Tag: Open Thread
View All TagsOpen Thread / Hotel Reviews / TripAdvisor / → All Tags
Have You Ever Been Bullied Into Writing a Positive TripAdvisor Review?
During a routine sunrise Twitter-browsing session this morning, we came across this story about employees from the Irish-based Carlton Hotel Group being instructed by their managers to post fake reviews on TripAdvisor. Needless to say, the reviews had to be positive, posted from non-hotel IP addresses, and include photos that were "not professional" but "good quality." Because you've got to be subtle with these things!
Which is impossible to do when said staff memo, which was originally sent by one of Carlton's sales and marketing directors, gets leaked all over the internet. The wily, conniving underbelly of hotel management: exposed!
But this made us think. How many times have you been co-erced (or simply asked) by a hotel to post positive TripAdvisor reviews after your stay? Would a free upgrade or restaurant voucher give you more incentive to say something nice? Or do you generally not make a habit of posting reviews in the first place? We want you to weigh in, fellow lodgers!
HotelChatter 2011 Awards / OpenThread / Open Thread / Hotel Bathrooms / Hotel Toiletries / Hotel Amenities / → All Tags
Most Provocative OpenThread of 2011: Toiletry Dispensers—Eco-Friendly Or Unsanitary?
It's what you've been waiting all year for--The 2011 HotelChatter Awards! We'll be bringing you the best and worst of the year all day today and part of tomorrow. Agree or disagree with our picks? Air your thoughts in the comments below.
In August, we decided to resurrect an ever-popular topic of discussion—Toiletry Dispensers—and boy, were you guys full of ideas. This thread easily proved to be the most fruitful of the entire year, and why wouldn't it? What's a hotel bathroom without all its free soaps, gels, shampoos and creams?
But what we (and the hotels themselves) still haven't quite figured out is how to strike a balance between the eco-friendliness of dispensers and the luxury of individually packaged toiletries.
Many, many hotels—especially, smaller, more independent brands or sister brands—have gone over to the dark environmental side, installing dispensers in each and every shower (Aloft, Ace, Element, Viceroy and James, to name a few). As we see it, the conversation boils down to a question of sustainability: are hotels places to go and simply indulge, heedless of whatever environmental impact your stay might have? Or should we all be contributing to the evolution of greener, waste-efficient—and, of course, beautiful—hotels?
Open Thread / Eco-Friendly Hotels / Hilton Hotels / Hotel Beds / Hotel Pillows / Hotel Amenities / → All Tags
Would You Trust A Hotel That Recycles Its Pillows?
Forgive us if we're way behind on this, but we just learned about a machine called the Pillow-Vac, which looks kind of like a photocopier but instead of toner and ink, it gets filled with down clusters and feathers. Designed to clean and "renovate" old pillows, the Pillow-Vac literally eats up all the dust-filled, germ-ridden, lumpy innards, sifts out the crap, and then spits everything back out into a pristine, fluffy new "ticking" (the technical term for the shell of a pillow). Pretty neat, huh?
We were tipped off to the whole world of pillow rehabilitation by Hilton Concord in San Francisco, who just announced their own multi-million dollar renovation—including brand new sustainable programs, like cold-water dishwashing, food waste reduction, and of course, pillow recycling.
Open Thread / Hotel Bathrooms / Thailand Hotels / → All Tags
Should Colored Lighting Be Allowed In The Bathroom?
We've enjoyed seeing the way mood lighting has worked its way up as a kind of current hotel trend. Perhaps most notably seen inside Yotel's spaceship cabins, we've also documented the effects at The Water Club at the Borgata's rooftop spa and at the Peninsula Tokyo.
But should the trick be used in hotel bathrooms as well? @thomaswanhoff photographed and tweeted this show from a hotel in Thailand called the Glacier Hotel over the weekend. We're seriously digging the blue-lit sideways teardrop sink, but realize it might not be for everyone. In fact, a quick hop over to TripAdvisor shows at least one guest who, while approving of the hotel in general, couldn't get past the annoying blue light in the bathroom, which apparently can't be turned off.
Open Thread / Hotel Restaurants / Hotel Dining / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
Relais & Chateaux Sinks Its Teeth Into Manhattan's Culinary Scene
A quick look at the Facebook page of French-based luxury hotel group Relais & Chateaux reveals the kind of qualities they seek out in a hotel: Caractère, Courtoisie, Calme, Charme et Cuisine. But after a recent press event held in New York, it seems one of those Cs holds a little more weight than the others.
Celebrating the newest members to their grand collection, which include two top New York restaurants—Del Posto and Marea—plus The Surrey (which happens to be the first NYC hotel to be inducted in almost 20 years), the company's chairman declared that for R&C, "Food is at the heart of all of our properties. Without a good food experience, Relais & Chateaux wouldn't exist."
Open Thread / Hotel Bathrooms / Hotel Toiletries / Fairmont Hotels / Hotel Scents / Boston Hotels / Hotel News / Hotel Amenities / → All Tags
Would You Choose A Hotel Based On Toiletries?
Earlier this month, we learned about a new partnership between New York-based perfume house Le Labo and Fairmont Hotels—the biggest hotel undertaking Le Labo has ever attempted. We know how particular everyone can be about their hotel toiletries. Some like them sweet-smelling, some like them eco-friendly, and some don't bother with them at all.
But today, while reporting on the new Le Labo line at Fairmont, MSNBC happened to interview an individual who admitted he and his fiancee chose Boston's Liberty Hotel as the site of their wedding "in large part because they provide Molton Brown products in the rooms." Nevermind the actual, like...you know, beds.
