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With A Little Luck, You Could Snag a $47 Room At Cassa Hotel

Where: 70 West 45th Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10036

2012 is Year of the Dragon, and In case you didn't know, the dragon is a pretty big deal on the Chinese zodiac. So, to match the excitement of the new year, New York's Cassa Hotel & Residences is running a pretty nifty Chinese New Year promotion.

Guests who "like" Cassa on Facebook (and prove it by showing their computer or smartphone to the Front Desk) will be given a fortune cookie. Which at first sounds like not such a great trade-off. But hidden inside one of the fortunes is a voucher that will let you book your next stay for only $47.10/night—roughly 80% off the normal rate. All those limestone tubs and minimalist rooms just by eating opening a cookie? This might be our new favorite holiday.

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Hotel Contests / Hotel Auctions / Manhattan Hotels / Affinia Hotels / Hotel Suites / Business Hotels / → All Tags

Have A Sleepover, Every Week For A Year, At Affinia Manhattan

Where: 371 7TH Avenue [map], New York, NY, United States, 10001

Affinia lovers, get out your checkbooks. After debuting the new look last summer, Affinia Manhattan is now putting one of its pretty, flower-themed rooms up for auction. But rather than long weekend-ers or tourists, the deal is actually aimed at business travelers and commuters, who visit the city on a frequent basis.

Every Sunday night for a year, the auction winner can come home to a 1-bedroom suite inside the Affinia Manhattan. And every week, it will be exactly the same (you can even leave your stuff in the closets!).

Which is why, for a wide-eyed tourist hungry to see all the sights, this situation wouldn't be that ideal. But for tireless business travelers, who benefit from consistency and routine (and only really want a quiet place to play with their stuffed animals), this could be a match made in heaven. As long as you're willing to duke it out on the auction block, that is.

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Hotel Contests / Boston Hotels / Langham Hotels / → All Tags

Only 24 Hours Left to Spot Langham Boston's Pink Taxi to Win a Long London Weekend

Where: 250 Franklin Street [map], Boston, MA, United States, 02110

Are you in Boston or do you know someone in Boston who'd be game to do you a favor TODAY in exchange for a possible trip to London? If your answer is yes, then awesome. You see, the Langham Hotel Boston has a classic London cab that drives around town, but instead of the traditional black, it's blush pink (Langham's signature shade). Spot the cab, snap a pic of it and upload it to the Langham Facebook to be entered into the contest—a contest that ends tomorrow night at 11:59pm.

What do you win, you ask? Oh let's see:
· Two roundtrip tickets on Virgin Atlantic in Premium Economy (which is very nice, we've been)
· A 3-night/4-day stay at Langham Boston's sister property across the ocean, the Langham London

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Hotel Contests / Social Media Hotels / Hotel Beds / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Brooklyn Hotels / → All Tags

Brooklyn's Music-Inspired Hotel Will Guarantee A 'Sound' Night's Sleep

Where: 139 33rd Street [map], Brooklyn, NY, United States, 11232

We always like it when new hotels start interacting with their guests way before their doors have even opened. And at Brooklyn's music-inspired Hotel BPM, which doesn't open until April, there has been quite a bit of community involvement going on, practically since day one. Like posting shots of the finished bathrooms on Instagram. Or asking Facebook and Twitter fans to give the hotel's 76 custom-made mattresses a snappy name.

Last week, the "What's That Bed Called?" contest yielded a winner: "The Sound Sleeper." Which kind of makes us think there should be some kind of speaker system installed directly into the mattress—wouldn't that be cool! But maybe not so practical...

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Hotel Contests / Fashion Week Hotels / Tablet Hotels / Fashion Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Grand Hotels / → All Tags

Tablet Hotels Has Your Tickets to the Oscar de la Renta Runway Show

Where: New York, NY, United States

It's crazy, we know, but it's already time to plan for New York Fashion Week. The good news is that this upcoming NYFW is our personal favorite, since it's the fall/winter collections (layering, deep colors!) and it won't be hot and steamy outside as it usually is during the September shows.

If you've always wanted to attend a Fashion Week runway show as an invited guest, now is your chance. Via a Tablet Hotels contest in partnership with Oscar de la Renta, you could be headed to NYC for 5 nights at the Tribeca Grand and seats at the OdlR show.

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Hotel Contests / Hotel Art / Melbourne Hotels / Art Series Hotels / → All Tags

And In the Flash of an Eye, A Banksy Got Stolen

Where: 452 St.Kilda Road , Melbourne, Australia, 3004

Two weeks ago, we found out about a contest going on at Melbourne's Art Series Hotels (The Blackman, The Olsen and The Cullen). Per the contest's rules, anyone who was able to steal a Banksy painting from one of the hotels, and not get caught in the act, could rightfully claim it as their own.

Well, someone's done it.

Last week, @stealbanksy alerted us to a spectacular heist pulled off at The Blackman by Maura Tuohy and an accomplice by the name of Megan Aney. Apparently, quite a few attemps were made at stealing the artwork, including dismantling the hotel's CCTV cameras, wiring the Front Desk with a listening device, and overloading the housekeeping team with menial tasks to keep them distracted. But the winning scheme was much simpler than all that.

Read below to hear how Maura got away with it!

