There's tons of hotel news flying around this week and we don't have time to give each and every story the love and attention it may deserve, so you will have to settle for some news briefs.
· The Waldorf-Astoria Collection: As expected, the Waldorf-Astoria Collection keeps on growing. Hilton's luxury chain, anchored by the flagship Waldorf-Astoria in New York, has announced plans for the Palace Jerusalem which will be a 220-room hotel with 30 residences on site. The building for the hotel was actually built in 1929 but will undergo a complete restoration and renovation before opening in 2010.
· Kimpton Hotels: Kimpton is already planning a Hotel Palomar for the City of Brotherly Love but they are also working on adding another hotel in the Robert Morris building on 17th and Arch Streets. Both hotels should open sometime in 2009.
· RockResorts: The Inn at Beaver Creek will now be known as The Osprey at Beaver Creek and has been snapped up by RockResorts. The 41-room hotel will get a $7 million renovation this summer and re-open just in time for the 2008/2009 winter ski season.
· The Opus Montreal: The Opus has opened a new dining scene called Koko Restaurant & Bar, a 9000-square feet serving modern Asian cuisine. The name Koko was inspired by the glamorous Coco Chanel and actually Koko means "here" in Japan.
· The Lanesborough: The posh London hotel has also added a new restaurant, Apsleys. The fine dining establishment will feature modern Italian cuisine from chef Nick Bell. Apsleys will open in what was formerly The Conservatory Restaurant.
But WA is still picking off already established hotels from the Hilton Hotels portfolio. The newest member of the collection is the Rome's Hilton Cavalieri, best known for its Gladiator Training program and Doggy Luxe packages.
While we expect more additions to be announced shortly, so far the WA Collection includes:
· The Waldorf-Astoria: The original flagship hotel on Park Ave. of course. However, we think that anyone seeking truly luxury digs here should hit up the Waldorf Towers instead of the regular rooms.
· The Biltmore: This Phoenician desert retreat is a fave amongst presidential and industry bigwig types and the spa is not to be missed. However the hotel did have a problem with its drinking glasses. Ask for bottled water!
· La Quinta Resort and Club: A desert retreat just outside Palm Springs. We stayed there back in 1995 and loved it. Not sure what it's like today.
·Grand Wailea Resort and Spa: We've also been to this hotel on Maui way back in the 90s but if it was good enough for Michael Jordan back then, it's probably still pretty posh today. Also, it has a Tarzan rope swing in the pool area.
·The Qasr Al Sharq: Yet another desert retreat, although you have to travel a bit further for this one. It's in Saudi Arabia. Hands-down the most exotic property yet.
For more on the Waldorf-Astoria Collection, visit the official website.
[Ed. Note: We had a secret operative at the Waldorf-Astoria on Monday night when Madonna was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Said spy, AllBeachy, gives us the full report of what went down. Madonna fans listen up. Enjoy.
The normally somewhat-staid Waldorf-Astoria was rockin’ on Monday night as the annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction dinner crowd took over the ballroom. Beautiful People abounded, as a mix of luminaries from the worlds of entertainment, publishing, and business table-hopped and schmoozed it up.
On the heels of their recent announcement about the Dakota Mountain Lodge, the Waldorf-Astoria Collection has announced another brand new property, this time the Waldorf-Astoria Sarasota in Florida at the planned mixed-use, high-end development Proscenium. (Note: It's the building on the left in the rendering above.)
The 225-room Waldorf=Astoria Sarasota will feature 38,000 square feet of ballroom, meeting and exhibition space, the iconic Peacock Alley® Lounge, signature restaurants, a roof-top pool overlooking downtown Sarasota, and a 12,000-square-foot spa, among other amenities. There will also be 67 Waldorf=Astoria Residences within the 18-story hotel tower.
In case you were wondering, Proscenium is a type of theater space, thus the development (not the hotel) will have a four-screen, independent and foreign film theater with a total of 500 seats along with the 800-seat Nederlander Performing Arts Hall. The Waldorf-Astoria Sarasota will actually have a bridge to the hall's VIP section. Swanky.
And since this is Florida, most visitors want to spend some time of the beach. Lion's Gate, the developers behind Proscenium are developing a 59-unit annex on Sarasota's Lido Beach. Hotel guests will then be able to use this beach here.
As with most hotel hype, the opening date is far off--late 2010.
As we told you last week, the Dakota Mountain Lodge in Park City, Utah was picked to be the first ski resort in the Waldorf-Astoria Collection which includes the original Waldorf in NYC, the Beverly Hilton, the Arizona Biltmore and the Grand Wailea resort in Maui. The resort will be a part of The Canyons, Utah’s largest ski and snowboard resort.
However, the hotel is still under construction. This here is a rendering of what the place will look like from the slopes once completed in 2009. In fact, that's the The Canyons’ new Frostwood Gondola, which is also under construction and will be adjacent to the Dakota Mountain Lodge. Now that's a true "ski-in" ski-out" type of place.
Here's a bit of hotel trivia for you: The term "presidential suite" came from the European tradition of "royal suites," but, as we don't have royals (no, the Kennedy's don't count), we termed the best room in the house the Presidential Suite.
In other words, it has nothing to do with whether a president has stayed there or not. Yet, while most hotels use the term as misnomer, not proof of political pedigree, the Presidential Suite at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa can use the title quite literally. Every U.S. president since Herbert Hoover has stayed in the Suite while in office.
If you're becoming a fan of the Waldorf-Astoria Collection of hotels--think back to our hype on the La Quinta Resort last week, also a part of this group--then we've got another deal for you that's just a touch more exotic.
Over in Saudi Arabia, the Qasr Al Sharq or Palace of the Orient hotel in Jeddah is also a member of the Waldorf-Astoria Collection. It's an exclusive place of just 46 suites and they're offering a four-night package at the moment which pretty much fits the idea of staying in a palace.
For just over US$5000, you'll get four nights in a junior suite and on your way into Saudi, VIP arrival at the airport--that means you get to skip the main customs queue and then get whisked away by limousine to the hotel. On arrival you'll get Arabic coffee, juices and dates (we presume they mean the edible kind and not a selection of men or women to choose from); a butler-served breakfast is included each day and you'll also get a personalized guided tour of old Jeddah.
There are a bunch of other cool packages being offered by the Waldorf-Astoria Collection right now and we were pleased to see that these even include a deal at the original Waldorf Astoria in New York, if heading to Saudi Arabia is too far for your long weekend.
La Quinta Resort & Club is one of our favorite desert getaways in Palm Springs. Actually, it's the only desert getaway we've ever taken but we thoroughly enjoyed our stay when we went.
Now the hotel is part of the Waldorf-Astoria Collection from Hilton Hotels and is offering a Discovery package (other hotels in the collection are also offering Discovery packages which are unique to the hotels' location.)
At La Quinta, the package includes a four-night stay for two in a Starlight Casita with a king bed. These rooms all have fireplaces and private patios with mountain views. Recently the resort put all new carpeting and 37" HD flat-screen TVs in all the rooms.
But you better like golf as the package includes two one-hour golf lessons and daily unlimited golf at one of the five championship golf courses.
There will be also spa treatments, a $100 gift certificate to any of the boutique shops on the premises, dinner for two at the Adobe Grill, and daily breakfast for two. Topping it off is an evening Jeep Tour to the San Andreas Fault and two tickets to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway which is a large cable car gondola that takes guests from the desert floor to the top of Mt. San Jacinto.
The package is priced at $3,200. To book, call 1-800-WALDORF or go online. Use the code P8 when making reservations.
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by juliana
