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Tags: Hotel Lust / Italy Hotels / Luxury Hotels / Royal Hotels / → All Tags
This Week In Hotel Lust: Villa D'Este, Lake Como
Views of the lake and villa
If comments made in recent months by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke are to be believed, then "the recession is very likely over." Most of us continue to scoff in disbelief, and inversely, there are others that may have missed the memo that the economy was in upheaval at all. We're talking about the well-monied types that have continued to swipe their Black AmEx cards with reckless abandon—on Michelin-rated dinners, sports cars, and certainly pricey vacations and hotel suites.
Even for those of us sans trust funds or Swiss bank accounts, reading about what's luxe in the hotel world proves to be endlessly entertaining. It could inspire fantasies about staying in the $15,000 Imperial Suite at Paris' Park-Hyatt Vendome, or lead to a few "you must be kidding me" laughs.
So, we're going to seek out exclusive resorts and amenities the world over and highlight what the luxury hotel world has to offer. Yes, we'll be confessing our Hotel Lust to you all, starting with the Villa D'Este in Italy.
Tags: O2 Hotels / Hotels-Near-O2 / London Hotels / Luxury Hotels / Paul McCartney / → All Tags
Where to Stay When Paul McCartney Plays in London on December 22
Are you one of the lucky people who bagged tickets to Paul McCartney at the O2 on December 22? We want to wrestle them from your hands are really pleased for you. So pleased that we’ll even help you out with where to stay.
But first, a little tutorial on how to get to and from O2.
If you’ve been to the O2, you’ll know it’s in the back end of beyond - otherwise known as North Greenwich. As such, there aren’t really any hotels on site (and if there were, you probably wouldn’t want to stay there – you want happy memories of Macca, after all). Do not fear though, because the place is linked up extremely well with the rest of London.
What’s crucial is that you don’t go by car. Yes, Macca probably will, but he’ll likely have a police escort or something. You, as a mortal, will find it trickier. We tried to drive to the O2 from central London once and it took two hours and a relationship-testing argument. We could have walked in that time.
Public transport links are excellent, though. The easiest, and most fun way, is to get a boat down the Thames with Thames Clippers. They run a special O2 Express service from Waterloo Pier, in front of the London Eye, to the QEII Pier at the O2, which they lay on for special events – like Macca. A return journey is bookable a month before the event, costs £12, and although it’s pricey, it’s very classy – everyone gets a seat, thanks to safety regs, and you can get champagne with your ticket for £7.50 more.
Tags: Checking In On / Hotel Renovations / Hotel Reopenings / Fairmont Hotels / London Hotels / Luxury Hotels / → All Tags
The Savoy Will Finally Reopen In April Or May Next Year
If it seems like years since The Savoy closed its doors for its £100m restoration, that’s because it, um, is. It closed in December 2007, and was supposed to reopen 16 months later, but of course, 16 months in hotel speak is double the length of normal human time.
But, hallelujah, it looks like we’re coming to the end of the process - Fairmont just announced that they expect it to reopen in Spring 2010. And when we quizzed them what counts as spring, they said April or May. Here’s hoping!
We’re not sure what’s taken all the time up, but they’re adding a new two-bedroom Royal Suite, "remodeling" the River Restaurant, "relaunching" the River Suites, and adding a new bar, the Beaufort, and a rooftop swimming pool. Dare we hope it’s an infinity pool overlooking the Thames?
Tags: Deal Or No Deal / Leading Hotels of the World / Paris Hotels / Hotel Deals / Luxury Hotels / → All Tags
Here's Your Chance to Stay at the Ritz Paris For Slightly Less Than Normal
It used to be something of a tradition for Londoners to hop on the Eurostar for a quicky weekend in Paris – especially when it came to winter romance. But it obviously isn’t going so well at the moment, thanks to the insanely strong euro: Eurostar is currently bombarding London with ads, and Parisian hotels seeing to be flinging out special offers by the day.
