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The Five Best Hotels Just Outside of Washington, D.C.
In many cities, a suburban stay equals hours on the train each morning and night. But Washington D.C. is small enough that its closest suburbs are often destinations in their own rights — from Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, to downtown Bethesda, Maryland. Throw in D.C.’s crime-ridden rap, combined with the suburbs-serving Metro, and suddenly it makes sense why so many D.C. tourists actually spend the night in a neighboring city (where, ahem, the residents have the right to vote).
Of course, this is hardly a secret; so if you’re looking to the suburbs for a no-frills deal, stick to family-friendly classics. Otherwise, here are our picks for five convenient suburban DC hotels that offer more than just a free (stale) breakfast.
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theWit's Library Gets People Talking, More Than Reading
The lobby of theWit buzzes with businessmen chatting, workers scurrying about and people wandering in and out, but head to the second floor of the hotel and you'll find some peace in the library.
But it's not a library per se. Yes, the table in the middle of the room has small stacks of oversized coffee-table books on everything from fashion to architecture to music that you can peruse. (The most popular one among library visitors is Frank Lloyd Wright Complete Works, Vol. 3: 1943-1959.) But it's more about the atmosphere.
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Inside The Plush Screening Room At theWit Chicago
What are the hot hotel amenities right now? Forget heated towel racks and pet concierges, the screening rooms are it. In New York, the newest private screening room can be found in the Crosby Street Hotel, but the 40-guest "Screen" venue in theWit Hotel in Chicago has it beat by a clear mile; it's no wonder the NYT loved their stay here so much.
Now we've been in the Sony screening rooms and other private movie niches in New York, and our peek at theWit's Screen had us craving popcorn and a good drama far more than any other. For one, the seats fully recline with footrests, cupholders and swing-out trays for your nachos. In the last few rows, the chair are replaced by full-fledged couches with throw pillows and sidetables. If we could come to Screen whenever we wanted, we'd never watch a movie in our living room again.
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The Wit is a Hit with the NYT
Generally speaking, the New York Times is not an easy target to impress — particularly when it comes to anything beyond the confines of Manhattan. Just don’t try telling that to Chicago’s Wit Hotel, Doubletree’s new concept hotel that nabbed another glowing review and can now count the Gray Lady among its many fans.
“Even in a city filled with striking architecture, the Wit makes a powerful impression — a green-tinted glass box with an angled roof and a yellow lightning bolt shooting down its State Street façade,” begins reviewer Fred Bernstein, who adds that the new hotel “managed to be all things to all people; business travelers, vacationing families and trend-seeking 20-somethings all seemed to love the place.”
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Doubletree Helps You Celebrate Fall, All Season Long
The DoubleTree Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif.
We might be sad to say an official goodbye to summer, but since fall has its official opening today, we might as well celebrate. Doubletree Hotels agree with us and have got a special Fall Weekend Getaway Package going from now until December 27th.
Basically it works like this: book a weekend at a Doubletree property (that means a minimum two-night stay) and they'll put you in a Deluxe room with up to two adults and two children per room at no extra charge, you'll get the Blissful Sweet dreams experience and the main bonus is a $50 Food and Beverage credit. The only downside we see to this deal is that the Food and Beverage credit only applies to non-alcoholic drinks, which we think is a shame – a nice glass of wine to see in the fall would go down nicely.
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Pitch Your Hotel: Scott Greenberg of theWit Hotel Chicago
Welcome to our regular Monday feature, Pitch Your Hotel, where we let hoteliers, general managers and other hotel execs tell us on-camera what makes their hotels so different from all the rest. And believe us, the competition is fierce these days. So sit back, relax and listen to them explain why their hotels are worthy of your hard-earned dollars or rewards points.
We'll go ahead and admit that we love Chicago, and sometimes the poor city gets the short end of the cool hotel stick owing to its Midwestern location, but happily theWit Hotel is out to change that. When last we zipped through the Windy City, we made it a point to sit for a second inside of theWit and grab dinner and drinks at one of its restaurants and the rooftop bar, since the place had barely opened its doors. And not only were we impressed with what they've managed to do, but we were surprised that is a Doubletree property.
But since we got the developer of theWit, Scott Greenberg, to sit down with us and explain exactly what the place has going for it, we'll turn it over to him in the video above.
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The Doubletree Doubles Down with Mag Mile Hotel Renovations
The Doubletree Hotel Chicago Magnificent Mile recently unveiled a $21 million makeover befitting its swanky Gold Coast environs.
L.A. design firm Cole Martinez Curtis and Associates transformed the saggy, '70s-looking Chicago City Centre Hotel & Sports Club into the taut, this-decade Doubletree. The common spaces and 500 new rooms stick with a muted black-and-gray color scheme with pops of maroon and blue. The guestroom bathrooms also go for chic with granite countertops and dark wood cabinets.
