the Hotel Indigo Brooklyn with an opening date of August 1.
Well, it's still going to be an Indigo but the opening date has been moved to October 4. The hotel's website is up and running and we found rates for $224 a night for a queen-sized bed. That rate also includes a 37" HDTV, free WiFi and even a microwave and refrigerator. A king room was going for $254 a night while a king suite was $324.
We couldn't see any square footage measurements and we're not sure we can trust those room photos. The first one looks like it is up to Hotel Indigo standards with that hardwood floor. But the second one is a shot of the rooms at Aloft Brooklyn. What the what? See for yourself below.
Hotel Openings / Tokyo Hotels / Historic Hotels / Hotel Websites / → All Tags
It Doesn't Open For Another Month, But Palace Hotel Tokyo Already Has Your Stay Planned Out
It's always 11pm somewhere in the world...
We like it when hotels tell us what to do. After all, they're the experts (or at least should be) on local activities, when to drink, where to visit—plus, it's always good to add a bit of structure to your hotel stay. And that's just what the newly refurbished Palace Hotel Tokyo is offering on their website—the home screen makes subtle itinerary suggestions like the best times to eat sushi, have a cocktail, visit the spa...or just laze in bed (one of our favorites).
Opening next month (May 17 to be exact), the 290-room Palace Hotel Toyko will be a re-envisioning of the original Palace Hotel, which opened in 1961 as Japan's first ever mixed use office-hotel building. That hotel was then razed in 2009 to make way for this newer, sleeker, more modernized version. Ten restaurants and bars, a Club Lounge, an Evian spa and free WiFi are some of the amenities the hotel is advertising, though we're mainly interested in the fact that all rooms supposedly have views of the gardens at Tokyo's Imperial Palace.
OpenThread / Hotel Booking Sites / Hotel Websites / Hotel Deals / → All Tags
What Booking Sites Do You Use?
There's been a lot of buzz lately about new kinds of hotel booking sites that claim to give you the most possible control over your reservation, whether that means a last-minute booking or simply a lower price. Fledgling hubs like Tingo and BackBid supposedly help guests get the better deal, but they also create a lot of uncertainty around the booking process. On these newer sites, even after an initial hotel room has been booked, things remain up in the air until guests feel they can't do any better.
So, where do you fall in this spectrum?
Are you more of an old-school, pick-up-the-phone-and-call kind of booker? Or do you try to luck out with a blind booking on Hotwire? Or maybe you like to toy with fate and book your hotel on HotelTonight a few hours before check-in?
Either way, there are tons of choices these days on ways to book a hotel, and we're asking you: what are your tricks, habits and techniques for getting the best possible deal?
Miami Hotel Mambo / Hotel Websites / Hotel Rebrandings / Casa Moderna / Hotel Amenities / Photo Galleries / → All Tags
Introducing Casa Moderna Miami (The Hotel Formerly Known as Tempo)
Not long ago, we told you that Tempo Hotel Miami was getting a new name, along with a bit of a refresh. Well, update your bookmarks, because Tempo is no longer--this high-end, high-rise hotel in downtown Miami is now officially Casa Moderna Miami Hotel & Spa.
If you're in Miami for business or are visiting for a good time but don't need to be right on the beach, Casa Moderna is totally worth a look. There are just 56 rooms, all with loads more space than your typical Miami Beach hotel room, and the hotel is only around 18 months old, so still pretty new. New operators Richfield Hospitality have also managed to give the spa a face-lift.
For a quick spin through some of the best of those amenities, click through our gallery.
Hotel Booking Sites / Quikbook / Hotel Websites / → All Tags
Quikbook's New Website Pulls Up Hotel Deals Quiker
There's been a steady slew of hotel booking sites that have launched in the past few years but our tried and true fave is still Quikbook.com which has long been offering cool, boutique hotels that you would actually at for great rates. And now Quikbook's gotten even better, thanks to a site redesign.
Don't worry, nothing has drastically changed. Quikbook is still offering its secret sales, invitation-only rates and its standard policy of not charging any booking fees or requiring pre-payment or even cancellation/change penalty fees. But the site is easier to navigate--the buttons are bigger, the photos are more plentiful and there's even video tours of select hotels.
Hotel Websites / Trump Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
Trump Unveils Slick New Website Encouraging You to 'Live the Life'
Now that Trump Hotels has seven hotels in their collection, they must have figured it was about time to upgrade their website--TrumpHotelCollection.com.