Anyway, if you can bear the dreadful exchange rate, there are deals to be had. This week the Leading Hotels of the World group have jumped on the bandwagon, offering up to 30% off – which, when you’re talking hotels like the Ritz or the Crillon, is a pretty big deal.
With the Leading in Paris offer, starting rates are down to €590 at the Hotel Le Bristol, €550 at the Ritz, €530 at the Hotel de Crillon and €589 at the Hotel Fouquet’s Barrière. Slightly cheaper are the Hotel Lancaster from €370, or the Hotel Raphael from €365 (the Raphael will also chuck in breakfast and a special “welcome gift).
Tags: Luxury Hotels / A Rare World / → All Tags
'A Rare World' Offers a Rare Look at Luxury Hotels
Looking for some new aspirational travel literature to add to your collection as you hop from budget hotel to budget hotel? Then try A Rare World. The luxury travel magazine is published ten times a year at a hefty subscription price of $199. But unlike most magazines, A Rare World actually offers an electronic version (in a PDF file) to go along with your print edition. In fact, the PDF is actually emailed to you first. Then the print version will show up in the mail a few days later.
So what's inside? As expected, luxury hotel reviews. Glancing through a preview edition, which is free and you can obtain one yourself here, we saw a few detailed hotel reviews on South African Safari Lodges which continue to be all the rage as well as a play-by-play review of The Montage Beverly Hills. Meanwhile, the full edition of the first issue goes inside the luxury hotels of Paris from the classics to the boutiques to the trendy new designer hotels. Le Sigh.
What's good here is that the magazine doesn't rely on large pictures to tell the story, like a lot of other luxury travel mags. Sure, photos are very important (ARW uses only stock hotel photos) but there's a lot of information in the reviews too, including a helpful Do's and Don'ts section for each review.
Tags: Hotel Video Tours / Napa Valley Hotels / Luxury Hotels / Green Hotels / → All Tags
Inside Napa's Bardessono Hotel
Last week, we had the good fortune to spend a glorious fall day amongst the sun-warmed vines and valleys of Napa. Between wine-tasting rendezvous, we managed to invoke the tiniest bit of professionalism and took a tour of MTM Luxury Lodging’s new Bardessono Hotel in Yountville, which aims to be the greenest hotel in America. By the looks of it, they’re well on their way, but judge for yourself based on our video tour of one of their rooms.
Besides conventional eco-resort initiatives like LEED certification, controls that turn off the electrical systems when guests leave a room, and an organic garden that provides produce for the restaurant, the resort has also forged ahead with several distinct environmental practices that set it apart from other hotels.
Tags: Celebrity Scoop / Lady Gaga / Andaz Hotels / London Hotels / Luxury Hotels / → All Tags
Lady Gaga Gets Her Game On Underground at Andaz London
Our first thought when we saw these pictures from Lady Gaga’s latest photoshoot: ah, the rapier wit strikes again.
But when we looked beyond the blinding symbolism of a Hello Kitty chastity belt covering her bitsies, we spied something rather familiar. “Why, isn’t that the underground Masonic Temple in the bowels of Andaz London?” we asked ourselves.
So we asked the folk at Andaz. And yes, it is.
Tags: Hotel Spas / Kempinksi Hotels / Bruges Hotels / Luxury Hotels / → All Tags
No More Creepy Couples Massages at the Kempinski Dukes Palace
We’ve been itching to go to the fabulous-looking Kempinksi Dukes’ Palace in a 15th-century castle in Bruges since it opened, and every time we hear some more news about it, we get closer to opening up our wallets. This time it’s the new spa menu taking our fancy.
It’s using the French Thalgo line (nice) for some pretty well-priced treatments including a Detox (scrub, detox gel, sauna and massage, €85) for after you've gone overboard on the local chocolate, and the cozy-sounding Mother’s Cocoon (massage, facial and foot treatment, €140) for the preggers among you.
Best of all, they’re making an admirable break from the creepy couple’s massage – their Harmony for Two treatment (€120) is being sold to "mothers and daughters or friends".
