Tag: hotel christmas trees

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The Hotel Christmas Trees of Hong Kong

December 23, 2011 at 4:15 PM | by | Comments (0)

We're about to take off for Christmas and before we go, we'd like to leave you one with one final round-up of Hotel Christmas Trees, all the way from Hong Kong!

A couple of these come from the hotels clustered at Pacific Place but we've also got one from Kowloon and the Tai Koo Shing nabe. We actually had quite a few more but we lost our camera in a red taxi the night before we left. Maybe the return of our camera (or at least our memory stick full of hotel rooms, hotel Christmas trees, hotel exteriors, hotel cocktails, an interview with a hotel concierge and a daytrip to Macau) will be our Christmas miracle this year. Yeah, we won't count on it.

Here's hoping you all get a little something naughty and nice under your Christmas tree this weekend! We'll be back on Tuesday with more hotel news and reviews as well as the annual HotelChatter year-end awards! Now excuse us, there's some egg nog that needs to be drunk.

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W New York's Christmas Tree Spells It Out

Go To The Hotel's Web 
  Site Where: 541 Lexington Avenue [map], New York, NY, United States, 10022
December 23, 2011 at 3:05 PM | by | Comments (0)

...And the award for most literal Christmas decorations in a hotel goes to the W New York. Walking into the lobby, it's a little tinsel tree and a few metallic mosaic tchotchkes all around, but go straight ahead and you'll see it: a TREE. No, really.

Their faux Christmas tree vertically spells out "T R E E." Sure, at first we just thought it was an awkwardly cube-shaped tree as W's attempt to be edgy, but it's so much more than that. It's...letters. Hmm.

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The Dream Downtown's Christmas Might Just Go On Forever

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  Site Where: 346 W 17th St [map], New York, NY, United States, 10011-5020
December 23, 2011 at 9:30 AM | by | Comments (0)

Forever in search of Christmas cheer (even with only two days to go!), we poked our heads inside the Dream Downtown to see what they had cooked up. And boy were we not disappointed! The entire lobby has been transformed into a winter wonderland. From the snow white peacock greeting visitors at the front door, to the giant polar bear towering over by the back windows, you feel like Santa's about to walk in at any moment. The friendly-looking reindeer peeking out from behind a cluster of evergreen trees (above) certainly doesn't detract from the illusion either!

As it turns, the hotel enlisted the services of an upstate New York taxidermist, who, apparently, did such a great job that Dream is now considering making the as-yet-unnamed polar bear a permanent member of the space. Unsurprisingly, the feedback from guests has been extremely positive. What bad things are there to say about a polar bear?

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And the Award For Best-Dressed Christmas Tree Goes To...

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  Site Where: 1 Vithei Charles De Gualle Khum Syay Dan , SIEM REAP, Cambodia
December 22, 2011 at 11:30 AM | by | Comments (0)

...the Raffles Grand Hotel D'Angkor in Siem Reap, Cambodia! We got sent a photo yesterday of their colorful, bright, silk-adorned tree, which manages to make our tree at home look about as elegant as a bundle of twigs with a star on top.

But then again, we don't normally hire a Paris-educated couturier to design our tree, now do we?

Internationally-acclaimed designer Eric Raisina, who relocated to Siam Reap because of the region's native silk, and who has created textiles for the likes of Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Lacroix, decided to use the lotus flower as his inspiration for the tree, citing its associations with "purity." Hats off to him, because this is definitely one of the coolest trees we've seen yet, with its bright blossoms and irregular shape, looking like it sprouted straight out of the hotel lobby floor.

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The Waldorf-Astoria Lights Their Lobby Menorah

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  Site Where: 301 Park Avenue [map], New York, NY, United States, 10022
December 21, 2011 at 5:00 PM | by | Comments (0)

Although there's still several more days to go until you can rip through the presents underneath the Christmas tree, Hanukkah started last time, meaning gifts are already being opened as the candles of the menorah are lit, day-by-day. And although almost every hotel lobby wouldn't be caught without a massive Christmas tree, it's actually pretty rare to find a hotel menorah.

One standby for finding a menorah is the Waldorf-Astoria—the original on Park Avenue in New York City. Enter through the Park Ave doors and head up the stairs, past the Christmas trees and underneath the chandelier. Keep going and just before you hit the main reception area with its classic art deco details, you'll see this 5' tall gold menorah.

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On Second Thought, An $11 Million Christmas Tree Might Be Going Overboard

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  Site Where: Corniche Road, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
December 20, 2011 at 11:28 AM | by | Comments (0)

We think the Emirates Palace has gotten the message. Rather than strive to top last year's $11 million Christmas tree monstrosity, the hotel has graciously toned things down for the time being.

This month, guests at the gold-loving hotel won't be blindsided by a tree that's wearing more expensive jewelry than they are. Adorning the tree instead are custom-made Christmas balls from the Netherlands, and gold and silver foil ribbons. For good measure, the hotel also threw in some Christmas carolers. Who sang from gold-plated manuscripts atop gold podiums with gold plates on their teeth. A modest affair, really.

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Choco-holics, Stay Away From The Jumeirah Essex House This Christmas

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  Site Where: 160 Central Park S [map], New York, NY, United States, 10019
December 15, 2011 at 3:19 PM | by | Comments (0)

This is the kind of Christmas tree that you do not want to have around the house—because if you did, you'd just end up eating it.

