Close User Name Password
Login Register
Hotel stories straight to your inbox:

Tag: Hotel Websites View All Tags

Tags: / / / / /

Plaza Athénée Gives Rich Kids Their Own Guide to Paris

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 25 Avenue Montaigne, Paris, France, 75008

| June 24, 2009 at 12:05 PM | 0 Comments

Here’s a confession: we used to think that trips to great cultural centers would probably be lost on kiddies. What child, we reasoned, would be able to grasp le sheer greatness of the City of Light, for example?

Well we were wrong, because we hadn’t counted on the Plaza Athénée’s new kiddy-licious website, veryimportantchildren.com. Whether they’re tots or teenagers, the site will tell them what’s to see in Paris (not just the usual stuff either; it mentions temporary, time-specific things like exhibitions, too) as well as what’s going down in the hotel itself (things which it deems “hypra-cool”, which we might take as our word of the summer).

Of course, being the Plaza Athénée (rooms start at 595 euros, or $835, this summer), it’s aimed at very important, rich children. There’s even a section where you can upload your own pictures of your stay, to make a little rich kid community. Cute! But there’s nothing to stop the non-important and non-rich folk using the website to glean ideas. Just as long as it’s not the idea that they’ll be staying there on your next trip over.

Tags: / / /

GEM Hotels Gets Their Very Own Website

| June 24, 2009 at 9:05 AM | 0 Comments

GEM Hotels — that fun little offshoot of Choice Hotels’ Ascend Collection, with three boutique NYC hotels — recently launched their very own brand platform, complete with a shiny new website. Who says we never bring you exciting news?

First, the website. Pervasive elevator music aside — with a different tune for each hotel, eep! — the site has clean design and is easy to navigate, which, really, is all that matters. Beyond the looping pillow fight on the home page, the overall aesthetic is a little generic though, which doesn’t bode well for its memorability, especially for a hotel that was apparently “born out of necessity in 2007,” according to the website, “to provide excellent hospitality service in an unpretentious, accessible and sustainable manner.”

But! Via the website we did learn that GEM Union Square is coming in 2011, which we will definitely be tracking. Also worth noting: GEM Hotels are incorporating a few unique brand hallmarks, in addition to their legendary amenities. We already told you they’re searching for local rockstars to showcase via lobby playlist, but they’re also taking their name quite seriously with the GEMstone program — a collection of small rocks each engraved with a “word reflective of the brand” (from “relax” to “GEMtastic”). Guests who want their sheets laundered can plop a GEMstone on their pillow instead of scratching a note on paper. A little forced, sure, but it’s still a nice touch.

Sizzling Summer rates are discounted 15 percent and start as low as $135.

Tags: / / / /

The New 'Aloft Experience' Site is Kind of Awesome

| June 8, 2009 at 11:28 AM | 1 Comment

Aloft recently explanded their website, launching a totally new section called The Aloft Experience — and the most important thing we have to say here is this: the music on the site is stellar. There is a little music player rolling through a playlist that includes Duran Duran, Jem and Sarah Bareilles. And you know how much we love us some decent hotel website music.

The new "microsite" is pretty sweet; the official purpose of the new offshoot is:

It showcases a range of interactive features, including a guided insider’s tour of the hotel, maps and city guides for each location which engage visitors through a series of original, branded games that bring the Aloft Hotels experience to life.

more ›

Tags: / / / /

Thompson LES' Shang Gets a Fly New Website

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 190 Allen St [map], New York, NY, United States, 10002

| June 1, 2009 at 10:44 AM | 0 Comments

We told you back in early March that the dudes behind Thompson Hotels had gotten together to form a restaurant group called Do Not Disturb, which is now managing the restaurant soon to be known as 'Zentan' inside DC's Donovan House (formerly known as 'Cha'), the food and nightlife venues at Thompson LES (Shang, Above Allen), as well as the restos in Gild Hall, the Hollywood Roosevelt and the upcoming Thompson Toronto.

