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Holiday Inns
Holiday Inn Cleans Up Image by...Rapping?
Where: United StatesOctober 24, 2008 at 1:07 PM | 1 Comment
The Holiday Inn chain of hotels hasn't always been known for bonuses like a complimentary hot breakfast bar and occasionally clean pools; no, they used to be real dens of iniquity, serving almost as petri dishes for staph bacteria.
The heyday of their seedy reputation came in the late 1990s, when the term "Holiday Inn" was slang, referring to any cheap motel for unsavory activities regardless of hotel brand. Mentions in popular rap songs, including "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang and the more recent "Holiday Inn" by Chingy, dug a deeper hole for the hotel chain and their image dropped to an almost unsalvageable low.
Anti-View
Room With an Anti-View: Centrally-Located Holiday Inn Markham in Toronto
September 11, 2008 at 10:35 AM | 0 Comments
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
When the hotel's own publicity chooses the opening words of its advertising blurb to be "Centrally located near major highways", we're imagining rooms with views over spaghetti freeways and wasteland. At the Holiday Inn Markham in Toronto, it's slightly better than that, but still fits into our definition of an anti-view : car parks, flat roofs and boring straight roads as far as the eye can see.
The standard of the hotel seems just slightly above the standard of the view. Neat, mostly clean and mostly decent service prevail, but previous guests have complained that they've paid too much unless they win a cheap room on Priceline at around C$60 for a double. Don't pay too much, don't look out the window, and you'll be fine.
[Photo: Julep67]
Holiday Inns
Complaining at the Holiday Inn Might Get You More Priority Club Points
August 19, 2008 at 12:38 PM | 1 Comment
If you're a fervent hotel loyalty program member then you might be familiar with the term Mattress Runner.
These are people who just book hotel rooms to garner a certain amount of points that will either take them to the next loyalty echelon (gold, platinum, etc.) or earn them a free stay.
So the question for Mattress Runners is: What would you put up with for 50,000 points?
We have a first-hand experience of one guest who had much to complain about at a Holiday Inn near the Atlanta airport. Yet it turns out, all that grief made him loaded in Priority Club points. Mattress runners take note.
The full story is after the jump.
Hotel Sex
New Holiday Inn Chelsea May Look Sexy, but It's Not Good for Sex
July 28, 2008 at 9:30 AM | 2 Comments
Last week, we had the chance to stay overnight in the brand new Holiday Inn Manhattan 6th Avenue, one of the first HI properties to sport the brand's more upscale look, which includes the upgraded logo and all sorts of the new, chic decor planned to hit all Holiday Inns by the end of 2010.
And while we admit that the hotel did look pretty sexy (especially, you know, for a Holiday Inn) we couldn't help but notice that it would have been a terrible hotel for having good old fashioned sexytime -- and sorry, Spitzerface and Edwards: secret affairs here would be totally out of the question.
The reasons why (and a full review) after the jump.
Hotel Technology
Are Hotel Holographs the Way of the Future?
July 11, 2008 at 11:32 AM | 0 Comments
New hotel technology has gotta start somewhere and down in Australia, the University of Queensland's School of Tourism has been trying to get students to have some brainwaves for the future.
When we first heard about this idea we figured that a bunch of students who've only ever stayed in youth hostels might not have many brilliant ideas for the future of hotels, but the results were better than we'd expected.
Hotel Openings
Holiday Inn Opening Now, Not Yesterday
June 27, 2008 at 1:45 PM | 0 Comments
USA Today was a day off on the opening of the report that the Holiday Inn Chelsea which said the hotel would open Thursday.
Our on-the-street intelligence actually confirms that the new hotel, one of the few Holiday Inns to sport the revamped logo and chicer interior, will be opening today and is already booked to capacity for the weekend.
Swinging by the scene yesterday at 125 West 26th Street and 6th Avenue revealed last-minute preparations like a mountain of recycling to do and four extra mattresses chilling outside. As we stealthily evaded security, we managed to peek into the small lobby and lounge area.
Holiday Inns
Who Knew? Holiday Inn Looking Good These Days
June 24, 2008 at 5:30 PM | 1 Comment
Right after we finished writing this bit about the newly renovated Holiday Inn in Palm Springs, we came across an article from USA Today about the new Holiday Inn opening up in Chelsea on Thursday.
And again, we all might be impressed with what we find.
The article reports that the new Holiday Inn will sport many of the upgrades (including the new logo/sign) that the brand is doing to all of its properties by 2010--at a whopping overhaul cost of $1 billion.
The revamped hotels preserve little from the past. The primary reminder is the splash of green in the Holiday Inn sign and entry lighting, recalling the old green-and-white-striped Holiday Inn towels.
Walking up to the Sixth Avenue Holiday Inn in Chelsea, guests see black Japanese-style planters and a modern steel-and-glass portico. At night, it is illuminated with that vibrant green lighting.
And there just might be a need for a "Vibe Manager" at this Holiday Inn as the hotel will be playing chart-toppers from artist like Jack Johnson, John Mayer and Kylie Minogue in the lobby.
