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Tags: Rosewood Resorts / Antigua Hotels / Hotel Reopenings / Hotel Renovations / → All Tags
Jumby Bay Gets Jumbo-Sized Renovations
Win a big award, then close down for a year: probably not the strategy that Rosewood Resorts' Jumby Bay in Antigua had in mind, but perhaps that just shows they were modest enough not to expect to win last year's T+L Best Caribbean Resort award. Shortly after that burst of publicity, Jumby Bay closed up most of their resort to get to work on $28 million worth of renovations, and now these are finally almost done.
As you'd expect, $28 million buys a fair amount of new and improved stuff, and the revamp includes complete overhauls of 12 existing guest suites as well as the addition of 28 brand new suites. The new design style is meant to be a combo of "tropical hideaway" and "romantic British Colonial".
Tags: Hotel Restaurants / Rosewood Resorts / San Ysidro Hotels / → All Tags
A 'Friendly' Dining Deal at the San Ysidro Ranch
If you’ve never been to the rambling San Ysidro Ranch in the mountains south of Santa Barbara, you might think it’s a stuck-up place since it takes pride in a fabled history that includes hosting Sir Laurence Olivier’s wedding to Vivien Leigh, being the site of JFK and Jackie’s honeymoon, and having Oprah as a neighbor. (It's also a fave for one of our VIP Hotel Reviewers)
It’s also true that the huge suites and cottages all cost a small fortune for an overnight stay. When it comes to dining at the resort, though, you’d be hard pressed to find a better bargain gourmet meal.
Tags: Rosewood Resorts / Hotel Restaurants / Mexico Hotels / → All Tags
Craving Japanese Food? Head to Mexico
In Mexico, the Las Ventanas al Paraiso resort is a place of romance and glorious infinity pools and now, oddly, Japanese food.
Strictly speaking, we're talking a Mexican-Japanese fusion, in the form of a transformation of the Tequila & Ceviche Bar into the Tequila & Sushi Bar. Every menu item is an original creation--not too hard, since we don't know too many Mexican-Japanese fusion establishments--including sushi like the Mexican Roll:
The Mexican Roll, for example, is filled with lobster and an array of Mexican ingredients - grilled corn, avocado, cured onion and panela cheese - and wrapped in Hierba Santa (a Mexican herb that means "holy leaf" with a licorice-like flavor) rather than seaweed.
We wouldn't have thought of this ourselves, but it does sound pretty tasty. Other new sushi styles include ingredients like habanero chilli, pineapple and coconut milk, and the sashimi plates include dressings with Mexican ingredients. To top off your meal there's even a fusion dessert of rice pudding, tropical fruits and chocolate with wasabi and ginger sauce--we're less certain about trying that one.
So if romance and one of the most beautiful infinity pools haven't tempted you to try Las Ventanas yet, perhaps the thought of spicy sushi might. Strange, but true.
Tags: Hotel Blog Watch / Island Hotels / Rosewood Resorts / → All Tags
Hotel Blog Watch: Jumby Bay Blog Not Yet Jumpin'
After all our discussion of midnight massages and baby making at the Jumby Bay resort in Antigua, we had high expectations for the Jumby Bay Blog. But high expectations are usually not a good thing.
When you hit the Jumby Bay Blog (don't try and say that after a couple of drinks, by the way), the first impression is good. It looks nice. Plenty of pictures of long white beaches and sparkling blue sea, and a neat looking layout. But start reading and you might be disappointed--we were.
It's not just a promotional blog, it's a whack-you-over-the-head promotional blog. Each post so far advertises packages or aspects of Jumby Bay without anywhere near enough attempt to make it interestingly readable.
The list of categories on the left looked interesting, until you start clicking, because every post has been linked to practically every category.
In the interests of fairness, it is very early days at the Jumby Bay Blog, and we hope to see a bit more story-telling and a few less categories attached to each post. As it stands, it's not the kind of hotel blog we'd go back to read again, even if it does look pretty.
