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Tags: Hotel Pools / Hotel Bars / Napa Valley Hotels / Tips / → All Tags
'Dive Bar' Wednesdays at The Bardessono Pool
Can’t afford even the low-season $300 a night rate at Yountville’s new eco-resort, Bardessono Hotel? Fear not. The exclusive resort opens up its guests-only rooftop pool to non-guests on Wednesday evenings from 6:00-9:00pm for its punny Dive Bar, so even Napa townies can enjoy the stunning mountain and vineyard views while enjoying a dip and a drink while DJ's spin tunes near the bar.
The secluded pool is usually open only to resort guests, who come to lie in piece and quiet in one of the screened off day-bed cabanas. Come Wednesday evening, though, anyone can stop by the rooftop cement pond, and they're encouraged to come in their bathing suits to take a dip between bar rounds, with drinks going for just $8 each. The resort even throws in complimentary valet parking. That way, everyone can enjoy the privileges of being a hotel guest without having to spend a night.
Tags: Hotel High Tea / Tips / Hotel Etiquette / → All Tags
Five Etiquette Tips for Hotel High Teas
Hotel teas look so inviting, with refined guests sipping chamomile and nibbling on delicate finger sandwiches. But if you're worried that people will gasp you if don't point your pinky the right way while holding a tea cup, don't fret.
We recently went to the Four Seasons Chicago to glean some tea tips so that you won't look like a teatime newbie, or even worse, an uncouth pig.
1. Dress the part.
Okay, you don't have to don white gloves to attend high teas, but dress up. We spotted two ladies in jeans, and while no one shot them disapproving looks, they stood out among the skirts, lady pants and suits in the room.
2. Don't get drunk.
If you choose to get a glass of champagne before your tea, which everyone did in our room except for the jeans-wearing delinquents, try to pad your stomach with some alcohol-soaking food before you arrive. Otherwise, the bubbly will hit your empty stomach quickly and your tipsy party will get a little rowdy and loud, much to the chagrin of the murmuring tea drinkers.
Tags: Crazy Hotel Workers / Hotel Staff / Tips / → All Tags
What Not to Say to Crazy Hotel Workers
The passive-aggressive mob we know as the Crazy Hotel Workers is always giving us useful tips on how to be a significantly-less-annoying hotel guest. We can only assume that if we take note of some of these rants and do our part to irritate the staff less, we'll probably get better service — so here are some of their recent pearls of wisdom to absorb and take to heart:
· When you see a deal for pets (or the hotel staff ask if you've got a pet with you) don't ask if your husband/child counts as a pet. Apparently they've heard it before. And it wasn't even that funny the first time.
· Don't ring down to reception to complain that the coffee is too hot. You're not going to get a multi-million dollar settlement out of it.
· If your TV isn't working, that's reasonable grounds for complaint: but if the only reason you want the staff to come immediately to fix your cable up is so that you can watch the Home Shopping Network, you're better off keeping the broken TV (and your viewing habits) to yourself.
Crazy Hotel Workers have also been irritated recently by guests who asked for a bunch of extra shampoos (for their long hair) or who call down for an extra blanket at four o'clock in the morning, but we think these complaints are at least half-way legitimate — we can imagine making them ourselves. Whatever happened to the customer being right, guys?
Tags: VegasChatter / Hotel News / Viva Las Vegas / Tips / → All Tags
What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas. Especially If You Get Arrested.
Have we bragged about our baby sibling lately? Allow us to remind you: we recently birthed a younger brother or sister (or brother dressed like a sister! It's Sin City — anything goes!) who enjoys sequins, bright lights and late nights: VegasChatter, doing a kickass job of covering all things Vegas.
This week, the Sin City experts at VC are giving you their take on the new Vegas ads (yes, the "What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas" ones), except this year the ol' Visit Las Vegas folks have put a new spin on the ads by sarcastically applying the "What Happens Here, Stays Here" slogan to other places and events. Like, "What Happens in Billups County, Stays in Billups County" or "What Happens at the Caribou Lodge, Stays at The Caribou Lodge." Ha! Story here, video above.
Other sparkling Vegas gems for your gawking pleasure:
· The Ten Surest Ways to Get Arrested in Las Vegas
· A Happy Hour Guide. You're Welcome.
· Fontainebleau? More Like Fontaine-Bust. Or Fontaine-Bummer, even!