Zentan inside Donovan House is set to open up on June 8th with Susur Lee's name on the place (as opposed to Todd English's, who was originally the face of Cha) — and Susur Lee's other Thompson restaurant, Shang, now is showing off a hot, hot new website. It's got menus, all the requisite look-at-our-celeb-chef promotional goodness, press clippings and a pretty decent image gallery. Was this the first order of business for the Do Not Disturb group?

Uh, maybe they could go do a bit of work on the Zentan website next. It's a little bit... naked.

Tags: / /

Morgans Continues Hating On the Recession With 'Recess Is On'

| April 15, 2009 at 12:00 PM | 2 Comments

Yes, we already know Morgan's Hotel Group throws curse words at the recession. Like any hotel chain right now, they are likely not enjoying what's going on — people are not traveling so much or shelling out the big bucks as of late. They've joined every other hotel ever and have responded by offering deals, but they're taking it one step further and, uh, distracting you with artsy stuff.

They've just launched RecessIsOn (get it? Recession/Recess/It's on?) and the recession-hating tie-in is kind of confusing. It's a second website featuring "Recess Sessions," which are "a series of eight original music videos shot in cinéma vérité style." Specifically:

Each video is set in the rich environments of Morgans' hotels and includes three separate segments with a musical performance, interview and footage of the artists playing on property. All of the content is intimately shot, previously unreleased and available through www.recessison.com.

The whole thing is kinda-loosely connected to the recession (we're not so sure we're understanding the tie-in) — apparently, the vids are keeping with the company's defiance against the recession because they "celebrate the idea that you never know what is going on behind closed doors at Morgans' hotels and gives their guests permission to explore and to play again."

Eh, or with videos featuring artists like Au Revoir Simone at the Hudson and Miss Derringer at Mondrian LA, they give you something to look at and listen to when business at the ol' workplace is slow.

Tags: / / / /

InterContinental's Loyalty Program Launches Social Network

| April 15, 2009 at 8:56 AM | 0 Comments

Er, okay. We know you're already being inundated with Facebook friend requests and application notifications and, like, Zombie pokes from people you probably met once at the tender age of 7 years old (translation: we're on shaky ground with social networks already), but it's looking like your fave hotel loyalty programs are going to be getting in on the social networking game, too. Yes, really.

InterContinental Hotels Group has, apparently, launched its own social network for its Priority Club Rewards members called Priority Club Connect. This isn't really like a Facebook (thank goodness — can you imagine, like, getting friend requests from total randoms just because you appear to be attractive and happen to be a member of IHG's loyalty program?); rather, it's an opportunity for users to get involved with IHG to share travel experiences, become bloggers on the site, upload photos, and share videos in an online community sort of setting. Also:

Priority Club Connect participants will also be able to communicate with IHG executives. Based on questions that members submit through Priority Club Connect, executives at IHG will create a video to answer the questions and post it on the site for all members to view.

We poked around on the site a little bit, and it seems that people have already started to get in there and are taking it seriously (and it's not full of trolls posting annoying things in the forums. Yet.) Die-hard IHG fans, check it out for yourselves here.

Tags: / / / /

Hilton Launches 'Guestiquette' Wedding Planning Site

| April 1, 2009 at 9:35 AM | 1 Comment

Alright, we'll admit it: we watch the Style Network. And not just for re-runs of "How Do I Look" — yes, we watch "Whose Wedding Is It Anyway," the wedding show that pairs wedding planners with brides in a start-to-finish look at all the drama behind a ceremony and reception (much classier than Bridezillas, we assure you).

And now Hilton Hotels has tapped one of our fave famous Wedding Planner regulars from the show, Samantha Goldberg, to team up with the chain to launch Hilton's brand new online wedding resource, Guestiquette.

more ›

Tags: / /

The Cooper Square Hotel Website Now 'Fully Functioning'

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 27 Cooper Square [map], New York, NY, United States, 10003

| March 24, 2009 at 9:01 AM | 0 Comments

Last week, we ran into some frustration with the Cooper Square website and we couldn't help but wonder if the lack of exterior photos and room shots were due to a faulty internet connection or because Cooper Square was going for a minimalist web design.

