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.
·Gramercy Park Hotel Gets Its First Lawsuit: The GPH and others are being sued by a former worker at its Wakiya restaurant who claims she was assaulted by a co-worker and fired for speaking Spanish. [NY Sun]
· Wolfgang Puck at a Doubletree Near You: Wolfgang Puck and Doubletree Hotels have teamed up to offer you the celeb chef's Wolfgang Puck Estate Grown Coffee in every room. [PR-Inside]
· Aloft Now Set for DIA: Aloft Hotels will open up at Denver International Airport next year inside the planned 17-acre Landings at DIA, a retail development. [The Denver Post]
· In-Room Wine Tastings: The Muse Hotel in NYC is now offering in-room wine-tastings in the hotel's private suites. Called "Red, White, and Bubbly", the experience includes wine and champagne tastings and light fare from Chef Patricia Williams. Ovenight stay is required and the program starts at $65/per person. [Muse Hotel]
MSNBC Travel columnist Amy Bradley-Hole published a super-interesting piece on hotel advertising called "Why Hotels Should Shutter Ad Campaigns." Essentially, she argues that hotel ads are outdated and sort of worthless these days.
To some extent, we agree with her: many of the ads for the big-chain hotels on TV are kind of lame (alright, outrageously lame) and follow the pretty people/fluffy beds formula (example: Hampton Inn).
But on the other hand, it might be unfair to say that all hotel ad campaigns are outdated.
A couple of the points that really stuck out to us:
Business travelers are told where to stay. Companies have always made "bulk" contracts with hotels -- the more rooms a company books a year, the cheaper the rate.
We say: true! It's tough for Joe Employee to choose where he gets to crash on business trips.
And then another Aloft popped up in Rancho Cucamonga, and we were all, "whatever, Lexington, we're not waiting around for you."
Then we scored some pics of the first-ever Element, which was set to open in Lexington, and we were excited all over again -- especially since it looked a lot more spacious and comfy than the Aloft we visited in the meantime.
And today, July 1st, marks the birth of both the Aloft Lexington and Element Lexington properties, bringing Starwood just that much closer to world domination.
Another new Aloft opened yesterday in Rogers, Arkansas (population: almost 39,000 -- so not exactly Podunk Nowhere-ville) and the Arkansas folks seemed starry-eyed and enthusiastic.
"This is really something," said Brig Caldwell, who spent about 20 minutes walking the main floor. "I had a chance to stop by for a preview the hotel was doing last night, and it was like I walked into a nightclub. The space. The lights. It's so much different from what a hotel is."
Maybe we're just jaded or something.
Wondering why the eff Aloft chose rando-ville, Arkansas to launch one of their first properties? Rogers is a quick 15-minute drive from Bentonville -- a.k.a. Wal-Mart HQ. Starwood ain't stupid.
We tripped down to the Ontario-area over the weekend to spend the night at the first ever Aloft in the U.S. We couldn't wait to finally see the inside of a real Aloft (not a Second Life one).
As we turned off the 10 freeway and started making our way to Fourth Street, we saw the Aloft building in the distance. It looked just like the renderings we have been posting for the past couple of years which was a strangely eerie feeling.
We snapped out of our haze and pulled into the parking lot, parked our car next to the Aloft van, grabbed our bag and headed in.
While the website says reservations are accepted only for June 30 and beyond, that's just a lie. Reservations can be made for today and beyond.
We also called the hotel to verify and a manager said they were getting ready for the official opening at 11am today.
Rates for this weekend were a little pricey for this area in between Los Angeles and Palm Springs at $139 a night (that's an internet/no cancellations rate.) Considering we stayed at a Palm Desert resort (albeit an aging one) for $94 a night two weeks ago, this is not really a budget stay. So Aloft--you better live up to the hype!
With all the talk about Starwood's Aloft Hotelsfinally opening its doors, don't think that we've forgotten about Aloft's younger brother, Element Hotels.
The first ever Element will be in Lexington, Massachusetts and is scheduled to open either July 1 or July 15--depending on which portion of Starwood's website you're viewing. Go figure.
But you can't make reservations through the Element website until after July 15. So we're guessing the opening date is the 15th.
That makes Element's opening occur almost simultaneously with the Aloft Lexington which is located adjacent to the Element.
Yet unlike the Aloft Lexington which lost out to those silly Canadians, the Element Lexington WILL be sticking to its initial goal of being the first Element to open in the world.
Now that the first Aloft Hotel is up and running, we're dying to know what a night within those much-hyped funky-fresh walls is like.
Wanna go check it out for us and let us know?
It might be a good idea to hit up an Aloft soon: if you're heading to one of the properties currently taking reservations -- Beijing, Lexington, Montreal, Philadelphia, Rancho Cucamonga, Rogers or Rosemont -- you'll get 20 percent off if you stay for two nights. The terms:
Arrive on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday for a two-night stay; book anytime up to the first day of your stay.
0 Comments - Add Yours
by juliana
