The Manchester Hyatt in San Diego is being boycotted by gay rights groups because its owner Doug Manchester gave $150,000 to Proposition 8, a California state measure to ban gay marriage.
While the Hyatt Corporate umbrella which just manages the hotel is not being targeted, boycotters (which include union leaders as the hotel is not unionized) are urging the public to avoid staying at the Manchester San Diego. And it won't be pretty.
Bloomberg's Jason Harper went inside the fairly-new Ivy Hotel in San Diego -- which touts itself as an "adult playground" -- and found chains, stripper poles and, surprisingly, good service.
Though he didn't stay in the Star Suite (a reality show was filming there at the time; we hope it was something as awesome as I Love New York), he mentioned the swank space is known for its "adult" features: two king-size bunk beds decorated with chains, a six-person shower and, yes, an elevated stripper pole.
The Gas and Go package gives guests a gas gift card for $25, free self-parking, and breakfast buffet for two.
The cost is $30 more than the best available rate which hovers around $180 a night and does not normally include breakfast.
For some reason, we always thought self-parking was free at hotels, but that was probably just in our fantasy hotel land. At the Hilton San Diego Del Mar it costs $14 to self-park, so this is a nice bit of savings.
The L'Auberge Del Mar hotel near San Diego has just completed a huge $25 million renovation of the entire property and will open its rooms again starting June 6, 2008. Special rates are starting at $355 a night, so it's not a deal but when the prices jump back up to $500 a night, you will regret not taking advantage of this. Enter promo code G10190 to book.
A frightening explosion ripped through a corner of The Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel which is still under construction near the city's convention center, injuring 14 workers. Five of the workers are in critical condition.
About four lower floors of the waterfront skyscraper near the San Diego Convention Center showed serious damage and debris littered a driveway beneath the area. Facade material dangled from the structure, drapes dangled out windows, and a large equipment room with tanks and pipes was left exposed.
While the blast was original thought to have been a possible terrorist attack, the Deputy Fire-Rescue Chief Perry Peake said the explosion "appeared to have been caused by a mechanical failure or gas."
The 30-story hotel was scheduled to open on December 3, 2008, according to Hilton's Web site.
On the East Coast, where public mass transit is a way of life, subways, buses, and trains make travel practically painless compared to filling up the tank at the pump. But vacation getaways without a car in California? Let's just pray you enjoy your backyard.
With West Coast gas reaching 4 bucks a gallon (ouch!) we hear you might be conserving the mileage along with the paper, plastic and glass.
So here's some good news for all you freeway folk. While political hype talks about giving us a break with a gas tax free summer, Loews Hotels is doing something about it. Their new "Money for Miles" special guarantees you up to a $50 gas rebate with a stay at the beachfront Loews Coronado Bay Resort in San Diego.
Overnight accommodations in a deluxe room, access to the hotel's three pools, three tennis courts, fitness center, nearby Silver Strand Beach -- and a list of the cheapest gas in the area to get you home. All you gotta do is show the front desk your gas receipt(s) from the day prior to check-in, or fill ups sometime during your stay, and the gas rebate off your bill is yours. Who says you never get a free ride?
The "Money for Miles" offer is available May 1-September 1, 2008, at Loews Coronado Bay Resort only. Rooms range from $289-429 per night, based on availability.
We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
San Diego's Tower 23 bills itself as the only luxury hotel on the beach around San Diego and as an urban beach resort, and when we see killer views like this one that our punk koala dropped in the HotelChatter Flickr pool, we are happy to agree that it's a true beach hangout.
Even the name is 100% entwined with the beach: Tower 23 is the number of the Pacific Beach lifeguard tower in front of the hotel. At Tower 23, however, this is not your Pacific Island beach view with nothing but rolling waves to watch--more likely there'll be hundreds of boardwalk visitors and beachcombers--so don't expect privacy and calm to go with the beautiful view. If you're happy with a bit more excitement and action, then you're in the right place.
Last month, we hit up the opening party for the Hard Rock San Diego Hotel where we caught an energetic show from the Black-Eyed Peas and the incredibly in-shape Fergie.
While the "Glamorous" singer probably got up the next day and ran 5 miles, we decided to ease the pain of our Cosmopolitan hangover at the hotel's MaryJane's Coffee Shop.
Fortunately, the place serves breakfast all day long. Unfortunately, it's a small breakfast menu of omelettes, three eggs anystyle, flapjacks, brioche french toast and fruit. What we really wanted was a taylor ham, egg and cheese on a roll but this is San Diego, not New Jersey so we settled for three eggs any-style.
However, the lunch and dinner offerings are extensive ranging from tacos, to fish & chips to good ole' fashion burgers.
The scene is a modern diner with high-tech elements like comfy, spacious booths featuring Samsung flat-screen TVs. (Diners don't have control over what's being played.) Paintings and photos of rock stars adorn the walls--we sat under Mick Jagger--and there is a traditional counter seating right in front of the pastry items. Mmmmm.
While the place is open late night, it's not open all night so you're still going to have to roll to a Jack in the Box for any grease-craving after 2am.
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by juliana