Open Thread / Brooklyn Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel News / Mayor Bloomberg / Hotel Openings / → All Tags
Will Brooklyn Feel The Love From New York's Planned Hotel Room Boom?
It isn't gonna happen overnight. And we may not even start to feel the effects of Bloomberg's hotel boom until well after all 7,000 hotel rooms hit the market. Gradually, though, this big tourism industry push will have far-reaching effects on NYC's various neighborhoods.
Above is an exterior shot of the new Hotel Williamsburg, which opened on N 12th St at the beginning of this month. Places like this, throughout Brooklyn and Queens, were intended to draw penny-wise tourists out of Manhattan's overpriced hotel terrain. That original idea—to provide a decent, alternative hotel stay and still be within subway reach of Manhattan—might now be canceled out by all the new places opening up in Manhattan. So we ask: are outer boroughs getting the shaft?
Open Thread / Business Hotels / Hotel Life / Hotel Legends / Fairfield Inn / La Quina Hotels / TownPlace Suites / Marriott Hotels / → All Tags
Would You Live In A Hotel If You Could?
Making the internet rounds yesterday was the story of Joy Bricker, a 79-year-old woman who has spent the past ten years living at the TownePlace Suites Falls Church. And not 'living' as in, she commuted every week between the Virginia hotel and her home. No. The hotel itself was her home, and she loved it.
As she numbered off to the Washington Post the perks of living in a hotel—no utility bills, free breakfast, free wi-fi—we were suddenly struck with the idea that we, too, might enjoy the prospect of life in an extended stay property.
For starters, the cleanliness! We'd never have to do another house chore in our life. And if we chose our room carefully, we might wind up with a killer view right next to our bed—now that is something we'd never get tired of.
Hotel Brunch / Yotels / Manhattan Hotels / Odd Hotels / Hotel Breakfasts / Open Thread / → All Tags
Piecing Together Yotel, One Brunch Invitation At A Time
Last time we checked in on Yotel Times Square—aka the $10 hotel for ants—the lobby bathroom was suffering from some major door malfunctioning. They appear to have addressed the problem, and have since added a rather interesting moose to the lobby decor. But we were left wondering to ourselves: what is actually going on over there?
After opening to such fanfare with a mammoth performance piece that literally spanned 100 rooms, we haven't exactly heard much from them since. Oh, except for this bizarre Sunday brunch invitation that showed up in our inboxes yesterday. A baby, gnawing on a plate, with the caption: "Eat Yo! Brunch". Well, it's not a jelly doughnut pancake, but they have our attention!
Concierge Interviews / Hotel Trends / Hotel Lobbies / Open Thread / Concierges / Manhattan Hotels / Historic Hotels / → All Tags
Is The Hotel Lobby Just A Fading Trend?
To stay on top of the hotel game, we find it useful to check in with people behind the Front Desk. For this week's Concierge Interview with John Williams, who is the president of travel planning service, New York Guest, we were curious about the changing nature of hotel lobbies. Some are spectacles, some are popular hangout spots. But are they actually useful?
To find out, we sat down with John in (where else?) a lobby. Specifically, The Algonquin, whose concierges are staffed by New York Guest.
To start things off, what are some good lobbies to enjoy during fall in New York?
Go to the Mandarin Oriental—watch the leaves change in Central Park, or go to Dizzy's Club. Royalton is pretty good.
What about newer hotels?
With the new properties, a lot of them don't have space [for those types of lobbies]. They're not built that way anymore. It's a lobby: get 'em in, get 'em up to their room. So you really have to go back to the old-style properties like [The Algonquin].
Hotel Bathrooms / Open Thread / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Attendants / Fashion Week Hotels / → All Tags
Are Guys Better Tippers? The Hotel On Rivington Thinks So
Fashion's Night Out had us in a particularly chummy mood. The liquor was flowing, the male models were plentiful, and almost all of the major hotels were hosting parties. We ended up at an event honoring Tara Subkoff's "Imitation of Christ" collection. Settled into a roped-off section at The Hotel On Rivington's darkly-lit CO-OP restaurant, we bopped along to the music, and sipped cranberry cocktails. Then, we took a trip downstairs to the bathroom.
There, we were greeted by the friendly washroom attendant, John. John couldn't have been more helpful, guiding us tipsy party-goers safely towards our assigned stalls, smiling the whole time. John also indulged us with a little Q&A, and one of the burning questions we had on our mind was: "Who tips better down here? Guys or girls?"
"Definitely the guys, without a doubt," he replied without missing a beat.
Open Thread / Hotel Breakfasts / Hotel Tea / Hotel Coffee / Room Service / → All Tags
Do Tea Drinkers Get The Short End Of The Hotel Stick?
Coffee coffee everywhere, and not a drop to drink...
When it comes to standard hotel amenities, coffee makers rank up there with pillows, a working toilet, soap. Basic. But for many of us, a bowl of instant coffee packets is about as useful as a hairbrush to a bald person. When it comes to in-room tea options, we've found some hotels to be quite lacking.
Take a look at this picture of a recent Las Vegas hotel we stayed in. Plenty of coffee! But where's the tea? Nevermind the inconvenience of trekking to the nearest Starbucks for our early morning jolt—when equally-in-need coffee drinkers can simply reach across their nightstand—but it also raises an uglier question. What should be considered an essential hotel room amenity?
Surely, if someone took the time to fold the tip of our toilet paper roll, artfully sealing it with a small hotel-branded sticker, then that person probably had enough time to drop a few bags of Twining's English Breakfast on our desk. No?
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