HotelChatter

Valentine's Day Hotels / Concierges / Vancouver Hotels / Opus Hotels / Hotel Services / → All Tags

The Opus Hotel Has Been Hit by The Cupid Concierge

Where: 322 Davie St, Vancouver, BC, Canada

V-Day is now less than a week away and if you've planned on doing a romantical weekend in Vancouver with your honey but are clueless on everything else, then you should probably book a room at the OPUS Hotel where there's now a Cupid Concierge on staff. The cupid concierge even has their own email! (Cupid@OpusHotel.com)

This specialty concierge of love is a part of the hotel's Exclusively Yours romance package which has the standard love weekend amenities of bubbly at check-in, more bubbly in the guestroom, fresh flowers, breakfast in bed and a late check-out. The concierge will also set up a framed photo of you and your lovah along with a love note when you arrive in the room.

If you need help planning something a little more extravagant, the Cupid Concierge is the one to call whether it's to arrange a romantic experience about town, craft a handwritten love sonnet or plan a gourmet picnic with wine selected by a private sommelier.

The package starts at $295 a night (not including any costs associated with other romantic activities) and is available throughout the rest of the year. So any day can be V-Day at the Opus Vancouver.

HotelChatter 2011 Awards / Hotel Services / Public Hotels / → All Tags

Best New Hotel Service of 2011: Public Express

It's what you've been waiting all year for--The 2011 HotelChatter Awards! We'll be bringing you the best and worst of the year all day today and part of tomorrow. Agree or disagree with our picks? Air your thoughts in comments below.

We already gave Public Chicago an award for Best Hotel Opening this year but when we combed through all the new services that hotels introduced this year--like cookies and lullaby, BMW bikes at Fairmont Hotels or the OCD coin-washing at the Westin St. Francis--we couldn't stop thinking about the "game-changing" room service option, called Public Express.

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Room Service / Four Seasons Hotels / Hotel Services / → All Tags

Four Seasons is Now Promising '15-Minute Room Service'

A while back we expressed our love for Public Express, the new room service concept that Ian Schrager unveiled for his Public Hotels brand.

With Public Express, you don't have to wait 45 minutes for your order to arrive and there's no hemming and hawing over how much extra gratuity to leave on the bill. Instead, you can choose from several different meal options and they all arrive within 10 minutes or less at your door, no signing a check needed.

Thanks to this speedy room service offering, it's one of the reasons why we called the Public Chicago a "game-changer" and now there's some more proof that the game has indeed been changed---The Four Seasons Hotels are now adding their own 15 Minute Room Service option in all 86 hotels and resorts worldwide.

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Hotel Spas / San Diego Hotels / Hotel Services / Hotel Pools / → All Tags

The Outdoor Treatment Casita Makes All the Difference at the Spa at Rancho Bernardo Inn

Where: 7550 Bernardo Oaks Dr [map], San Diego, CA, United States, 92128

When we last left off with the Rancho Bernardo Inn and Spa, we told you that we got out of the room (like they wanted) and headed down to the spa for a little R&R.

The Rancho Bernardo Inn (RBI as it's known to the local folks) is a sprawling resort where the lobby, reception, the Bizcocho restaurant and the Granada cafe are housed in one Spanish rancho-style building while the guestrooms are divided amongst several others. The Spa at Rancho Bernardo Inn, however, is set up a little differently.

Seated near the bottom of a hill below the guestrooms and overlooking the golf course, the spa entrance is housed in a casita overlooking the spa guests-only saline pool while the locker rooms, some treatment rooms and relaxation lounge are in another casita across the way. And it's behind this building where bliss begins.

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Turndown Service / Snapshot / Florence Hotels / Hotel Services / Hotel Poetry / Hotel Beds / → All Tags

Cookies and a Lullaby: Is This The Perfect Turndown?

Where: Piazza Strozzi, Florence, Italy

Chocolates at turndown are all well and good. Port, even better. But, if we lay aside our greedy tendencies for a moment, we’d say that this sincere wish for us to have a good sleep is probably better than both of them.

We found this on our pillow at bedtime during our stay at the Golden Tower Hotel in Florence: a copy of the Brahms Lullaby, which sounds like this and reads like this:

Lullaby and good night, with roses bedight
With lilies bedecked is baby's wee bed,
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed
Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed

Lullaby and good night, thy mother's delight
Bright angels beside my darling shall stand;
They will guard thee from harms, thou shalt wake in my arms
They will guard thee from harms, thou shalt wake in my arms

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Hotel Amenities / Candlewood Suites / IHG Hotels / Hotel Services / → All Tags

What is The Lending Locker and Can More Hotels Have This?

Last week as we strolled through the InterContinental Hotel Group's Annual Investors and Leadership Conference in Las Vegas, we saw tons of hotel vendors hawking their wares from electronics to furniture, lighting fixtures, bed linens and even fugly carpeting. But what caught our eye was this--The Lending Locker.

The locker, or loan closet, stocks items that you may have forgotten during your stay or couldn't bring with you in the first place. The way it works is fairly simple. If you see something in the locker that you want to use, you fill out a slip at the front desk stating what you are borrowing and your room number. And voila, you can now have a George Forman grill simmering away in your hotel room.

Speaking of grills, given that there are some pretty big items inside the locker like appliances and coolers, the locker works better in extended-stay hotels where guests are staying in large suites with kitchens. Indeed, IHG's Candlewood Suites brand is testing out the Lending Locker in some of their hotels.