· A Peek at the Four Seasons Pool
· The VegasChatter Flickr Pool — All the Hot Shots
Tags: Tips / Michael Jackson / → All Tags
What To Do About Your Michael Jackson Concert Hotel Reservations
In case you've been living under a rock, have not touched the Internet, gone near a TV, newspaper or another human being, you have heard the incredibly sad news that Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, passed away yesterday.
As you know, he was set for a "This Is It" comeback run this summer, with tons of concerts scheduled in London at the O2 Arena. Hotels in the area were offering MJ-themed packages (and, even without the packages, lots of people were still booking hotel rooms around the concerts).
But now what?
Tags: VegasChatter / Hotel News / Viva Las Vegas / Tips / → All Tags
How to Get a Vegas Room Upgrade at Check-In
Our pals at VegasChatter have been doing a totally kickass job of keeping their hot little fingers on the pulse of Sin City, and this week they've got a whole lotta sweetness for hotel geeks, Vegas junkies and strip novices alike.
VC had a pow-wow with a top-secret Vegas hotel insider — that is, a seasoned front desker at one of Sin City's best and most prominent hotels — and "Mr. B." dished some super helpful tips on how to go about scoring a room upgrade at your Vegas hotel. His tips, combined with the experience of VegasChatter's LV-savvy crew of editors, were all pooled together to bring you this definitive guide to landing a room upgrade while you're checking in. Check it out.
And no, slipping the front desker a $20 doesn't always work. (But sometimes it does!)
And more tips to help you compile your very own Vegas survival guide:
· How to Get the Real 'Hangover' Room: Yeah, so that room from The Hangover? Here's how you can snag it. Er, the real one.
· How to Utilize a 'Leisure Concierge': What the F is a leisure concierge and how do you use one?
· Getting in to Vegas Clubs: How to navigate the Vegas club scene (and what to do with those "free passes" given to you by club promoters).
Tags: Tips / Colorado Springs Hotels / Historic Hotels / → All Tags
When Renting a Car, It Never Hurts to Mention Where You're Staying
Once again, United Airlines wreaked havoc on our travel plans during a recent trip to The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
It really shouldn’t take 12 hours to get from Seattle to Colorado Springs via Denver — but it did. The return route was truly a comedy of errors of Academy Award winning proportions complete with delays and disappointing customer service, but we managed to finagle a seat on the last flight from Denver into Seattle.
To avoid the possibility of being stuck at Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (or delayed on the inbound — we’ve been subjected to both scenarios on multiple occasions), fly into Denver, rent a ride and drive one hour to The Broadmoor. The five-diamond resort has an arrangement with Alamo, and when we mentioned that we were staying at The Broadmoor, the quoted price one-way rate of $154 magically dropped to $39.99. That’s a very small price to pay for avoiding potential snafus at Colorado Springs airport and ensuring you don’t miss out on a single minute of Rocky Mountain fun.
Tags: Hotel Wedding Guide 2009 / Hotel Weddings / Tips / → All Tags
Five Things Every Bride Should Know About Planning a Hotel Wedding
Wedding season is here. For many of us, that means it's time to dust off the dancin' shoes, check out those registries and clear room in the closet for that hideous bridesmaid's dress — but for a lucky (or unlucky) few, now's the time to be picking out invitations, scoping out florists, test-driving DJ's and showing off that blinding bling. This week, we're kicking off a summer of bringing you all the new need-to-know info about hotel weddings — tips, news and info about what goes down at hotels during the summertime vow season — whether you're attending one or saying your nuptials. Got some hotel wedding tips for us? Send 'em over.
Look, we know there's a lot to consider when you're planning your wedding. There are certainly more than five things to take care of — but when we really step back and look at what it takes to plan a hotel wedding, five things really stand out to us.
Here are the top five things we think brides should know about planning a hotel wedding, which we've put together based on our work experience and own wedding planning experiences — start with these and, um, you're on the right track to making sure your wedding doesn't turn out like Bride Wars.
Tags: Openthread Wrapup / Tips / → All Tags
Don't Forget to Tip Your Housekeeper. Really.
We asked and you answered honestly. The cold hard truth: not everyone tips their housekeeper, but everyone kind of agrees that we really, really should — always.
In our "Do you tip your housekeeper?" OpenThread — which addressed Travel + Leisure's advice that we should really be leavin' $3–$5 a day for our hotel housekeeper during our stay — turned out some pretty honest answers. Mostly, stuff like this:
I often forget, which is terrible, I know. But when I remember, it's a few bucks on the desk. I tend not to use housekeeping services too much, but I do realize they clean the room before I get there.
But, heartwarmingly, a lot of you really and truly always do tip between two and five bucks, mostly left with a "thank you" or a smiley face written on a note with it. Awesome!
