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Kimpton To Have A Foursome In Chicago With The Hotel Palomar
On Monday, we went inside of Kimpton Hotels' newest property, the Ink48 Hotel in Manhattan. It had animal-print robes, free wireless internet, and pretty spacious rooms by New York standards; we liked it. This opening will hardly be the last in a while for Kimpton however, as in May 2010, they plan to open the Hotel Palomar over in Chicago, bringing another of their brands to the Windy City.
As it is, Chicago already has three other Kimpton Hotels: The Hotel Monaco, The Hotel Burnham, and The Hotel Allegro, so do they really need another?
The answer, after the jump.
Tags: Australia Hotels / Perth Hotels / Luxury Hotels / New Hotels / Amanresorts / → All Tags
Perth To Get A New, Old Six-Star Hotel
The Western Australian capital of Perth has its share of high-end hotels, but nothing that's claimed to be six-star luxury--until now. Well, until soon, because it's just been announced that Aman Resorts and friends are in talks to redevelop a key city site into a luxury hotel.
The Old Treasury Buildings are an historic part of downtown Perth and they've been empty for more than ten years now while everyone agreed on what should be done--being a heritage-listed site always makes it tricky. Now it looks like a slim tower will be added on to the back of the building and that will become the six-star hotel with up to 90 rooms.
The older part of the building will include shops, restaurants and apartments, and the most historic parts will be open to the public. No date set yet for when we'll be able to get a six-star night in Perth; in any case, we're six-star skeptics so we'll believe the luxury when we see it.
[Photo: redarbuts]
Tags: New Hotels / Curtis Bashaw / AC Hotels / → All Tags
The Chelsea AC "Isn't Just a Hotel With a Restaurant"
Curtis Bashaw describing guest reactions to The Chelsea
We had an opportunity during our stay at The Chelsea this weekend to catch up with Curtis Bashaw, the developer of The Chelsea and he gave us a tour of hotel including the as-yet unfinished portions of the hotel like Lite rooms, the Crystal Room, and the Sea Spa.
Since we had Curtis' undivided attention for a short while, we asked him a few questions that were on our mind:
Tags: New Hotels / Le Meridien Hotels / Starwood Hotels / Industry News / → All Tags
Le Meridien in Arizona So Not Happening Now
In one of the odder news stories about new hotels, the Hayden Ferry Lakeside development in Tempe, Ariz., which was to include condos, a hotel, retail and office space, has told Starwood's Le Meridien to take a hike.
The Valhalla Development Group, the developers of the project, are ready to have a groundbreaking in December, but Le Meridien isn't ready to commit to the project yet - so the developers decided to go with another 4-star hotel brand which has not yet been announced.
Tags: Hotel Openings / AC Hotels / New Hotels / Curtis Bashaw / Hotel Hype / → All Tags
AC's Chelsea Teases Us With Ribbon Cutting But At Least It's Partially Open
Last Friday The Chelsea, which is calling itself Atlantic City's first non-casino boutique hotel in decades had their ribbon cutting announcing their Grand Opening.. buuuuttt -- the real opening won't be until August 1st.
Huh?
Yep.. Guests have been staying at The Chelsea since the beginning of July, and the Chelsea's website has been taking reservations since then - but not all the rooms are finished, and none of the amenities are opening until August 1st.
Tags: Baccarat Hotels / Barry Sternlicht / Dubai Hotels / New Hotels / → All Tags
Dubai Gets Another Hotel Brand :: Baccarat Hotel & Residences
Now we can add Baccarat Hotel and Residences to Dubai's ever growing portfolio of hotels. Over the weekend, Starwood Capital and Mr. S himself, announced the Baccarat Hotel & Residences at Dubai Pearl.
For those who gave up keeping track of Dubai's developments years ago - Dubai Pearl is made up of retail, hotels, residences, and commercial components and is located right at the foot of the Palm Jumeriah (you know, the smaller of the 2 man-made islands in the shape of a palm tree.)
Tags: Beachfront Hotels / Boutique Beach Hotels / New Hotels / → All Tags
Boutique Hotels Jump The Shark; "Bungalow" To Open On Jersey Shore in 2009
Boutique hotels have finally made their way down to the Jersey Shore with Long Branch NJ's "Bungalow" currently under construction.
Bungalow probably won't open until Spring/Summer 2009 - but the plans call for a 24-room luxury hotel on the beach, a-la W Hotels. In fact, the developers of Bungalow are the same developers of the W Hotel Hoboken, and the design of the hotel will be contemporary luxury with attention being paid to the fact that it is a beachfront hotel.
Tags: AC Hotels / Hotel Hype / Green Hotels / New Hotels / → All Tags
Its Official :: Atlantic City Is Going Boutique Hotel Crazy
With the WaterClub's opening two weeks ago, and The Chelsea opening in a few weeks - we were getting nervous that there'd be nothing good to write about in Atlantic City, but by the saving grace of the Atlantic City Boutique Hotel Gods we found out about Prasada.
(Developers with bad comb-overs who exploit their daughter on billboards and magazine ads don't count.)