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Holiday Hotels / Hotel Services / Holiday Cocktails / Cool Hotel Jobs / Four Seasons Hotels / Chicago Hotels / → All Tags

Four Seasons Chicago Will Have a 'Hot Choc Doc' On Staff This Holiday Season

Where: 120 E DELAWARE ST [map], Chicago, IL, United States, 60611

Even though the temperatures are falling Chicago, the hotel scene is getting hotter! And over at the Four Seasons Chicago there's a "doc" on staff whose sole job is to warm you up.

Starting November 25, The Hot Chocolate Doctor will be making "room calls" at the hotel with his mobile hot chocolate bar. Yes, a mobile hot chocolate bar. Swoon.

The doctor's bag is stuffed with toppings and flavor infusions such as marshmallow crème, caramel drizzle and cinnamon cotton candy which will surely please the kids. Adults can also ask the doctor for some "medication", i.e. a selection of rums and schnapps. Drinks are $8 for the kiddie drinks and $14 for the "grown-up" versions.

And much like a real doctor, the hot chocolate doctor is on a tight schedule as he's only available from 4pm to 6pm daily. Thankfully, there's no $45 co-pay.

For more on what the Four Seasons Chicago is doing for the holidays, go here.

London Hotels / Hotel Services / Concierges / Hotel Packages / → All Tags

The Athenaeum London Lets Guests Try Out a Super-Private Heathrow Concierge Service

Where: 20 Pepys Street, London, United Kingdom

London's Athenaeum just got a leg up on its posh hotel counterparts in the VIP service department. Thanks to an exclusive partnership with Heathrow by Invitation, monied, First and Business Class-flying guests have the chance to try out the airport concierge service—usually only available to groups of six—on an individual basis.

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Hotel Minibars / Honor Bars / Ritz-Carlton Hotels / Hotel Services / → All Tags

What Does an Honor Bar in a Hotel Really Mean?

We've always thought that honor bars were different from hotel minibars in that if you took a Coke from the bar, you were expected to be on your best honor and check it off on a little sheet next to the bar so that the establishment would know what to charge you.

In our experience, we've seen these honor bars at country clubs and other sort of clubby places but hotels are adopting them too. Except it's not quite the same honor system.

At the Ritz-Carlton at LA Live, the honor bars in the guestrooms come with some very real prices as well as an 18 percent service charge. Here's a look at the honor bar menu where you can see a chardonnay available for $28 and a pinot noir for $40. (And yes, those are full-sized bottles.)

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Crowne Plaza Hotels / Hotel Services / Uncool Hotel Jobs / UK Hotels / Snore Monitors / Hotel News / → All Tags

Could Snoring Too Loudly Get You Kicked Out of the Crowne Plaza?

This hotel guest is thankfully muffling his own snoring.

Erm...file this under uncool hotel jobs?

A few Crowne Plaza Hotels in the UK made the news last week for their "Snore Absorption" rooms which are designed to help snorers snore less and help their companions sleep more. The rooms include a bunch of snore absorption amenities like sound-absorbing headboards to muffle the echo, anti-snoring wedge pillows and white noise machines.

But now it comes out that the hotels are also employing snore monitors whose job it is to patrol the designated quiet corridors of the hotel. Reuters reports:

"Snore monitors" patrol corridors in the designated quiet zones of Crowne Plaza hotels in the cities of London, Leeds and Manchester. Their job is to listen out for offensive noises and knock on the door of guests who snore too loudly.

"We have quiet zones on two floors of the hotel. As Snore Monitor, I conduct floor walks to check for noise disruptions, paying particular attention to the quiet zone rooms," said Laura Simpson, Snore Monitor at Leeds Crowne Plaza hotel in northern England.

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Hotel Restaurants / Hotel Services / Dream Hotels / → All Tags

Did We Just Dream We Handed The Dream Our Credit Card?

Where: 355 W. 16th Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10011

The other week we stalked the pool scene at the Dream Downtown and even put our toes in the sand of the rooftop pool's "urban beach." But before we did all that, we actually had a late breakfast downstairs in the Marble Lane restaurant off the lobby. (Breakfast is served until 11am and non-guests are allowed.)

So we slid into the Ferrari leather-lined booths and noshed on some amazing Challah French Toast (below) while scoping out the scene--namely the cluster of light bulb fixtures and the large windows in the back of the lobby out which we could see people coming and going on the stairway to the rooftop.

There was only one other table of diners and so the service was as friendly as could be. When we finished our meal we handed over our credit card like usual. Pretty standard. The waiter came back and asked us to sign the slip and just as we were about to add a tip, we noticed there was no tip line. So we inquired, "Is gratuity included?" And he told us no.

Instead, we were signing an agreement to the bill charges of one french toast, two eggs (our dining partner's meal), a coffee and a tea. Wait, what?

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Crowne Plaza Hotels / Hotel Amenities / Hotel Services / Snore Absorption Rooms / → All Tags

Snore No More at Crowne Plazas Abroad

A belated piece of news for Sleep Week!

People who snore get no love, especially not from their bedtime partners. (Truth: we've been known to smack our snorer occasionally to get him to stop.) But now, unintentional nighttime noisemakers and their sleeping companions can seek solace at Crowne Plaza Hotels in Europe.

The brand there has created a "Snore Absorption" room that comes with soundproof walls to absorb snore vibrations, sound-absorbing headboards to muffle the echo, an anti-snoring wedge pillow to keep snorers on their sides and thus reduce the chance of snoring and lastly, the room has a white-noise machine to mask the sound of snoring.

So the room isn't quite going to cure the snorer in your life but it will help you find some peace in the middle of the night.

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