Tag: Hotel Woes
View All TagsHotel Woes / Hotel News / Hotel Restaurants / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
And Another Hotel Restaurant Fails To Launch
Despite a last ditch attempt last month to re-invigorate the space with some leather banquettes and a large communal table, Ellabess, The Nolitan's restaurant, has closed until further notice. A post on Eater confirms that the owners hope to come up with something new by this spring, though for now the plan seems unclear.
Bizarrely, this news comes just three weeks after the abrupt closing of Pillar & Plough over at Hotel Williamsburg. Granted, those guys are in the process of transitioning to new ownership, so they're (kind of) off the hook. But what's the Nolitan's excuse? As far as we know, nothing about the hotel itself has changed. And after all that build-up, too...
Hotel News / Hotel Housekeepers / Hotel Woes / Manhattan Hotels / DSK / Sofitels / Hotel Employees / → All Tags
It's Probably Never A Good Idea To Sneak Up On A NYC Hotel Maid
The New York Times ran an interesting piece today on a contract reached between union members and the major NYC hotels that employ them. Among other tidbits, we learn that hotels will soon be providing employees with their own personal panic buttons.
The decision, clearly influenced by a certain scandal at Sofitel New York involving a certain IMF chief last year, is a sure victory for housekeepers and room-service waiters and waitresses everywhere.
As long as they don't get button-happy, of course, and start panicking every time a door slams shut. But still, the less we see of this kind of thing, the better.
Hotel Theft / Four Seasons Hotels / Hong Kong Hotels / Hotel Ballrooms / Hotel Woes / Hotel Crime / → All Tags
How A £1 Million Emerald Ring Went 'Missing' At the Four Seasons Hong Kong
Where: 8 Finance Street, Hong Kong
Though it goes completely against the sense of security that hotels want you to feel, jewelry and fancy hotel suites are a prime target for thieves. Especially jewelry inside a fancy hotel suite.
So we're not entirely sure what crossed the mind of Swiss jeweler Caroline Gruosi-Scheufele when she absentmindedly left her £1 million emerald ring in a bathroom at Four Seasons Hong Kong last week. According to the Daily Mail, Gruosi-Scheufele left the ring, which was bought by her parents in 1963, in the bathroom at the hotel's fourth-floor ballroom during an event. A busy, busy event, with lots of people rushing in and out of the bathroom. By the time she raced back to the bathroom (six minutes later), the ring was nowhere to be found. Quick work!
Hotel Booking Sites / Public Hotels / Hotel Sales / Room Rates Gimmicks / Chicago Hotels / Hotel Woes / → All Tags
The Public Was Failed By Public Chicago's Online Reservation System
OK. It happened. The Public Chicago's $1 sale came and went in the blink of an eye, and by the end of it (five minutes later), we were left still clutching our measly dollar, and cursing the hotel gods above. But it eases our conscience—slightly—to know we weren't the only ones duped into thinking we were actually going to score a $1 hotel room yesterday.
So what was going on? Well, just like with any place that gets inundated with too many customers all at once (eBay, Ticketmaster, Missoni for Target), some people simply got lost in the shuffle. Of course, some actually did end up scoring reservations. And hooray for them. But understandably, we were a little curious to know how—three times in a row—one minute we managed to snag a room, and the next, it was gone. So we spoke with a Public Chicago manager to find out her take on the whole melee. See below to read her response!
Hotel Woes / Naked Hotel Guests / Hotel Drugs / Boston Hotels / Mandarin Oriental Hotels / → All Tags
More Naked, Drugged-Up Guests At Mandarin Oriental Boston
Exposing yourself in your own room is sooo lame. Lobbies are where it's at now.
We're beginning to wonder: are hotel guests getting so bored cooped up in their rooms that they feel the need to take their private, behind-closed-doors activities into more public spaces like hallways and lobbies? Because it seems like that's the way things are going.
Just last week, we lost one pro skater to the netherworld of drug-induced hotel streaking. And we certainly can't forget November's Spice King incident at the Four Seasons New York. Now, Boston gets a taste of the nudie action. Specifically, at the Mandarin Oriental Boston, where one half-clothed guest reportedly assaulted an employee, then head-butted a police officer and told him outright he was high on "cocaine, and plenty of it."
Hotel News / Hotel Woes / Hotel Keycards / Hotel Keys / Helsinki Hotels / Starwood Hotels / Hotel Lawsuits / → All Tags
How To Sleep With Practically Anyone At a Starwood Hotel
Hotel Kamp in Helsinki is owned by Starwood
The New York Daily News is reporting on a lawsuit between Wall Street banker Alison Fournier and Starwood Hotels, who gave an unknown man the key to Fournier's Helsinki hotel room, after he explained to the Front Desk that he was her husband. Creepy! And kinda unbelievable.
The surveillance video depicts an American man showing up at the Hotel Kamp's Front Desk, drunkenly explaining he had been locked out from his wife's room, and walking away with the key. Minutes later, he entered Fournier's room, took his clothes off and got into bed with her. Creepy again! Though half-asleep, and alone, Fournier immediately realized what was going on and ran straight out of the room. Starwood has called the event "very unfortunate" and is looking into the facts before taking any further action.
Like, um, an apology?