This has gotten us very excited about Holiday Inn again, especially the bit about the brand not renewing contracts with locations that don't meet the new standards or are in areas that travelers perceive unsafe.
We actually think Holiday Inn will now be a force to reckon with. Watch out Aloft!
Palm Springs Hotel Guide
Palm Springs Area Hotel Guide: Holiday Inn's New Look Suits All
June 24, 2008 at 4:44 PM | 0 Comments
While it's definitely the off-season for Palm Springs right now, it's also the best time to take advantage of cheap room rates at some of the desert's best hotels. We'll be rounding up some of the Palm Springs area's (including Palm Desert) most notable hotels this month. Got any suggestions or questions? Let us know.
This is Palm Springs where roadside motels and inns have just as much appeal as the designer boutique hotels and luxurious five-stars, so we aren't surprised to hear that the Holiday Inn here gets killer reviews. But thankfully, it's not because the hotel is old and kitschy. It's actually a nice new hotel.
Hotel Hell
Holiday Inn in New Jersey Evacauted for Mystery Smell That Did Not Come From Secaucus
June 20, 2008 at 2:28 PM | 0 Comments
A smelly hotel in Northern New Jersey? Well, that's nothing new. But when the smell doesn't seem to be coming from the landfills of Secaucus, then you might have a problem. Which is exactly what happened at a Holiday Inn on Route 22 in Springfield.
Since we grew up close to Route 22 (Skate 22 anyone?), we can personally tell you it's not the most scenic strip in the Garden State. However, apparently there was a stank so bad in the Holiday Inn along this route that guests had to be evacuated AND have their eyes flushed out as a precautionary measure.
ABC 7 reports that the smell came from the 4th floor:
Between 50 and 60 guests reportedly complained of various symptoms, including coughing and eye watering.
As a result, all 37 rooms on the floor were evacuated, and the guests were treated in a decontamination tent in the parking lot. Their eyes were washed down as a precautionary measure. Meanwhile, the fourth floor was aired out.
After three hours, the guests were allowed to return to their rooms. None had to be taken to the hospital.
There's no official word on what cause the foul odor but the hotel suspects it might be a prank.
Gas Packages
Gas Package Spotted: Holiday Inn Sacramento Northeast
May 27, 2008 at 2:50 PM | 0 Comments
You know how your local news is always rounding up the cheapest and the most expensive gas stations in your area? We're doing the same thing except with Hotel Gas Packages. Seen a gas package? Let us know.
This gas package was found by HotelChatter reader Steve at the Holiday Inn Sacramento Northeast which is right off the I-80. A convenient place for a gas package indeed.
AAA GASOLINE PACKAGE: Enjoy a deluxe guest room and receive one 25 dollar gasoline card for every night that you stay with us.
72-hour advance reservations are required. AAA card must be presented upon check in. Name on card must match the name on the reservation.
The gas package cannot be combined with other offers but it is valid way beyond summer until December 31. If you're not a AAA member, don't sweat it. The hotel is also offering a Free Gasoline package which is the same deal as above and the $25 card is good for Shell gas stations.
However, buyer beware. The rooms under the AAA package start at $149 a night, while the "Free Gasoline" packages start at $164 a night. We definitely failed math more than once in our lifetime but we think that difference is about $15 right? So it's really only about a $10 savings on gas if you aren't a AAA member. Regular room rates start at $126 a night. Tricky Holiday Inn.
Holiday Inn Express
Four Guys Walk into a Holiday Inn Express Breakfast Bar
March 10, 2008 at 9:05 AM | 0 Comments
A recent column by Slate magazine advertising critic Seth Stevenson offers critique of the newly-launched TV advertising campaign from Holiday Inn Express and the brand's new "hot breakfast bar" initiative.
In the TV ads viewers get to feast their eyes on the chain's new breakfast bar offerings, as a group of male hotel guests feast their eyes on an attractive young woman across the dining room.
Hoping to win her favor, the group opts to buy Ms. Pretty Young Thing a complimentary breakfast food item and begin to argue about which item she would prefer.
Political Hotels
Barack Obama Spending the Most on Hotels For His Campaign
February 4, 2008 at 3:26 PM | 0 Comments
Holiday Inn Express has come up with a pretty genius promotion called The SmartMeter which calculates how much presidential candidates have spent so far on hotels during their campaigns and measures that number against what they could have spent had they stayed in Holiday Inns along the way.
Leading the pack is Barack Obama who has spent $833,247 on hotel stays. Close behind is Mitt Romney who has spent $708,189. (Hmm...considering he was once a board member for Marriott, can't he get a discount?). Rounding out the top three big spenders is Hillary Clinton who has racked up $502,932. And as for Republican front-runner John McCain? He's kept it at $360,784.
True, the Smart Meter might not be a perfect measurement tool (the disclaimer admits this: "We gotta admit, we're not pollsters, political scientists or even economists. Heck, we're not even very good at math.) Still, it's plain to see that when it comes to campaign lodging, no expense is spared.
