Tag: Political Hotels
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Inside the Koryo Hotel, Staffers Were Weeping for Kim Jong-Il
We're not quite sure but those might be Christmas trees....
When we think of North Korean hotels, we really only think of one--The Hotel of Doom which hasn't even opened, although it's been under construction for over 20 years. Yet there is actually another fully functional hotel in Pyongyang, The Koryo Hotel and judging from its Wikipedia entry it might be the most fascinating hotel yet.
We learned a little bit about the Koryo Hotel back in 2006 from TripAdvisor but the second-largest operating hotel in North Korea still amazes us. For instance, the hotel boasts 500 rooms but according to Wikipedia only about 50 rooms are ever occupied at one time, usually by international arms dealers. The hotel does achieve full occupancy in April around the time of Kim Il-Sung's birthday.
Hotel Openings / Capella Hotels / Washington DC Hotels / Political Hotels / Luxury Hotels / → All Tags
Capella Georgetown Set to Open in December 2012 (with Personal Assistants!)
Day.
The posh nabe of Georgetown in Washington, D.C. is about to get even more swish in December 2012 when the Capella Georgetown opens. Yes, Capella of the luxury hotel collection, Capella Hotels and Resorts.
Now, we know how much political leaders love their fine hotel accommodations and the Capella Georgetown, at 1050 31st Street, NW, will not disappoint. According to a press release, the hotel will feature just 49 "magnificently appointed rooms and suites in a highly private and secure environment, and will provide unmatched levels of customer service and room finishes."
Additionally, the hotel promises to cater to "a sophisticated and discerning clientele including global industry leaders, heads of state and other visitors."
UN Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Political Hotels / September Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
Taxi Drivers Can't Stand The UNGA, But Hotels Kinda Like 'Em
The best way for NYC hotels to pull themselves out of the summer slow period is a major event or convention. The UNGA makes them very happy. The UNGA does not, however, make cab drivers happy.
The WSJ ran a piece on Tuesday which gave a voice to the frustrated cab drivers who lose valuable customers each year when the UNGA comes and clogs up all the city streets. Of course, that same problem is a boon to local hotels, who receive the jet-setting delegates (and their entourages) with open arms. We learned, for instance, that for his week-long stay, the president of Sierra Leone booked three entire floors (including the penthouse!) at none other than Hyatt 48Lex, one of the newest hotels around. Someone on the Sierra Leone team must have been doing their research!
Only in one part of the city was a hotel experiencing both the joys and the woes of hosting certain disliked presidents. We don't know if Ahmadinejad would have preferred Hyatt's sleek glass tower (whose lobby is graced with a $15,000 coffeemaker) to the stuffier Warwick, but it didn't seem like he had much of a choice.
UN Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Protests / Political Hotels / Mahmoud Ahmadinejad / → All Tags
Why The Warwick Was So Popular This Week
Despite their best efforts, United Against Nuclear Iran was not able to convince every hotel that it would be a bad idea to host Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. And now, after several days of being surrounded by vehement protests and demonstrations, The Warwick is probably regretting its decision to temporarily house the Iranian president and his entourage.
A CBS news reporter managed to sneak a camera into the hotel, and was welcomed by anti-Ahmadinejad activists, who had installed themselves on the eleventh floor. So what was the Warwick's excuse? Did they miss the memo? Were they making a ton of money? Did they just feel like going against the trend?
Political Hotels / Alaska Hotels / Hotel Room Trashing / → All Tags
And This is Why Politicians Shouldn't Stay in Hotels on the Taxpayers' Dime
When you vote a politician into office, you hope that he or she lives up to all their campaign promises, looks out for the little people, avoids wasteful spending, makes smart decisions and fingers crossed, doesn't get messed up in a sex scandal.
But thanks to Wasilla, Alaska's city councilmember, Steve Menard we will now hope that our politician doesn't act atrociously in a hotel room that our tax dollars paid for. The Claims Journal reports:
Menard was staying at the Westmark in Sitka earlier this month for a meeting of the Alaska Municipal League. The hotel reported that damage to his room included urine on two mattresses and a chair, vomit on the carpet, ruined bedding and a burned mattress. The hotel sent the city of Wasilla a $350 bill for repairs to Menard’s room, which was out of service for three days.
A burned mattress? WTF? Is that why there was urine on it?
Hotel Emergencies / Political Hotels / Libya Hotels / Tripoli Hotels / Muammar Qaddafi / Hotel New / → All Tags
We Guess There's No 'Pink Champagne on Ice' at the Rixos Hotel in Tripoli
You can check in anytime you like but you probably can't leave until the fighting dies down in Tripoli.
Reports from Libya today have been all about the rebels taking down Qaddafi's nefarious regime in the capitol of Tripoli but the journalists responsible for getting those reports out are in a bit of a quandary themselves.
Approximately three dozen journalists are holed up in the five-star Rixos Al Nasr Hotel. Actually holed up is not the right word. Trapped is more like it.
The Guardian UK writes:
For months, many have feared they could be held by the regime as human shields if rebels reached the capital. The only exit route from Tripoli by land, the road to the Tunisian border, has been cut off by rebel fighters for more than a week.