[Photo: Jumby Bay Blog]
Tags: VIP Hotel Reviewer Series / Gabe Rotter / Pet-Friendly Hotels / Rosewood Resorts / → All Tags
Author's Dog-Friendly Hotel Pick in Oprah's Backyard
We now present you with our VIP Hotel Reviewer Series in which we hand-pick experts in the travel and media worlds and beyond to tell us what are their favorite hotels and why. Once a week, we'll feature a hotel review from said VIPs about their favorite leisure or business hotels. Pay attention: These VIPs are experts at what they do and they don't mess around when it comes to their hotels.
The next VIP in the series is Gabe Rotter, author of the Simon & Schuster novel Duck Duck Wally about a chubby whiteboy who is the secret ghostwriter for a famous gangsta rapper, Oral B. Since Wally's beloved bulldog Dr. Barry Schwartzman is an important character in the book (he gets dog-napped!) we figured Gabe could tell us a safe place to travel with your dogs. Enjoy.
[Photo: IanL]
My favorite dog-friendly hotel is a place I'll likely never be able to afford again. I went there once, a few years ago, for two nights. And I'll be working it off until the day I die, old and hunched and grey and wrinkly, drooling into my Jello and dreaming about my two, wonderful nights with my bitch at the San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara.
Oh, and my dog came too.
Tags: W Hotels / Hotel Construction / Sneak Peeks / Atlanta Hotels / Rosewood Resorts / Kate Moss / Heath Ledger / Celebrity Scoop / → All Tags
Sneak Peek at the W Atlanta Midtown, Formerly a Fugly Sheraton
The Atlanta blog, Around Midtown, has posted some pics of the conversion of the W Hotel Midtown from a Sheraton on their site and this is what the new W will look like. What's going on there? Well Around Midtown breaks it down:
Now construction is finally at the point where you can see some of their plans unfolding, which include painting the predominantly cream building a slate color, accented by a linear black effect up the building. The retaining walls at the ground level are being covered with a slate.
While anything is better than a fugly Sheraton, we have a feeling the folks in Hotlanta might get sick of W Hotels soon. Aside from this one and the current W Atlanta Perimeter, there are Ws set for downtown and BuckHead. Maybe they should just call it Watlanta. Ok, bad joke, we know.
In other news:
· The Crescent Hotel in Texas has officially been renamed the Rosewood Crescent Hotel.
· Luxury hotels in France might get extra tax to fund historic building restorations, making your expensive stay at the Four Seasons George V more expensive.
· If you are visting the Dorchester Hotel anytime soon, you can rest assured that Kate Moss did not have an orgy there...so she says.
· Not hotel related but totally important: RIP Heath Ledger
Tags: Snapshot / Hotel Infinity Pools / Killer View / Rosewood Resorts / Sweet Suites / Hotel Balconies / → All Tags
Snapshot :: More Private Infinity Pool Lovin' at Las Ventanas al Paraiso
Hotel Maven Jletter so kindly sent us some snapshots of his recent stay at the Las Ventanas al Paraiso Resort in Los Cabos, Mexico.
These were taken from a One-Bedroom Oceanview Luxury Suite which has a private infinity pool and jacuzzi on the terrace. The suite overall totals 1,600 sq. ft. with a king bed, adobe fireplace and your own telescope for star-gazing. Oh yeah, and a steep price tag of around $2,950.
MORE snapshots of the killer suite and view after the jump. Warning: Extreme jealousy will occur.
Tags: Hotel Wedding Crashers / Hotel Weddings / Larry Page / Hotel News / Rosewood Resorts / → All Tags
Little Dix Bay Resort All Filled Up for Larry Page's Guests
Sometimes billionaire nerds are the worst hotel wedding crashers. This Saturday, Google co-founder Larry Page will tie the know with his fiancee on Necker Island, the private Caribbean island owned by Virgin's Richard Branson.
