Tag: budget hotels
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B Hotels To Get More Affordable with Their New b2 Brand
It's been a while since we checked in with B Hotels and Resorts but we were generally pretty pleased with our stay at the B Ocean Hotel in Fort Lauderdale which offered modern guestrooms with fun amenities and free WiFi for a reasonable price (Our stay was $169 on Jetsetter.com). Now B Hotels is getting even more affordable with their new spin-off brand called b2 hotel.
b2 will be offer the same value-oriented amenities to guests as B Hotels but the properties will be more of a three and three and a half star experiences in smaller markets, as opposed to four star hotels in key destinations.
According to Ayelet Weinstein, CEO of B Hotels & Resorts, the b2 concept will also have a more streamlined operational and staffing model. Yet while going more of the select-service route, b2 will still offer the following B signature service: B In Touch amenities like complimentary iPad rentals, digital concierge touchscreens and of course, free WiFi; B Ambiance which includes mood lighting and signature scents and B Nourished food and beverage offerings with a signature restaurant concept and even, in-room dining.
Los Angeles Hotels / Budget Hotels / Boutique Hotels / → All Tags
What is the L.A. Sky Boutique Hotel?
We were stalking hotel booking sites yesterday, trying to find you some good hotel deals, when we stumbled upon this Expedia listing for a hotel in Los Angeles called, LA Sky Boutique Hotel. Whatever could this be?
As it turns out, it's the same Sky Hotel that we wrote about back in 2007. (Yup, we've been doing this job too long.) As it turns out the hotel is in the process of changing its name from Sky Hotel to LA Sky Boutique Hotel.
Located in the heart of West Los Angeles on Westwood Boulevard near Pico, close to UCLA, the freeway and the Westside Pavilion mall, the hotel has just 28 rooms, done up in a stylish furniture with sky-inspired colors (lots of blues and light colors). We found rates for this weekend, Memorial Day Weekend, for just $149 for a queen bed guestroom. King beds are just $159. Those rates include breakfast and free WiFi.
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If Only Our Room At The Red Roof Inn Actually Looked Like This
Once in a while we take a chance on a hotel, usually for one of three reasons: the place got recommended to us by a friend, it's super convenient, or we're just plain old desperate. In the case of our stay last week at the Red Roof Inn Flushing New York, which is located just four miles from LaGuardia Airport (LGA), it was some mix of the latter two.
Walking into the hotel, we thought, 'OK. It's a little bare bones, and there is kind of a weird plaster-y smell, but nevermind: the rates will be cheap, and there will be free WiFi.'
Sure enough, upon checking in, the rate was certainly lower than what we're accustomed to seeing across the river in dear old Manhattan. $110 for the night. And what's more, they even decided to bump us up to a "bigger" room on the highest floor, at a discount.
Off to a good start! But then things took a turn for the worse.
Tune Hotels / Australia Hotels / Melbourne Hotels / Sydney Hotels / Airport Hotels / Budget Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
Tune Hotels Heading to Melbourne and Sydney
Now that they've set up shop in multiple places in the UK, budget chain Tune Hotels is ready to bring their tiny rooms, comfy beds and a la carte hotel amenities Down Under.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported the other week that Tune has plans for hotels in both Melbourne and near the Sydney Airport.
Tune's first Australian venture, 235 rooms in Melbourne's Swanston Street, is due to open in August next year....
The Melbourne hotel will be followed by a 250-room property at Sydney Airport and is linked to AirAsiaX's new daily flights from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur.
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So You Want To Experience New York's Real Chinatown? 3 Hotels In Flushing, Queens
If you are any kind of food snob at all, you already know that New York's best dim sum, hand-pulled noodles, crispy whole duck and bubble tea are found not in Manhattan's Chinatown, but nine miles east of Times Square, in Flushing, Queens.
So, you already know that. Good. But do you know how to turn your NYC visit into a mock Chinese "staycation"? Your wallet (and your stomach) will thank you after you book a room at one of these three affordable Queens hotels, all of them just a twenty minute subway ride from Times Square, and a fifteen minute cab ride from LaGuardia Airport.
The sign outside Best Western Queens Court (above) proves this isn't just any old Best Western. In addition to the rooms and free WiFi, the lobby has its own Chinese restaurant, Liang's Kitchen, an offshoot of a popular Southern California-based chain that specializes in Taiwanese dishes. Rates here start at around $140/night.
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Travelodge Gets A Writer In Residence, Tries To Promote Itself As A Celebrity Magnet
Most of the time, a writer's fate is to be stuck behind a blank computer screen, itching for an excuse to get up and go do something else. Once in a while, however, some writers actually score gigs worth envying, as in the case of celebrity journalist Neil Sean, who's become the first-ever writer in residence for budget hotel chain Travelodge.
As part of the deal, Sean will travel to some of the brand's 504 European hotels throughout England, Ireland and Spain, while writing his latest book, How To Live Like A Celebrity For FREE. Interesting title. In the guide, Sean will apparently share some money-saving tips he's learned over the years from interviewing A-listers like J-Lo, Simon Cowell and Beyonce.