Luckily, this 10-foot-tall beauty, made entirely of chocolate (white, dark, milk, fondant, you name it, it's on there), is on view inside the Jumeirah Essex House, which luckily isn't a place we frequent very often.

The chocolate theme is continued into the rest of the lobby with a weekend-only Chocolate Bar. Boy, this hotel is pressing allll the right buttons. Included in the mouth-watering buffet are a chocolate fountain, assorted truffles and house-made hot chocolate. Tickets go for $35 a head, but if you bump it up to $49, they'll throw in a glass of champagne.

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Rocking Around The Christmas Tree: The Opposite House

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  Site Where: 11 Sanlitun Road, Beijing, China
December 13, 2011 at 11:54 AM | by | Comments (0)

All this week we'll be rocking around the Hotel Christmas Tree near and far to see how hotels are ringing in the holidays. So grab your eggnog, put on the Mariah Carey Christmas album (you know you own it) and come virtually admire these hotel Christmas trees with us!

The Opposite House in Chaoyang District of Beijing has done the opposite of a traditional Christmas tree with their “Solar Christmas Tree," an installation done in conjunction with Viessman Heating Technology.

The nearly 20-foot tall Christmas "tree" is actually made out of 105 reclaimed solar thermal vacuum tubes that are used to harness the energy of the sun. German graphic artist, Karl, Duschek, did the star atop the tree which is a three-dimensional solar energy icon. The tree is lit by using warm-white LED bulbs, energy-efficient of course.

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Rocking Around The Hotel Christmas Tree: The Beverly Hills Hotel

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  Site Where: 9641 Sunset Boulevard [map], Beverly Hills, CA, United States, 90210
December 12, 2011 at 1:00 PM | by | Comments (0)

All this week we'll be rocking around the Hotel Christmas Tree near and far to see how hotels are ringing in the holidays. So grab your eggnog, put on the Mariah Carey Christmas album (you know you own it) and come virtually admire these hotel Christmas trees with us!

The Beverly Hills Hotel, being a traditional luxury hotel, has opted for a traditional luxury Christmas tree with glittering gold and crimson bows, pine corn ornaments, golden balls of various sizes and tipped with what looks like golden banana leaf.

But of course, one Christmas tree is not enough. Aside from the tree that greets guest in the middle of the lobby, theres another one just a mere few feet away that is slightly smaller but features the same trimmings and a few boxed presents underneath. The hotel also features a menorah in the lobby for those celebrating "8 crAzy nights."

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Seeking Out the Lobby Christmas Tree at the Fairmont Chicago

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  Site Where: 200 North Columbus [map], Chicago, IL, United States, 60601
December 8, 2011 at 4:41 PM | by | Comments (0)

Getting in the Christmas spirit may be easy for those who love wearing kitschy knit vests, or going shopping amid crowds, or baking in general, but we pretty much rely on hotel lobbies to jolt us from our pre-winter malaise. When the trees go up and the garlands come down the staircases, it's pretty hard to resist the warm fuzzies that rise in our gut, and thus we typically go seeking out hotel lobbies with classic scenes.

A few days ago in Chicago, we popped into The Fairmont for this very reason.

The Fairmont is a hotel we tend to forget exists, since it's behind the stocky business buildings of Michigan Avenue and covered from the south by the monolithic Aon Center. Oddly it's been the presence of the new Radisson Blu Chicago that's drawn us back to the area. Guess what, though—the Blu doesn't have a tree! So across the street it is.

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A Classic Tree for Public Chicago's First Christmas

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  Site Where: 1301 North State Parkway [map], Chicago, IL, United States, 60610
December 7, 2011 at 5:01 PM | by | Comments (0)

The Public Chicago may still be quite the newbie on the hotel scene in Chicago, but it's already got the Gold Coast glamor down pat, as evidenced by the classic, non-fussy look of their very first lobby Christmas tree.

It's a simple affair to compliment the low-key lobby, and it's surprisingly placed a bit off to the side. Why? Because even the tree knows that the real highlight of the lobby—during cold Chicago winters—will be the Library Bar's fireplace and the way it beckons guests up into cozier surrounds.

Having experienced the Public and its Pump Room when it was still the old Ambassador East, we can say that the Public at least carries on the building's tradition of being the place in the neighborhood for a bit of white-gloved hot toddy service, though these days those white gloves have morphed to little black dresses.

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The Plaza Has Possibly the Pinkest Christmas Tree Ever

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  Site Where: 5th Avenue and 59th Street, New York, United States
November 29, 2011 at 5:15 PM | by | Comments (0)

First there was the Betsey Johnson-designed Eloise suite, then came the Betsey Johnson pop-up shop and now The Plaza in New York has a whole Betsey Johnson Christmas tree as well.

Just completed and lit during a tea service yesterday, the Betsey Johnson/Eloise tree is perhaps the hottest pink tree you'll ever see; it's 18 feet high and some of the ornaments are stuffed with Betsey goodies (like jewelry and underwear).

It's free to stop in and see the tree, which is not in the lobby but nearer the Palm Court, but it'll only be shining that fuchsia glow through January 4. Meanwhile if you'd like to buy a few things off the tree, the pop-up in The Plaza's downstairs shops will be open longer—until January 9.

For a whole slew of photos of the tree's decorating and Betsey striking poses, hit up the Facebook gallery.