Well, the hotel folk wrote us on Friday to let us know that:

We were having a few programming issues this last week as updates were being made to the site. Unfortunately this was affecting the loading sequence making it difficult to navigate.

The issues have been resolved now and the site is fully functioning.

And indeed it is. The square box on the home page is now clickable and it takes you to a larger box where you can find information on the hotel, its rooms, its restaurants and its venues (the garden and the penthouse suites.) All of these have larger (but not large) photos, except the restaurant and bars section, which is promising information "soon."

We have to say we're quite relieved to see this. Now all we need is Thompson Hotels to start showing bigger room photos on their website and we might have a boutique hotel trend that actually benefits the hotel guest.

Tags: / / /

Cooper Square's Minimalist Website Has Minimal Functionality

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 27 Cooper Square [map], New York, NY, United States

| March 19, 2009 at 10:24 AM | 1 Comment

For so long, we've always said the Wynn Las Vegas website was the worst of hotel websites out there. While pretty enough, the site takes forever to load and then Steve's voice comes from out of nowhere to tell you what you're looking at. It's probably one of the most dreaded websites on our list.

But the website for Cooper Square might just surpass Wynn in godawfulness.

Upon landing on the home page, a square box and two arcs pull your focus to the center of the screen. A few options like the hotel's address, reservations system and the all-important "press" are listed on the left-hand side. But what about room descriptions? Photos? Amenities? Ah friends, you have to click on the square box if you want to learn more.

more ›

Tags: / / / / /

Versace Dubai Gets a Website, Will Have Simulated "Scuba Lagoon"

| March 13, 2009 at 11:01 AM | 1 Comment

It's been a while since we've heard anything from the infamous Versace Hotel in Dubai, which, upon completion in April 2010, will pamper its literally well-heeled guests with a refrigerated sand beach. Now that they have only slightly more than a year to go, the Palazzo Versace Dubai has launched a website, hired interior decorators and saved us the trouble of tripping to Dubai by posting their own construction photos to the site.

more ›

Tags: / / / /

Morgans Hotel Group Relaunches New (Gasp!) User-Friendly Website

| March 5, 2009 at 2:11 PM | 1 Comment

As the economy gets worse, could it be that Hotel Websites are getting better? Yesterday, we heard music we actually liked on Vikram Chatwal Hotels website and today we peeked in at the newly relaunched Morgans Hotel Group website which has gone from minimalist cool layout with barely discernible text to a colorful, splashy and dare we say, informative and interactive design?

Indeed, the front page is happy and welcoming and actually says a lot more about the hotel's commitment to art and design (including its own interior designers like Marcel Wanders) rather than just putting forth snoozy listing of its hotels and their amenities.

And because this is the company that also brought us the "Recess Is On" promotion, current deals and offers are also promoted on the front page like the Stay Big packages, available in different cities.

more ›

Tags: / / / /

Finally, Hotel Website Music That Doesn't Suck

| March 4, 2009 at 1:45 PM | 1 Comment

You know what's the worst? The music on hotel websites. It's a vicious cross-breed of elevator music, lounge beats and a "grown-up film" soundtrack — and since we spend an inordinate amount of time on hotel websites every day, our patience for said music is, well, thin. Very thin. On more than one occasion, we've left a tab on our browser open to the Thompson site for hours without realizing it — with the sound on — and we're certain that the music both infiltrated our dreams and kick-started a slow descent into crazytown.

However! One of us was on Vikram Chatwal's VCH Hotels' website the other day and, inexplicably, caught herself doin' a little head-bop to the music. Another one of us visited the same site this morning and, upon further discussion we both agreed that, um, we seem to have stumbled upon some hotel website music that doesn't suck. After some major Google sleuthing, we found out that the jam we're diggin' at the VCH site is a song by The Incredible Moses Leroy called "1983."

more ›