· Arrests All Over the Place at the DNC: There have been 141 arrests related to the Democratic National Convention since Saturday, including an ABC producer outside the Brown Palace. [Forbes]
Hurricane Gustav is whipping through the Caribbean right now and while no one knows just yet what it's impact will be when it hits the US, hotels in its wake are getting their emergency management plans in order.
In preparation for the storm, Half Moon will waive all cancellation fees for reservations scheduled for August 28 to September 1, 2008. Guests will be able to reschedule their visit at the original rate booked up to December 15, 2008 and between May - October 2009.
Fortunately (or unfortunately) for Half Moon, dealing with hurricane drama is nothing new. Thus the hotel boasts about being well-prepared to deal with hurricanes.
Last year, guests staying the midst of Hurricane dean were relocated to conference facilities in the Half Moon Shopping Village which doubled as a shelter. Let's hope Gustav doesn't force guests into that position again.
On September 1st, the Trump Hotel and Tower Chicago will unveil 53 new spa guestrooms connected to the Spa at Trump to pamper guests in true over-the-top Trumplike fashion.
The rooms feature in-room treatments, a healthy minibar (does that mean no booze?), yoga kits, a whole menu of Bath Packages, and spa amenities and toiletries that evolve with the seasons.
As guests are led to the spa guest room by their Spa Attaché, who will customize the guest experience from start to finish, they will be enveloped by a custom spa scent in the corridor and soft music playing overhead. Upon entering their room, they will find inspiring city and riverfront views, gentle earth tones, light oak woods, fresh orchids, ambient candles and a music library.
Wooden Electronic Key Cards--do they work or do they not work? That is the question going on around hotels in Denver during the Democratic National Convention.
As you might know already, the NY Sun said the key cards were a bust and we wrote about that. Then a PR rep for the key cards said that wasn't true and the general manager of the Sheraton (where the cards were reported to be abandoned) backed up that claim, saying the key cards were working just fine after an initial "user error." The Sun then issued an update.
Yesterday, we got word that the key cards were working just fine at the Hotel Gold Crown near the Denver airport.
So it seems like these wooden key cards are working and everything is fine and green dandy. Not quite. Thanks to a tipster who did some research for us, there have been some more incidents of these eco-friendly key cards not working. After the jump, see the problems people are having with the key card.
That's right. Thompson Hotels, having finished with their monopoly on New York, is expanding overseas to Seoul, Korea.
We have to say, this destination is shocking. We thought for sure a London property was in the works. Yet today a press release was making the rounds of the interweb that Jason Pomeranc and co. are heading off to Seoul.
We love coming across creative use of words in unexpected places -- pretty sentiments carved into cement or deep thoughts scrawled on bathroom walls -- so it made us smile to see that the new Fairmont Pacific Rim in Vancouver is almost literally building their hotel with poetry.
The text of an original poem by Liam Gillick (a British artist) will wrap around the exteriors of the building all the way up to the 23rd floor.
The Iron Horse Hotel -- the luxury boutique hotel for motorcycle enthusiasts in Milwaukee featuring awesome local lady art, sweet-ass decor and rates that are surprisingly reasonable -- was set for a September 15th opening last we checked.
We got word today that the hotel is offering special introductory "Rev It Up" opening rates (heh -- get it? Motorcycles? Revving up?) starting on October 1st, so we were a bit confused -- but we called the hotel and they happily confirmed that the official opening is still all set for September 15th.
Standard rooms are going for $179 a night, Premium Lofts are a steal at $199 per night, and the luxe Corner Alcove suites will only run you $219.
These rates are only good from October 1st til October 31st -- and we'd suggest you give the hotel a call directly instead of working with the online reservations system because it's still a bit wonky.
This week, hotels all over Denver served to host the world premiere of the sustainable wooden hotel key cards we'd heard so much about.
First, we heard they sucked. But then the source we'd consulted had issued a correction (rumors happen!) saying all was fine and dandy with the cards -- but we wanted to wait and hear from someone who had actually used the cards before we allowed ourselves to remain hold out hope for eco-friendly keycards to catch on.
So we were delighted when reader Amy, who used the new keys at the Hotel Gold Crown just south of Denver, wrote in to give them the thumbs up:
I used the wooden key cards, and they worked great for me and my group.
Yay! Thanks for the report -- and if anyone else has any insight as to how this whole thing is working out, email us!
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by Jenna
That's right. 
