HotelChatter

Miscellaneous / → All Tags

Confessions of a Concierge

We love us some crazy concierge confessions!

Those match-makers, dream-makers, bed-shakers, hard-working men and women of the hotels, are really the only ones keeping us alive and blogging.

In the latest issue of Budget Travel (can you tell it just arrived in our mailbox?) we turned the page to 42 and began reading the latest confession from a concierge at a world-renowned luxury hotel.

From us to you, our concierge confession wrap up is after the click.

more ›

Miscellaneous / → All Tags

When A Brothel Goes Boutique

Where: Verversrui 17-19, Antwerp, Belgium

Antwerp officials are trying to keep their new "tolerance zone" safe and as far away from "Sin City" as they possibly can.

To wit, Frank De Coninck's Villa Tinto -- designed by Quinze&Milan. This place looks more like a designer boutique hotel than a bunny ranch.

Quinze&Milan worked on brothel plans with a cadre of designers including local politicians, law enforcement, and prostitutes. The local officials wanted something "trendy and unique" but also "hygienic, ergonomic, and safe." On the other hand, the hookers wanted red and black neon lights that would illuminate the women inside the display windows but also hide blemishes.

The result was the Villa Tinto where up to fifty working girls can hone their craft.  Each girl's biometric data is stored in a security DB and a fingerprint reader serves as a room key. And of course, there is a panic button in every room that alerts the police.

And yes, you can get rooms by the hour.

Related Stories:
·   Villa Tinto [Official Site]
·   Upmarket House of Pleasure [We Make Money Not Art]

Miscellaneous / → All Tags

Hotel Bed Wars Update

Is it because you might find yourself lying on a mattress of unknown age that probably has had more sexual experiences than you ever will? Is it because you can hear the nasal tone of infomercials from the neighbors TV? Is it that you just can't sleep in hotels?

Hotels are currently battling a variety of non-industry related factors: high prices, the weather, gas prices, and insomnia.

Regarding the later, hotels continue to come up with new comfort and gimmicks that soon become industry standard. Who are the leaders of the pack.

Westin Hotels:
The leader of the pack. If you haven't heard of their heavenly mattresses, then you aren't traveling. They are now boasting an impressive all-white pillow top mattress cover, 3 sheets (!), comforter, duvet, and 5 pillows. If that sentence didn't put you to sleep, try the real thing.

Crowne Plaza:
A comparably bedding combo to the Westin (offering 7 pillows, and 2 sheets). Each Crowne offers at least one floor for those weary travelers who can't deal with wasted vacationers or kids. If they don't call with your wake up call, you get your money back.

As with other hotels, the Crowne also offers a sleep pack which includes everything from ear plugs, to sleep enhancing CD.

Seems like the hotel industry is really curtailing any and all sleep problems...maybe they will come up with an effective solution for snoring.

Related Stories:
·   Hotels focus on a good night's sleep [Ehotelier]
·   Bed Wars Rage Into 2005 [HotelChatter]

Miscellaneous / → All Tags

Four Seasons First Residential Cruise Ship

The Four Seasons is going ocean.

The upscale hotel chains first residential cruise ship is set to sail in the fall of 2007.

Purchasers will have the opportunity to time share or buy a cabin outright. Both options will offer cruisers 1,336 to 3434 square foot cabins, spa treatments, personal chefs, and all the other fat cat Four Seasons indulgences you know and love.

Ports of call will include: Norway, Iceland, Venezuela, and various Gulf of Mexico ports among others.

Related Stories:
·   Ocean Residences [Four Seasons Site]
·   Sail the High Seasons [Travel & Leisure]

Miscellaneous / → All Tags

Shopping Bag Rooms

Ever wish you could live in a hotel? Not necessarily for the service (get a maid if you are THAT lazy), the amenities (it's called a condo), or the concierge service (Google)--but for the furnishings? Home is great, but a great hotel room will feel like the home you always wanted but just haven't quite pieced together. Enter "hotel-at-home."

Whether they advertised it or not, hotels have been selling their wares for years, but now they are not just selling bathrobes and ash trays, but linens, beds and sofas. Westin Hotels and Resorts started a campaign five years ago with Heavenly Beds. The marketing is intense and ingenious--a bit of luxury for the weary traveler who finds their hotel bed ten times more comfy than their bed at home. Westin now has an entire home furnishings store to peruse.