You know what else everyone was honest about? That T+L's second piece of advice about leaving the housekeeping tip down at the front desk to be distributed among the housekeeping staffers that cleaned your room ("put your tip in an envelope and drop it off with the front desk manager at checkout—he or she will be sure to distribute it equally") was probably not a good bet.
Our fave, from PatrickSW:
Please. Those goons will divide your tip up equally between the departments of me, myself, and I. Better yet, why not tip each day if you know you're going to be there over several days-- then you know the person who cleaned your room gets your tip. Don't assume the front desk is so organized.
True! Especially in a large hotel.
So let's all make it our, er, June resolution to always leave a tip for the housekeepers, shall we?
[Photo: PDR]
Tags: Thompson Hotels / Hotwire / Getting Walked / Tips / → All Tags
Thompson Hotels Walked Us and We Liked It
We typically wait until the last minute to book our hotel rooms. Call it poor planning, a genetic pre-disposition, procrastination or absent-mindedness, but that's just what we do. So last Tuesday, we were surfing around Hotwire to find a hotel room in New York for the following night.
We took a chance on the site's blind booking process--otherwise known as hotel roulette--and after doing extensive research on BetterBidding.com, we were confident that our four-star hotel in downtown was Gild Hall. And we were right. Even though we could have booked online at the Thompson Hotels website for about $10 more, it was more fun to do the Hotwire thing.
Except when we arrived at the hotel at around 10:30pm, we were told that the hotel was full-up and that they would have to send us to a sister property. Ugh.
Tags: OpenThread / Tips / Hotel Housekeeping / → All Tags
Honestly: Do You Tip Your Housekeeper?
Alright. It's truth time.
We've all heard, at some point, that we should always be tipping our hotel housekeepers. Anyone who has ever cleaned a hotel room can tell you that it's hard, hard, hard work (hell, even TLC's T-Boz would probably tell you that) — and, you know, if you're tipping the roomservice dude for pressing the elevator button and wheeling a cart of food to your room, shouldn't you be tipping the staffer who is on his or her hands and knees scrubbing your hotel room's toilet?
Travel + Leisure advises you to do so. Always. In the T+L Hotel Tipping Guide, they write:
Recommended amount: $3–$5 a day. Leaving cash on the bedside table is fine for a one-night stay, but it’s likely that several housekeepers will service your room if you stay longer than three days. In that case, put your tip in an envelope and drop it off with the front desk manager at checkout—he or she will be sure to distribute it equally.
So, here we go: how many of you regularly tip your housekeeper and, if so, where do you leave the tip and how much. If not, why not? Be honest!
[HotelChatter OpenThreads are a place for readers to get in here and talk about hot stories and issues of the day in an open forum. If you are already a HotelChatter member log in to comment, if not become a member for free and comment away.]
[Photo: PDR]
Tags: OpenThread / Tips / → All Tags
What's the Best Way to Score a Room Upgrade?
Everybody seems to believe there are tried-and-true secrets and strategies that will result in room upgrades. And, um, as much as we travel and as many hotels as we've checked into over the course of our nomadic hotel bed-jumping careers, we've yet to discover those mythical surefire methods of scoring that fabled room upgrade — sometimes our membership in a chain's loyalty program works out in our favor, and sometimes we just happen to smile at the right person and bat our eyelashes in the right direction.
About.com has put together a list of a few tips that may help you score that coveted upgrade — which, first and foremost, includes booking a room during a hotel's off-season (fall at a ski resort, for instance) or a slow time of the week (Sundays) to improve your chances. Some of their other recommendations:
· Be persistent with the request: "If the reservation desk can't upgrade you immediately, ask again a few days before your stay when you confirm your reservation. Still no luck? Ask again when you check into the hotel."
· Be nice to staffers and engage in a sincere convo. About.com adds, "It helps if you mention you're celebrating a special occasion like a birthday or anniversary." But, um, don't lie.
· The hotel may be more willing to grant your upgrade request if you've booked a big block of rooms for an event of some sort.
· If a hotel has majorly screwed something up — your room isn't ready or the room wasn't clean when you checked in or something — use it to your advantage, but be smart about it.
· Join the loyalty program!
We're not so sure about some of these, but we do know that joining the loyalty program is a good bet — though usually not an absolutely fail-proof strategy to score an upgrade every time.
[HotelChatter OpenThreads are a place for readers to get in here and talk about hot stories and issues of the day in an open forum. If you are already a HotelChatter member log in to comment, if not become a member for free and comment away.]
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