Tags: Sweet Suites / Luxury Hotels / Dorchester Collection Hotels / Beverly Hills Hotels / → All Tags
The Beverly Hills Hotel To Get Newer, Posher Bungalows
We are suckers for old luxury hotels and the Beverly Hills Hotel is one of our favorites, not just because of its long history with silver screen stars or the guaranteed celeb sightings in the hotel's coffee shop but also because of the luxe bungalows that have been frequented by icons such as Marilyn Monroe (Bungalow #1), John Lennon and Yoko Ono (#9) and our personal fave, Phyllis Nefler.
The Pink Palace has 21 Bungalows in total (in addition to 200 rooms in the main building) and once you've stayed in one, you'll find it really hard to want to stay in the main building again. The bungalows feel like your own little apartment in the impressive 90210-zipcode rather than a standard hotel room. Yes, the furnishings might be a little too grand or fancy for your tastes but hello, this is Beverly Hills. And PS, the bathrooms are enormous.
Tags: Hotel Delays / Marrakech Hotels / Luxury Hotels / → All Tags
The Royal Mansour Marrakech Gets Delayed
It's the first time we think this has ever happened on HotelChatter--a hotel actually emailed us to tell us they would not be opening on time. Usually, we find out through the online reservations system but the Royal Mansour Marrakech decided to tell folks up front. Here's a statement from their PR rep:
We wanted to let you know that the opening of Royal Mansour Marrakech has been delayed until the second quarter 2010. We are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you, and realize that this uncertain opening date may mean forgoing coverage. The decision was taken to not open until everything was tip top perfect – we are certain this project will be a true gem when it does finally open. We will keep you posted and be in touch as we receive any and all updates.
When the hotel does finally open, it will have 53 luxury riads for guests to stay in starting at €1,500 ($2,100). If you want the fanciest riad then you're looking at €20,000 ($27,900) a night.
Since King Mohamed VI also owns the Mansour, we're guessing he's letting his friends know personally about the delay.
Tags: Celebrity Scoop / London Hotels / Luxury Hotels / → All Tags
The May Fair Was a Hit With the Celebs Last Night
Last night was quite the starfest for the May Fair Hotel last night. 50 Cent was staying there, in between driving round London in a Rolls Royce and racking up £75k bar bills.
Footballers Ashley Cole and Rio Ferdinand were there as well – they produced the film Fiddy was there to promote. And so was Mel B, who was in town for the launch party of British Airways’ direct London-Vegas flights.
Looks like Mel is on the hotel’s ambassador scheme which lets celebs stay at hugely reduced rates in return for plugging it and being photographed at it. And boy does this woman give them their money’s worth. Not only did she step out in two spangly dresses (she hit the film premiere before the BA party), but last time she was there, she was photographed groping her friend in the bar. Nice work lady! Something tells us she’s got a free bed for life there. We like to think it’s the pink Schiaparelli suite.
Tags: Hotel Openings / Utah Hotels / Luxury Hotels / Luxury Resorts / Zen Hotels / los angeles / → All Tags
Canyon Country Finds Its Zen With New Amangiri Resort
Mention zen meditation and Sanskrit names, and canyon country (the Utah-Arizona border, to be exact) isn't the first thing that comes to mind. But when it comes to choosing between an ashram and pilates classes at a resort, we'll take what's behind door number two, thanks.
With last week's opening of the Amangiri (which in Sanskrit means "peaceful mind"), the choice between East and West has become non-existent. The 34-guest suite resort has landed smack dab in the middle of towering rock formations and national parks, made possible by an Act of Congress that legally allows for the swap of private and Federal land.
The Amangiri belong to the Amanresorts family of Singapore, also known for operating hotels in East Asia. For those looking to do big thinking—or no thinking—amidst a natural backdrop, there's an entire menu of OM-inducing activities to choose from. Hydro and color therapy? Check. Yoga? Check. Stargazing on secluded sky terraces? Check.
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