Step one, we're guessing, involves saving piles of money by staying at a—wait for it—Travelodge!
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A Look At The Rooms Inside The New Pod 39
Last week, it was announced that Pod Hotel number two (which is actually called Pod 39) is on its way to NYC in June, just as predicted.
And one of the things we're most excited about this second-edition, updated Pod is that this time, all the rooms will have private bathrooms. Queen pods, odd pods, single pods—and yes, even bunk pods (shown above).
Which is only fair. With all the socializing embodied in the Pod culture (let's not forget the rooftop space, taco bar in the lobby, and video/photo "screening wall"), it's only right that guests, whether they're backpacking from Europe or in town on a conference, should be entitled to a little privacy in the bathroom. Added features like this (and starting rates of $119/night) will soon be giving Yotel a run for its money.
For more photos, click below!
Hotel Openings / Budget Hotels / Aloft Hotels / Costa Rica Hotels / Starwood / → All Tags
Aloft Costa Rica Won't Cost-a You Too Much
Aloft launches its second Latin American hotel this month with the opening of Aloft San Jose in Escazú, close to the Juan Santamaria airport. Though Aloft Bogota opened last year, this is the company's first location in Costa Rica. The budget, easy-in-easy-out appeal of Aloft must have outweighed its flashier big sister, W when it came time for Starwood to decide which brand to introduce.
A quick TripAdvisor search reveals that until now, Escazú has boasted little in the way of hotels. While Real InterContinental Costa Rica and Marriott San Jose are both viable options (and also both boast killer spa servies) $149/night rates will make Aloft very attractive to cost-conscious travelers.
And all the usual Aloft trimmings (w xyz bar, re:fuel snack station) are here. The website is also showing photos of a "backyard" space with tables and chairs—since we know how much Aloft loves its social butterfly guests...
Budget Hotels / London Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
London Moves Forward With a 600-Room Capsule Hotel In Picadilly Circus
Say cheese!
How much does London like its budget hotels? A lot, we tell you, a lot! Just two weeks after the Malaysian-based, Beatles-loving Tune Hotels announced plans for two new London hotels before the Olympics (and plenty more UK ones on the way), we now have The Economist reporting on a brand new 600-room capsule hotel planned for London's West End. The only catch? None of the rooms will have windows.
The hotel is scheduled to open in 2014 inside the Trocadero, a 450,000 square foot entertainment and shopping complex in Picadilly Circus that at one time housed the Segaworld theme park and Pepsi IMAX cinema. Madonna also apparently shot her Hung Up video there in 2005. Though sadly, neither rollercoasters nor pink leotards will be part of the design.
London Hotel Openings / London Hotels / Hotel Openings / Budget Chic Hotels / Budget Hotels / → All Tags
The Z Hotel Soho in London is Easy on the Wallet, Not So Easy On Your Wingspan
Our spies on the ground in London have told us there's yet another new hotel open for us to check out. And fortunately, this one is billing itself as "designer label but without the designer price tag."
The Z Hotel Soho is located off Charing Cross Road, south of the Soho Square Garden, with 85 rooms built around a central courtyard. While the exterior is described as having "classical architectural proportions", the rooms boast a way more contemporary look with 40" flatscreen TVs, glass partitions around the bathroom, iPod docking station which plays through the TV and our fave amenity, free WiFi. For your toiletry whores, they've got Thierry Mugler in the bath.
But don't get too comfortable. At just 8-9 square metres, the rooms are teeny tiny about the same size as the Tune Hotel. In fact, the loo is at the foot of your bed and you may have to watch for the shower head going awry and spraying your bed. But it's not like the hotel doesn't warn you about the cramped quarters. Right on the Z Soho's website it says:
Hotel Hype / Courtyard By Marriott Hotels / Hotel News / Budget Hotels / European Hotels / → All Tags
Courtyard By Marriott is Courting Europe in a Major Way
Last year, we were tres excited by the opening of the Courtyard By Marriott in Paris as Paris is one of our favorite cities and Courtyard is one of our favorite budgie brands. Starting at 81 euros a night, we don't have to fret about spending all our money on a hotel room, just train rides into the center of town. (And sadly, on WiFi which is not gratis here as it is stateside.)
And it looks like Courtyard is tres excited about being in Europe as well since they are planning on adding 80,000 rooms in Europe by end of 2015. These rooms will also be brand-new room layouts, designed to be a "haven for business travelers" with 42" LCD TVs, ample work spaces, spa-like bathrooms and multiple, accessible outlets.
Downstairs in the lobbies, the European Courtyards will feature a hybrid of dining/meeting/relaxing layouts, very much like what we see in the U.S. right down to the 24-7 market, an all-day Bistro and the interactive GoBoards with the latest news, weather and local information.
Premier Inn Hotels / London Hotels / Budget Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
Premier to Welcome a Whopping 3,245 New Rooms to London in the Next Two Years
In a manner quite characteristic of Londoners, we found ourselves getting sulky over recent news that European hotel rates are soaring up, up, away and out of affordable reach. London is regarded one of the world's most expensive destinations, inspiring vague resentment among travelers desperate for a jaunt to the land of Royals and all manner of pies.
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