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Hotel Cars / Hotel Contests / Facebook / Boston Hotels / Langham Hotels / Hotel Rides / Hotel Taxis / London Hotels / → All Tags

There's Nothing Subtle About the Langham's New Taxi

Where: 250 Franklin St [map], Boston, MA, United States, 02110

Though we don't know what exactly goes into converting a British car to fit fit US driving standards, we're grateful the work's already been done by Langham Boston. Eager to show off their imported London-style taxi, the hotel has started a promotion which will award a plane ticket to London, plus a three-night stay at sister hotel the Langham London, to anyone who spots the taxi on the streets of Boston and posts a photo onto the Langham's Facebook page.

Sound easy? Well it's about to get easier. As you can tell from the above photo, the taxi has been painted a bright, though still rather elegant, shade of pink, in honor of the hotel's signature color. So now, instead of just hunting through Boston for a rare model of car with the steering wheel on the wrong side, now you'll be hunting for a rare model of car with the steering wheel on the wrong side, and one that happens to be pink. Already, this contest sounds a lot easier than the art thief tournament going on in Melbourne.

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Hotel Art / Art Hotels / Melbourne Hotels / Hotel Contests / Twitter / → All Tags

For Once, A Hotel Is Actively Encouraging Guests To Steal Something

Where: Melbourne, Australia

Over in Melbourne, a trio of hotels known as the Art Series Hotels (The Blackman, The Olsen and The Cullen) are running a rather bizarre contest that rewards the burgling abilities of its guests. Which is probably something The Carlyle or The Ritz-Carlton wouldn't consider in a million years.

Hidden somewhere inside one of the buildings is an authentic Banksy painting titled "No Ball Games" (above). The guest who manages to find it, grab it, and of course, not get caught, gets to go home with the $15,000 prize.

The most important part? You gotta be cool. Among the contest's rules: each participant must "be a polite, respectful and sophisticated art crook."

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Holiday Hotels / Hotel Contests / Los Angeles Hotels / Airport Hotels / → All Tags

The Custom Hotel is Offering $12 Rooms for Those Who Can't Handle the Holidays

Where: 8639 Lincoln Blvd [map], Los Angeles, CA, United States, 90049

If you're in need of a desperate escape from the holiday season but can't exactly afford to just get up and go, then consider spilling your heart out to the Custom Hotel in Los Angeles.

The hotel is currently giving $12 rooms to the "most deflated of Christmas spirits." People who write in with their holiday sob stories of how they just can't handle their relatives or how they got yet another crappy year-end bonus or how their grandma actually got run over by a reindeer will get to escape to the hotel for just $12.

Considering that rooms at the hotel are over $100, that should be a nice little stocking stuffer. Blackout dates for the sad Christmas spirit winner do apply and the voucher must be used by March 31, 2012. But hey, a room in LA for $12 is quite a nice treat.

Wanna see what you will be getting for $12? Take a look at the Custom Hotel's new airport-inspired look right here!

Design Hotels Collection / Starwood Hotels / Hotel Industry News / Hotel Contests / → All Tags

Eek! Design Hotels Now Partly Belong to Starwood Hotels

This is an interesting development--Design Hotels, a collection of 200 awesome independent, boutique, design-forward hotels, is now a part of Starwood Hotels. But if you fear that your favorite assortment of art, design and fashion hotels will be corrupted by Westins, Sheratons and Ws, feel free to exhale.

The partnership is purely an investment deal as Starwood will not be involved in Design Hotels day-to-day operations nor will Design Hotels be a part of Starwood's reservations system or Starwood Preferred Guest program. That's reassuring but we're still suspicious of this whole deal.

But let's not focus on the negative, let's focus on the fun instead. Design Hotels has just kicked off their online Advent Calendar.

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Hotel Contests / Facebook / Cambria Suites / Choice Hotels / Holiday Hotels / Hotel Gifts / → All Tags

Lie A Little, Win A Little At Cambria Suites

How good are you at coming up with excuses? We consider ourselves pros. Whether we're wriggling out of an event we should never have committed to, or lying full-on to ourselves about why it makes more sense to stay out for another round of cocktails instead of heading home at a reasonable hour—we've got the whole "little white lie" thing down pat.

Which is why we get a kick out of a new holiday-themed contest by Cambria Suites/Choice Hotels, which asks people to share their tactics for avoiding house guests. The prize? A $500 hotel gift card. Simply submit whatever "little white lie" you use to stave off unwanted family members, and you could wind up with $500 in hotel cash that could ensure you won't have to host anyone all holiday season long. How's that for choice?

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Hotel Art / Chicago Hotels / James Hotels / Hotel Design / Hotel Contests / → All Tags

What Does It Take To Be An Artist-in-Residence At the James Chicago?

Where: 55 East Ontario [map], Chicago, IL, United States, 60610

A little over a year ago, we brought your attention to the James Chicago's "Room 28" art exhibit featuring a mismatched stack of old suitcases.

This month, the hotel made five artists compete for the chance to have their work permanently displayed somewhere inside the building—and then filmed a mini reality show to document the whole process! The end results: a mummified shrub, an abstract map of Chicago's grid system, and a Rio de Janeiro-inspired painting. To find out which one actually made the cut, see below!

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