While the old site was very traditional and anchored down by exterior shots of the Trump Hotels, the new site shows off what life is like inside a Trump Hotel using nearly full page photos of hotel "guests". And this being Trump, the Trump experience involves gorgeous wealthy couples doing fabulous things like dining, drinking, shopping, dancing, getting fitted for new clothes, tanning by the pool, watching the chef cook in the kitchen and feeding each other mystery sushi. As for room photos, those seem to have been imported over from the old site so not much new to see here.
The site also gives curious guests the options of live chatting with Trump Hotels and the ability to click-to-call with the Trump Attaché service. And with a consistent booking widget on every page, there's no need to go back or head to the home page to book a room. Plus, if you now hold a Trump Card, you can sign into your account directly from the site.
Hotel Websites / Four Seasons Hotels / Hilton Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
The Four Seasons' New Website is Like Flipping Through a Glossy Magazine
We've actually long admired the websites of Four Seasons Hotels because they've always allowed potential guests to see giant, full-screen photos of their guest rooms, public spaces and recreational spots (provided these aren't pre-opening stock photos.) But now with the new Four Seasons website redesign (at a cost of $18 million), the full-sized photos of the hotels, as well as videos, are front and center.
You can watch the YouTube video above for a mini-tutorial while we highlight our fave parts below.
Most notable is the Four Seasons emphasis on TripAdvisor reviews which is interesting since recently, a couple of hotel brands (Starwood and Marriott) began showing off their own guest reviews--the good and the ugly. But not only can you see the glut of reviews for a Four Seasons hotel on TripAdvisor, you can also click from the hotel's website to see what folks are saying about the hotel on Facebook and Twitter. (So far when we checked the Four Seasons George V in Paris, all social media activity was positive.)
Hotel Booking Sites / RoomKey / Hotel Websites / Hotel News / → All Tags
Big Hotel Brands Join Up to Create Their Own Booking Site, RoomKey.com
Hotels have long had a love-hate relationship with third-party booking sites--they need the wide reach of the booking sites, but they hate losing out on revenue. Yet now a few hotels must have decided, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Or rather, join together and take the third-partying booking sites on ourselves.
The WSJ reports that Choice Hotels, Hyatt Hotels, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Marriott Hotels and Wyndham Hotels have bonded together to form their own booking site---RoomKey.com.
We gave the site a brief try this morning and didn't mind at all what we found.
Hotel Mergers / Thompson Hotels / JDV Hotels / JT Hospitality / Hotel Websites / Hotel News / → All Tags
JT Hospitality Has a Website (So We're Guessing The Name Sticks)
UPDATE, 1.5.12: We just heard that the JT Hospitality name is still a "provisional" name. Yippee! The official name is going to be revealed sometime in Q1. We'll let you know as soon as we hear!
We were utterly surprised by the out-of-left-field merger back in October between sleek boutique brand, Thompson Hotels and the fun, Golden State-loving hotels of Joie de Vivre.
It seemed like such an odd-pairing but when you broke down the dynamics (Thompson has the style; JDV has the money), it made sense.
Yet while we were hoping for a sophisticated name change, we stumbled across the website for JTHospitality.com, leading us to believe that the JT Hospitality name is sticking around.
There's not much to the website--just a few shots of glam hotel rooftop spaces, info about the merger and who to contact for development opportunities (that would be Mr. Brandman.)
We also found a Facebook page for JT Hospitality although there's not much there. Ditto for the Twitter feed. But we are loving that earthy profile pic on Facebook.
We're guessing more information will be forthcoming when the hotels do their official rebranding/merger announcement, which should be any day now.
Know of any cool things happening with JT Hospitality? Send it to us!
Hotel Openings / Hotel News / Brooklyn Hotels / Hotel Websites / Hotel Restaurants / → All Tags
Hotel 718 Gets A New Website, And A Top Chef
More particulars are emerging about the new Hotel 718 in Brooklyn—most notably, a new website, whose homepage features a countdown ticker to the hotel's grand opening (72 days to go, in case you were wondering).
The site's 'crown' logo (Brooklyn is also known as Kings County), and sleek nighttime shots of the Brooklyn Bridge make this place seem slightly more Brooklyn-centric than that other Duffield Street hotel, the Aloft Brooklyn. But hey, there's no competition here. 718 bills itself as a "relaxed, upscale home base" and hopes to offer "a different kind of New York experience." And assuming the price is right (rates haven't been confirmed yet), this is exactly what Brooklyn hotels are supposed to be doing.
