HotelChatter

Santa Barbara Hotels / LA Times / Budget Hotels / → All Tags

Can You Really Get Hotel Rooms in Santa Barbara for Under $100?

A beachside town that's home to famous folks like Rob Lowe won't be cheap, especially for sun-seeking, celeb-spotting tourists. Accordingly, there are lots of luxury hotels all up in SB, like Bacara Resort and the Four Seasons Biltmore. But the Los Angeles Times says it found five hotels where you could get a room for less than $100. We did some sleuthing to see if the too-good-to-be-true deals were legit.

To be clear the under-$100 deals are for weekdays only, though the weekend rates were still pretty low. The paper said that Blue Sands Motel's $79 weekday and $129 weekend starting rates, which check out.

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Hotel Restaurants / Andaz Hotels / Hollywood Hotels / LA Times / Hotel News / Hotel Burger Shops / → All Tags

Would You Fork Over $35 for a Burger at Andaz WeHo?

Where: 8401 Sunset Boulevard [map], West Hollywood, CA, United States, 90069

The new, swanky Andaz West Hollywood — the first US property from the Andaz chain — used to be the old Riot Hyatt. Accordingly, the bar and restaurant inside the hotel is called RH (R for Riot, H for Hyatt, yes) and the LA Times recently went to check the place out.

Now, let us take a moment to first mention one thing: rooms at the Andaz are down to $169. Does that necessarily mean you'll be paying reasonable prices for the grub and cocktails at RH? No, no it doesn't. Burgers here will run you a riot-inducing $35.

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Dubai Hotels / Hotel Reviews / LA Times / Atlantis Resorts / → All Tags

Perhaps Atlantis Dubai Isn't So Craptastic After All

Where: Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

It’s almost too easy talking trash about the Atlantis Dubai on Palm Jumeirah. You know the drill: man-made island, home to hostage Sammy the Shark, breeding ground for cash debauchery and craptastic service. The list goes on.

But! Either the Atlantis has hit its stride, or the hotel’s PR person is working overtime. Yes indeed, yesterday’s review in the LA Times is really quite flattering. Sure, the reviewer lands a few swipes at the “garish” nature and “eyesore” pink exterior. At one point, the writer likens the Atlantis theme to “stepping onto the set of a live version of ‘The Little Mermaid.’” (We suppose that’s a burn, but that actually makes the place more appealing in our book.)

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Motorcycle Hotels / Milwaukee Hotels / Hotel Hype / LA Times / → All Tags

The LA Times Goes Inside the Iron Horse Hotel

Where: 500 West Florida Street [map], Milwaukee, WI, United States, 53204

In April, we brought you a sneak peek of the Iron Horse Hotel, Milwaukee's "modern luxury boutique hotel" geared towards business travelers and motorcycle enthusiasts (it's a stone's throw from the Harley-Davidson Museum) slated to open September 1st.

We've seen the model pics of the old-furniture-factory-turned-hotel, but this week an LAT reporter went and got a tour of an almost-finished room. Despite the place being half done, she seemed to like what she saw.

She was particularly tickled about a 1907 sign from the Milwaukee Boiler Co which will grace the entrance to that sexy underground pool room (called The Boiler Room, natch).

She also assured us that the decor was tasteful and not packed full of black leather and Harley-themed stuff:

The hotel's motorcycling orientation is subtle. The entire subbasement is designed to house motorcycles, and the furniture in the lounge is leather, but overall the cycle theme, to a non-motorcyclist, is merely elegant.

Good. No tacky moustaches either, we hope.