The trend has caught on.

You can now shop directly in your hotel room--maybe your suite's area rug would look fantastic in your breakfast nook at home. Hawaiian hotel guests want to know where they can get the Hula-dancer beaded curtain in their Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel room. They also want to purchase anything pink. The candle holders at the Mai Tai Bar are very popular among the guests at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

Our favorite thing a guest has purchased as a result of staying in a hotel:

Joyce Matsumoto of the Halekulani resort in Waikiki said one man liked the smell of the hotel's detergent so much he began ordering his own the same way the hotel did: in 208-litre drums.

Related Stories:
·   Bringing the Hotel Home [Vancouver Sun]

Miscellaneous / Vikram Chatwal / → All Tags

What Keeps Vikram Chatwal Up At Night?

NY "Hotelier" Vikram Chatwal seems to be feeling the heat as his bachelor days come to an end (Feb 06 is wedding month).

Vik got all philosophical with an Indian newspaper this week, stating:

I have to say that I'll miss not bringing home a girl at night

Our advice? If you still have delusions ambitions of becoming the "first Sikh billionaire", you might want to get all that girl bringing home stuff out of your system now, or your soon-to-be wife might soon own all three of your NY hotels.

Hey wait a second, does this mean we will have to wait until after the wedding for the opening of Night Hotel on W. 45th?

Most curious.

Related Stories:
·   I will miss not bringing home a girl at night [DNA India]
·   Night Will Complete Vikram's Trilogy [HotelChatter]
·   Vikram Chatwal Coverage [HotelChatter]

Miscellaneous / → All Tags

Going Up?

The essential part of any hotel stay is the room. But what's even more essential and often not discussed is the transportation to the rooms. Yes, the elevator. If you travel light and/ or suffer from elevator-phobias, you may not have the appreciation for hotels' lifts.

Some elevators will shock you
Boulderado, Boulder, Colorado, USA
This historic hotel has great views of the Rockies from all the rooms, but getting there may be treacherous. If you happen to walk at a normal gate and press the elevator button, you will receive a horrible shock. To avoid the static electricity, we recommend marching. Don't bother talking to the front desk about it, they will start telling you how they get shocked every time the answer the phone.

Some elevators will inspire you
The Hotel Alfonso XIII, Sevilla, Spain
You probably won't notice the elevators surrounded by such opulence. Moorish architecture, wood paneled doors, need we say more?

Some elevators will make you wait. And wait. And wait.
Hotel 71, Chicago, Illinois, USA
It's a trendy hotel, recently updated, affordable, and in a great location. Four elevators for hundreds of rooms allows the single traveler plenty opportunity to make new friends--or enemies while you impatiently tap your feet on the leopard-print clad floors. The lighting is dim, so be sure to count right or you may lose your new friends and make even more enemies.

Related Stories:
·   Boulderado Hotel Reviews [TripAdvisor]
·   Alfonso XII Hotel Reviews [TripAdvisor]
·   Hotel 71 Reviews [TripAdvisor]

Miscellaneous / → All Tags

Finding Hotels for the Fit

What do celebs, jocks, and weight watchers all have in common? They love the gym. Or maybe they love to hate the gym. In any case, hotel gyms are notoriously not standardized--a hotel in Florida might consider a "fully equipped gym" to be an exercise bike, floor fan, and some dumbbells, while a "fully equipped gym" at a California hotel might offer spin-classes, trainers, and Internet on your elliptical.

Sound familiar? Check out Fit Hotel Directory a new website that brings fitness and lodging together. As it's still relatively new, there aren't tons of listings (only US hotels are currently available...the rest of the world is launching in Jan 2006)...but once the travelin' fitness guru's catch on, it should take off.

The accommodations listed are detailed and include photos. Who knew you could get private trainers at The Peninsula Beverly Hills?

Related Stories:
·   Find Hotels with Fit Hotel Directory [News Wire]

Miscellaneous / → All Tags

Halloween Hotels Around The World

Turns out Halloween is universal. No matter where in the world you happen to be you can find a good trick-or-treat if you knock at the right hotel door. Who knew?