Necker Island is pretty extravagant place that can house 26 of your closest friends. But Page obviously has more than 26 "friends" so he has rented the nearby island of Virgin Gorda for his wedding guests, including the entire Little Dix Bay Resort:
No one except Page's guests is staying at Little Dix Bay resort on Virgin Gorda "so that Page's wedding could be completely private," said an insider. "They rented all of Virgin Gorda. They took over the island."
The source also said "boats and ferries for hundreds of guests were ordered to ship them from Little Dix Bay to the ceremony."
Page is also flying guests in from all over the world on private planes. Expected to be in attendance are Bono, and other millionaires and billionaires.
Related Stories:
· Google Wedding Seizes Island [Page Six]
Tags: Rosewood Resorts / Miami Hotel Mambo / → All Tags
Rosewood Resorts to Officially Be Out of Acqualina Hotel by Oct. 31st
It's official. Rosewood Resorts will no longer be managing the Acqualina Resort in Sunny Beach Isles, Florida.
On Monday, we got word that RR was pulling out and today we got our hands on the official press release, issued by the Acqualina resort itself. It says:
Acqualina informed Rosewood Hotels and Resorts last month of its decision to end their relationship effective October 31st and to establish its own luxury brand. Acqualina Management, LLC, the hotel management company that has employed the on-site management team supervised by Rosewood,...is to assume complete supervision of the management team.
Hmmm...that sounds like a "We didn't need you anyways" type of release from Acqualina, doesn't it? Nevertheless, it doesn't look like much of the hotel's top management is going anywhere as the hotel's vice president Florent Gateau will stay on as will the sales & marketing director Deborah Yager-Fleming.
The hotel also promises to "build significantly on its membership" in The Leading Hotels of the World program. So we're guessing the resort will do its best to keep returning guests happy.
One last jab in the release: "While retaining its very talented on-site top management group, ownership together with management will focus on continuing to build an even stronger team at Acqualina."
Guests, keep us posted if they live up to this promise or not.
Related Stories:
· Rosewood Resorts Bowing Out of Acqualina Hotel? [HotelChatter]
Tags: Rosewood Resorts / Miami Hotel Mambo / → All Tags
Rosewood Resorts Bowing Out of Acqualina Hotel?
A regular guest of the Acqualina Resort in Florida wrote into us saddened to hear that Rosewood Resorts was ending its management of the hotel. The hotel's website still states that it is a Rosewood Resort so this is not official news. But we thought we'd investigate anyways.
So we emailed a few of our sources to determine why Rosewood would no longer be managing the place, if this is indeed true. While no one could confirm the report, one source said that the Acqualina may have not fit in with the rest of the Rosewood Resort portfolio.
The hotel is way north of Miami Beach on a soulless stretch of Collins that feels more like a highway.
Our source also added that a few managers transferred out of the hotel to the Carlyle in NYC and to Rosewood properties in the Caribbean, a sign that this move may have been planned for a while.
Have your own thoughts to add about the Acqualina and Rosewood Resorts? Comment below.
[Photo: WaveBreaker]
Related Stories:
· The Regent South Beach No More [HotelChatter]
Tags: Hotel Spas / Island Hotels / Conception Moons / Rosewood Resorts / → All Tags
Pure Luxury: Midnight Massages at Jumby Bay
Here at Hotel Chatter, we've seen plenty of crazy stuff, but when we heard about the midnight messages at Jumby Bay in Antigua we wondered what they'd think of next.
The private island retreat (which, needless to say, is our favorite kind) recently debuted it's midnight messages for couples who prefer to unwind before bedtime. Resident message therapists visit guests in the privacy of their suites. The treatment starts at $350 per couple and includes candlelight, therapeutic massage, culinary treats and a hand-drawn bath. Sure, 500-count sheets are nice, but this is pure luxury. And also very conducive for baby-making.
Related Stories:
· Baby-Making at Jumby Bay [HotelChatter]
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