Prasada, being built by some company we've never heard of before, DiGeorge Atlantic, is due to open in 2010, and will be located right on the Boardwalk at Kentucky Ave. It's going to be a 50 story luxury condominium and boutique hotel complex, with 420 ocean front units. There are probably more units than that though since it is a 50 story tower.
Tags: Viva Vegas / New Hotels / → All Tags
Las Vegas: Moulin Rouge Casino - Take 2
First opened in 1955 on W. Bonanza Ave, near downtown Las Vegas as the first interracial casino hotel in Las Vegas, the Moulin Rouge only lasted 6 months. Apparently not even a star studded cast of Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis Jr., George Burns, Gracie Allen, and Jack Benny who all performed almost nightly, could not keep the doors open. Even though it lasted 6 short months because of financial problems - it made history by being the first hotel and casino in Las Vegas that allowed black and white gamblers, employees and hotel guests.
Since that time the hotel has sat unused, except for the filming of "Casino" in 1995 and in May 2003 the site was completely gutted by fire (except for its facade and sign) which was ruled as arson.
Tags: Hotel News / Hotel Industry / New Hotels / Hyatt Hotels / Andaz Hotels / → All Tags
Andaz, Another New Hyatt Brand
We highlighted a report last week that hotel chains had launched 24 new brands in the past 24 months, but Hyatt doesn't want to slow down the pace. They just announced the launch of new brand Andaz, with the first opening slated for this September in London. Another Andaz brand will open across from New York's Public Library on Fifth Avenue but no opening date has been set.
It seems Andaz is another case of out with the old (that's the Great Eastern Hotel atrium pictured here) and in with the new--some word that they say means "personal style."
Have you just yearned for a hotel that is not quite a Hyatt and not quite a Park Hyatt? To the marketing consultants who live and breathe this kind of thing, apparently those two brands are like ebony and ivory. They saw vast white space on their charts that needed to be filled in:
Hyatt is calling the Andaz brand an unpretentious upscale alternative focusing on "casual elegance" and "local identity," which it is positioning in between its Park Hyatt and Hyatt Hotel brands. CEO Mark Hoplamazian said in a statement that Hyatt's "worldwide customer base is looking for fresh, uncomplicated luxury that is timeless and gimmick free."
We've got to hand it to a corporate communications department that can put a new brand called "Andaz" and the words "gimmick free" in the same press release while still keeping a straight face.
[Photo: mole-volio]
Related Stories:
· Hyatt Unveils Luxury Brand With New York, London Plans [BTN Online]
· You're staying where? Hotel Chains launch 24 new brands [HotelChatter]
Tags: Hotel News / New Hotels / Hotel Industry / Hotel Openings / → All Tags
You're Staying Where? Hotel Chains Launch 24 New Brands
If you are feeling out of it because you don't recognize all those hotel brands on display in the U.S. city you're visiting, you're not alone. It's hard to keep track when an average of one new brand a month gets slapped on building signs. According to a study from PriceWaterhouseCoopers released last month, "there were a total of 24 new hotel brand launches in the U.S. in 2005 and 2006, which is the largest number of brand introductions in a two-year period since 1989."
The Wall Street Journal picked up on this interesting facet: "In luxury hotels alone, 11 brands have been launched, including the Waldorf-Astoria Collection by Hilton Hotels Corp., and LXR by an affiliate of Blackstone Group." (Story reprint here.)
Why so many new brands? We think it's partly because the old ones are viewed as, well, old. The PWC study highlights "the increasing representation and influence of Gen-Xers and Millennials." As in, "We want a hotel that's not geared to our buttoned-up dad."
Some of these brands we don't even recognize and some are little more than a hotel version of vaporware at this point (aloft is in the virtual world of Second Life, but not yet in the real world.) Others we've covered here in some fashion or another, including James, Palomar, and Hyatt Place--a rebranding of the old Amerisuites chain.
The downside of this is more confusion and further segmentation of an already super-segmented market for your lodging dollar. The upside is that there are more places for you to earn and use points in a hotel chain's frequent guest program.
[Photo: late night movie]
Related Stories:
· Number of New U.S. Hotel Brand Launches in 2005/2006 [PriceWaterhouseCoopers]
Tags: San Deigo Hotels / San Diego Hotel Reviews / New Hotels / Hotel Renovations / → All Tags
Overheard at the Sofia Hotel: Frisky Neighbors Quickie
Here is a nice romantic V-day story for you.
After a gut renovation, the old Pickwick Hotel in downtown San Diego has reopened as The Sofia Hotel. It's not exactly a new property--the architectural details of the 1926 building are the same--but the 212 rooms are newly tricked out and accompanied by a 24-hour yoga studio and fitness center. Leg lifts after partying in the Gaslamp Quarter, anyone?
Actually, that may not be too far off the mark, according to one of the few reviews we could find:
But speaking of noise, here is the worst part: the WALLS ARE PAPER THIN! We could hear the neighbour's conversations, almost perfectly. When the lights by the bed (attached to the wall) were turned on, the clicking sound came across perfectly clear. And last, but not least, we were involuntarily treated to an explicit "romantic interlude" by our frisky neighbours, despite their best attempts to keep quiet. Luckily for us, it was a quickie.
Thank God for small miracles.
Related Stories:
· The Sofia Hotel [TripAdvisor]
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