Hotel Drugs / Party Hotels / Hotel Woes / Skater Hotels / Affinia Hotels / Hotel Art / → All Tags
Pro Skater Smokes Weed, Runs Naked Through The Affinia Shelburne
We wish we could have been there to help professional skater Jerome Rogers pick a more discreet hotel for his recent all-night drug binge in NYC. But then again, if smoking weed and getting high on PCP are the only things on your mind, we suppose any old room with four walls and a bed will do. Which (kind of) explains how Rogers ended up naked in the 11th-floor hallway of Affinia Shelburne at 9am yesterday morning.
When neighboring guests heard yells coming from outside their rooms, they peeked out to discover Rogers, high as a kite, ripping art from the walls and proclaiming he was the son of God. Fair enough. But maybe instead, he could have basked in his divinity from the comforts of his own room? Cozied up to a nice buckwheat pillow ordered off the Affinia comfort cart?
See what we mean? He really should have called us first...
Hotel Woes / Hotel Key Cards / Manhattan Hotel / New Year's Eve Hotels / → All Tags
Gramercy Park Hotel Jumps On The Malfunctioning Key Card Trend
Woah, we thought one New Year's Eve hotel lockout was bad enough, but this second one is making us super glad we stayed home on Saturday night. And really, the timing couldn't be worse for Gramercy Park Hotel, who narrowly avoided a complete catastrophe in October with the whole plummeting elevator business. Just as they were starting to win back our confidence, their key card system goes and crashes. At midnight. Leaving guests stranded in the hallways for seven hours.
The NY Post reports that 200 guests were shut out on New Year's Eve right after midnight when all of their key cards stopped working. And though the Marriott Denver Tech Center managed to address a similar issue (in that instance, with over 3,000 guests) in under four hours, GPH apparently struggled from around midnight until 7am, having to individually reset each guest's key for the room they'd already checked into.
Hotel Spas / Maldives Hotels / Hotel News / Luxury Hotels / Hotel Woes / → All Tags
Hotel Massages are Under Attack in The Maldives
Update, 1.6.12: The ban has been lifted! If you've got an upcoming trip scheduled to the Maldives, you may have to rethink your massage options.
The Tourism Ministry in the country has ordered all hotels and resorts to close their spas immediately after a conservative Islam party staged a protest accusing the spas of being brothels and a front for prostitution.
As with all extreme measures, there are some politics behind this decision. Apparently, several members of the opposition party own hotels and resorts so closing their spas is sort of a way to "stick it to them."
But the hotels and resorts aren't having it.
Hotel Woes / Tech Hotels / Marriott Hotels / Denver Hotels / Hotel Key Cards / Hotel Parties / New Year's Eve Hotels / → All Tags
New Year's Eve at Marriott Denver Tech Center Ends In Major Technology Fail
Of all the New Year's Eve parties that took place in hotels on Saturday night, this might be the most action-packed one we've heard about so far. Spread out across two neighboring hotels, the Hyatt Denver Tech Center's "White Rose Gala" and the Marriott Denver Tech Center's "Champagne Hotel" attracted thousands of midnight revelers. And for a while, it was smooth, champagne-fueled sailing.
Until midnight struck, and over 3,000 inebriated Marriott guests tried heading back to their rooms—only to discover they were all locked out! According to MSNBC, a computer error apparently crashed the hotel's entire key card database, and though pretty much everyone was drunk as a bicycle, and ready to collapse into their beds, they all had to wait until 3am to be let back into their rooms.
Hotel Noise / Celebrity Scoop / Celebrity Hotels / Movie Set Hotels / Woody Allen / Hotel Woes / Hotel Music / → All Tags
Next Time You're Looking For Peace and Quiet, Try Not To Check Into the Same Hotel As Woody Allen
If being woken up at midnight by a screeching clarinet isn't your cup of tea, then you might want to avoid staying in the same hotel as Woody Allen. The famous director—and part-time jazz musician—opened up to the LA Times in a recent interview about his unconventional clarinet practice routines.
When Woody isn't commandeering whole churches in Europe, or having his driver find a secluded street where he can then lock the doors and play undisturbed, he often relies on midnight practice sessions right in his hotel room. And when you're Woody Allen flying all over the world to shoot movies and attend premieres, finding time (and space) to practice can be difficult. Interestingly, Woody's never really considered himself that great of a musician. Which does wonders for his ego. But maybe isn't so great for his next-door hotel room neighbors...
Hotel Woes / Hotel Fraud / Hotel Criminals / Cannes Hotels / France Hotels / Luxury Hotels / → All Tags
This Will Make You Think Twice Before Paying Cash For Your Next Hotel Stay
Ah, the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc. Its very name conjures images of sailboats on the French Riviera, pristine terry cloth robes, and Leonardo DiCaprio sunning himself by the infinity pool. One thing the idyllic hotel does not usually get associated with is fraud.
According to the Daily Mail, Jean-Claude Irondelle is being accused of "misappropriating" over EUR 740,000 euros—and that's just between 2003-2006. In total, it is unknown how much Irondelle may or may not have slipped into a separate account for himself during his 50-year run.
But a big piece of the puzzle lies in the fact that Irondelle frequently accepted payments in cash directly from the big A-listers that stayed the hotel, seeking VIP treatment. Well, at least we know someone benefited from that money...
Popular Stories
Follow Us
Hotels In: Africa | Asia | Australia | Caribbean | Europe | North America | South America
Our Publications:
Jaunted | HotelChatter | VegasChatter