Political Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Anthony Weiner / → All Tags
Anthony Weiner Dines at The Maritime, aka the Home of the Penis Festival
This last weekend was a crazy one for New York City. On Friday night, the same-sex marriage law passed, causing mass partying in the streets. Then, on Sunday the Pride Parade again took over the West Village for over six hours of rainbow floats and bare-chested booty-shaking. So what about Saturday? Well...the disgraced former Representative Anthony Weiner had lunch with his wife Huma Abedin at The Maritime Hotel.
For their light meal of pizza, pasta and salad, the pair chose La Bottega, the scene-y alfresco restaurant at the base of the nautical-themed hotel on 8th Avenue. Our first thought? Why pick such a see-and-be-seen location, especially considering that La Bottega is a favorite gay brunching spot and this is Pride Weekend? The answer is obvious: Weiner and wife must have loved this place before the scandal, and thus returned to it to show some face.
POTUS Hotels / Sheraton Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Political Hotels / → All Tags
Obama To Protesters Outside The Sheraton: "I Heard You Guys"
The Sheraton hasn't seen this much action since Lady Gaga took over the Sheraton On The Park in Sydney last year. And even then, it was more about her choice of hotel than anything she actually did there. The Sheraton New York received a different kind of publicity yesterday, as gay marriage advocates protested Obama's appearance at a highly-anticipated LGBT fundraiser inside the hotel. If you were staying there last night, we hope you at least got an upgrade. Or free Justin Bieber tickets. Or something.
Amid the camera crews, barricades, and hand-written rainbow-colored placards, protesters lined up outside the hotel and chanted, "I am somebody, I demand full equality." It was impossible to miss them. The generic midtown location was probably chosen intentionally against more public downtown spots that would have generated far more scandal—though we think the Four Points by Sheraton Chelsea would have been a great choice. Check out a video of the protesters below.
Political Hotels / Anthony Weiner / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
Anthony Weiner Has a Thing for the Elevators at The Plaza
We knew it! We just knew there had to be some other connection between hotels and U.S. Representative and Twitter sexpest Anthony Weiner aside from his gawdawful press conference at the Sheraton New York. Ok, granted it's not as salacious as Eliot Spitzer and the Mayflower Hotel but it's something.
Apparently, way back when in 1996, Weiner posed for the pages of Cosmopolitan as one of their hot 101 bachelors. In his profile, for person he most admired he named his grandfather. Why? Because the man kept the elevators running in Eloise's house--The Plaza.
Hotel Crime / Hotel Housekeeping / Hotel News / Political Hotels / Luxury Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
Another Housekeeper in Danger; This Time at The Pierre
You would think that Dominique Strauss-Kahn would be a lesson for all pervy politicians with hotel-hopping habits but no, it seems not to have registered with at least one man of power.
Egyptian businessman Mahmoud Abdel-Salam Omar, the former chairman of Egypt's Bank of Alexandria, was arrested on Sunday for locking a housekeeper at the ritzy Pierre Hotel in his $900 a night suite and sexually assaulting her. From NBC New York:
Law enforcement officials tell NBC New York that when the maid arrived at room 1027 with three boxes of tissues, Omar answered the door wearing a "silk-type" garment and asked her to place them on a table near the bed.
According to law enforcement officials, Omar then grabbed the maid in a bear hug and began to kiss and fondle her, grabbing her breasts and rubbing against her.
She resisted and said "I'm not here for this," officials said. He then locked the door to prevent her from leaving, before asking for her phone number, according to officials. When she gave him a number, police said, he let her out of the room.
Hotel Crimes / Sofitel Hotels / Political Hotels / Hotel Ads / → All Tags
Budweiser Commercial Reverses the Roles in the Strauss-Kahn Case
By now you're already totally aware of the shake-ups at the International Monetary Fund, as the former chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned after being indicted in New York for sexually assaulting a housekeeper in his tony $3,000-per-night suite at the Sofitel. The story gets creepier as more of Strauss-Kahn's history is unveiled, but let's put all that aside for the moment.
In early 2010, Budweiser released a commercial that depicts a humorous version of events, if the roles were reversed. We're not making light of the Strauss-Khan accusations, just pointing out this ad, which flips the players and makes the maid into the provocateur, with the guest as the innocent.
Currently Strauss-Kahn is under house arrest in a multi-million dollar building in Lower Manhattan. He's far away, both literally and figuratively, from minibars and turndown service. Let's hope it stays that way.
Hotel Crime / Sofitel Hotels / Dominique Strauss-Kahn / Hotel Housekeeping / Political Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
The Head of IMF Arrested for Sexual Assault at the Sofitel New York
It looks like all the money in the world can't save you from being a sexual deviant. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the head of the International Monetary Fund, was arrested last night after allegedly committing a heinous sex attack on a housekeeper at the Sofitel New York.
The NY Post reports:
The trouble began at around 1 p.m. yesterday when a 32-year-old housekeeper entered Strauss-Kahn's $3,000-a-night suite at the luxury Sofitel on West 44th Street -- apparently unaware he was still inside.
The married Strauss-Kahn was in the bathroom, and emerged naked, chased her down a hallway and pulled her into a bedroom, where "he jumps her," a source said.
"She pulled away from him and he dragged her down a hallway into the bathroom where he engaged in a criminal sexual act, according to her account to detectives," Browne said. "He tried to lock her into the hotel room."
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