The design team also tried to spiff up the lobby (which has free WiFi—score!). But as Hospitality Design reported, it wasn’t an easy feat:
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We Spent The Week Scoping Out The Scene At The Wit Chicago
For this week that we spent in Chicago, we had a few must-sees on our list: the improvements in Millennium Park, the lakefront beaches, and The Wit Hotel in the north Loop. A new concept from Doubletree—who'd have thought—The Wit opened its doors at the end of May and quickly rose to the top of the Chicago nightlife scene.
Intent on snooping about the hotel, which is obviously very inspired by the more scene-y Manhattan Hotels (60 Thompson, The Hotel On Rivington), we headed to the loop for dinner at one of their restaurants and a drink on the rooftop, and we can say that The Wit definitely packs a few impressive punches.
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The View From the Roof of The Wit Will Make You Say 'Holy...'
This week, the rooftop of Chicago's new The Wit Hotel (which is actually a boutiquey Doubletree property) hotel opens up — the literal crown (ha) atop the property's residential floors, restaurants, and $199 chic rooms.
Though the hotel itself is set to open in "late May" (hey! It's late May!), the hotel website isn't accepting any rezzies until June 1st and nobody answered when we called the hotel twice this afternoon. Hmmm.
But! Chicagoist is reporting that the hotel's destination rooftop is opening up this week (perhaps along with the rest of the hotel?), "featuring two outdoor patios, an indoor lounge with full bars, fireplaces, a small plates menu featuring fire-baked pizzas, and a 27th-story bird's eye view of State Street."
Chicagoist got an inside look at the space — holy sh cow(ahem) views and all; check 'em out here.
[Photo: Chicagoist]
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Hilton Launches Four-Pronged Panama City Invasion
Now you don't see 'em, now you do: the Hilton chain is going back into Panama City, Panama. And they're not doing it lightly, with plans announced for four different Hilton-branded hotels to hit the capital within the next couple of years.
Two of the four will be brand spankin' new: the Hilton Panama in the financial district will take up 27 floors of a 68-floor building and be just 5 miles from that famous canal, and the Embassy Suites by Hilton Panama City is also in the financial district and should be ready in October 2011.
The other two Panama City Hilton properties are franchise agreements. One will be the Doubletree by Hilton Panama City, a big renovation of an existing eight-story hotel near the Iglesia del Carmen. The Doubletree reopening should be ready by the spring of 2010. Hilton's also taking on the Hilton Garden Inn Panama; it's the only one of the four where they explicitly mention free WiFi and wired internet access, but we're hoping they'll be including it everywhere. Hilton says they're looking to expand throughout the Caribbean and Latin America so this big Panama City expansion is probably just the beginning.
[Photo: thinkpanama]
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Hilton To Get Three New Hotels in The Maldives
Last time we checked in with Carsten Schieck, General Manager of the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, was in February, when he told us about the resort’s dizzying menu of "barefoot luxury" offerings.
But as it turns out, Hilton's offerings in the Maldives won't be limited to this one resort anymore. Hilton is taking over three new properties in the Maldives and Schieck will be overseeing them all.
The first is the new Hilton Maldives/Iru Fushi Resort & Spa (formerly the Iru Fushi Resort) which is scheduled to open on July 1. The second major project from Hilton is the transformation of the year-old Beach House Resort at the northern tip of the archipelago on Manafaru Island (pictured.) The plans here are to turn this into the first Waldorf Astoria Collection property in the Asian Pacific. The luxury property was already listed on the Condé Nast Traveler Hot List, so presumably Hilton won’t have to make too much of a fuss before the scheduled November 1st changeover.
The final property that Hilton will launch is the new Hilton Doubletree in the Maldivian capital, Malé. That hotel is set to open in 2011. Yes, a Doubletree in the Maldives. They are now, officially, everywhere.
Tags: Hotel Opening Rates / Chicago Hotels / The Wit / Doubletree Hotels / → All Tags
The Wit Chicago Will Hit Its Mark With $199 Opening Rates
In New York, the hotspot for new hotels may be around the Bowery and the Lower East Side, but in Chicago, the classics reign supreme and so the construction has centered around the North Loop and the Block 37 development. Leading the pack will be The Wit, a Doubletree property with some residential floors, two restaurants, a screening room, and a destination rooftop.
As centrally-located as it is, at the corner of State and Lake Streets just next to the El train tracks, The Wit doesn't seem to be undergoing any construction delays and is due to open in "late May 2009." If, however, you aren't planning on hitting the Windy City under summer really kicks in during Taste of Chicago and Venetian Night, we still recommend booking now as they've got $199 starting rates for bookings beginning June 28. Now take this price and pair it with the hotel's proximity to Millennium Park and its views towards the lake, and then you'll have a shadow of an idea as to why we're so excited for it.
[Left image: Wit Hotel]
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