Check it out:

United States
Good ol' Salem Mass
Home of the witch trials, and spooky New England headless-horseman-esque experiences. Check out the happenings at The Hawthorne Hotel that claims to host "the biggest costume party in town!" Keep in mind, town is rather small so the "biggest" could mean two guys in an Ortiz jersey.

England
If you want a scare but don't feel like gussying up as Frankenstein or a mummy for the occasion, why not just camp out in a real haunted manor. Check out the uniquely named Old Hall Hotel in Sandbach, Cheshire for a historical haunting. Note their website tool bar-- "Ghosts!!!" is the option next to weddings and events, and there is even a Ghost webcam.

Asia
The Hyatt Seoul is hosting a special Halloween package that includes admission to JJ Mahoney's Halloween party--think costume contests, think raffell prizes, think florescent lighting and crazy pumpkins.

Related Stories:
·   Hawthorne Hotel Reviews [TripAdvisor]
·   The Old Hall Hotel Reviews [TripAdvisor]
·   Grand Hyatt Seoul Reviews [TripAdvisor]

Miscellaneous / → All Tags

The Collector Of Do Not Disturb Signs

Ok, so this guy is crazy as as a loon.

How else do you explain this:

"Do Not Disturb" signs are often overlooked even though some are very attractive and original in design. I started collecting them quite by chance and it soon became an addicting hobby. Sadly, these signs may soon become a thing of the past as more and more hotels are replacing them with hi-tech electronic devices.

Check it out, the collection even made Guinness.

Of course we secretly think this collection rocks.

Hat tip to daddytypes for pointing us to this collection.

Related Stories:
·   My Collection of Do Not Disturb Signs [dndcollector]
·   Rhymes With Nooner [daddytypes]

Miscellaneous / → All Tags

Hotel St. James Question

A HotelChatter reader asks:

What can you tell me about the St. James Hotel, on West 45th St.

I am beginning to think I have booked myself into a "hellish" place.

Your opinion, please!

Thanks~ [name dedacted]

What can we tell you? Hotels in NYC are god damn expensive. If you want to stay at a quality hotel in Times Square these days you are going to pay upwards of $300 a night.

Hotel St. James is a Times Square budget hotel going through some renovations. That means rooms are even dirty and dingier than normal, and as we all know, construction crews don't always keep things spotless. Furthermore, we were unable to locate an official hotel web site, which always kinda freaks us out for some reason.

The mostly Polish Hotel St. James staff can be extremely friendly, but we don't know if you will be in the mood for Polish hospitality if your room is falling apart.

Our advice?  Be sure to call ahead (212-221-3600) and try to get yourself in one of the fully renovated rooms--hey at least things will be new right?

If you are a germophobe you may also want to pack clean towels and a clean sheet just in case--yeah, this is the state of hoteling on a budget in NY.

Caveat emptor, always.

Have a hotel question for us?  Ask away.

Related Stories:
·   St. James Hotel Reviews [TripAdvisor]
·   Trying to Score a New York City Hotel Under $200 [HotelChatter]

Miscellaneous / → All Tags

Charity Hotels, Amsterdam, and Fiddy?

Charity Hotels is the brainchild of Ed van Thijn, the President of the Dutch Association of Travel Companies and former Mayor of Amsterdam, so it is hard to figure out if it is genius, or one of those half-baked ideas that comes after an afternoon of overindulgence in the local brownies.

According to the site, the idea is this:

5% on every reservation booked through www.charityhotels.com is automatically donated to charity. You as a customer will NOT pay any extra for this good cause and as such, your hotel reservation will NOT become more expensive.

Charityhotels.com donates to the Red Cross, Stop Aids Now, the Heart Fund, the Cancer Fund, World Wildlife Fund, Amnesty International, UNICEF, Memisa, Oxfam and many more.

We haven't played around with the site much yet, but seeing if heartstrings play a part in hotel reservations is an experiment we are all for.

Oh, and our favorite part? Scroll down to "site sponsors".  Look who is first on the list--none other that Fiddy.  We knew about G-Unit's legendary hotel antics, but we had no idea they were big softies for pandas. Of course it is no doubt an advertising text link anomaly, but nonetheless.

Related Stories:
·   Charityhotels donnez pendant que vous dormez [Les Exploreres]
·   50 Cent Does Iceland [HotelChatter]