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Inside The Ames Hotel in Boston
When we think of Boston hotels, we tend to think of stately properties like the Taj and the Fairmont Copley Plaza—places befitting the city’s preppy-Yankee vibe. But with the Morgans Hotel Group now in town, that image is getting a shake up. The new Ames Hotel brings some serious sexiness to Boston’s financial district, and you know what? We kinda like it.
Location
The Ames is just around the corner from Faneuil Hall, amid banks and legal firms in the financial district. And since this is Boston, where blocks are small, it’s also a short walk to Boston Common. The New England Center for Homeless Veterans is next door, and South Station is less than 10 minutes away on foot. During our stay at least, there was some noisy construction going on just down the block. The kind that wakes you up before 8 a.m. on a Saturday.
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Inside The Roosevelt NYC: The Consummate Tourist Hotel
Like we said yesterday, you really can't beat winning a room rate of $19.24 on Twitter for three nights in a historic hotel property in the middle of Manhattan. That said, The Roosevelt has its ups and its downs, but it is most definitely the quintessential New York tourist hotel. Onto our experience, over Halloween weekend:
Check-in:
Although we live in New York, we came straight to The Roosevelt after flying into JFK at the end of a trip, so we were your typical tired, bedraggled guest. Friends who were visiting for the weekend would be staying in the room with us, and as they were arriving earlier, we directed to do the regular thing of asking the hotel front desk to hold the luggage until the person under whose name the reservations is (that'd be us) arrived. But the front desk clerk told us immediately that two others had been looking for us already and that it was a security risk to give out room numbers. Yes, we know this; just hold the luggage and don't act like it's some big scary, unusual service.
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Should You Stay At W Boston?
Topline:
Clean crisp W rooms
Cool new interior room concepts (phone charger dongle station)
Friendly, Helpful Staff (yes at a boutique hotel)
Central Boston Location (if you don't drive)
Priced too high
Some in-room fixtures seem a bit low quality
Restaurant forget our mushroom side, gave us fries instead
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Chicago's Raffaello Hotel is Mag Mile Style Without A High Pricetag
Just when we thought that you couldn't get anything better on Chicago's Michigan Avenue than The Peninsula, we stayed at the Raffaello Hotel a mere two blocks away. Whoa—hold up a second—like the Raffaello could ever trump any Peninsula, let alone one that placed in the top hotels as voted by CN Traveler. No way—what we mean is that the Raffaello is smaller, less fussy, more vintage, quieter, and closer by mere steps to some of Michigan Avenue's top attractions.
We were surprised by the Raffaello's innate charm. Like we said during our video tour of the room, the Raffaello is the Chicago 4-star underdog hotel; it's extremely easy to overlook it when it's neighbors with such illustrious and large properties as The Drake, The Westin, The Park Hyatt and The Four Seasons. And those are just within two blocks. But with a king bed room rate that we scored of $139, it's easy to see why one should pay some attention to the boutique Raffaello.
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Inside Chicago's Hotel Sax: Anne Rice-Meets-Business Traveler
After booking the pleasant surprise that was a $99 name-your-own-price dealy on Priceline for our stay at Chicago's Hotel Sax, we couldn't wait to check the place out, especially since we still remember it as the ugly House of Blues Hotel. We knew it had a dreamy location right on the Chicago River and cuddled up next to the stunning Marina City towers and across the street from the Trump International Hotel & Tower, but is it worthy of such a spot and—even more importantly—is it worth the $99 we paid for the night? Let's break it down...
Check-in:
The entrance of the Hotel Sax is perpetually dark, as it is directly in the shadow of the Marina City buildings. But if you can find the 10Pin bowling lounge entrance or the Bin36 restaurant, then between them you'll see the hotel lobby. Walking into reception, whose walls were white and mirrored and whose furniture and red area rugs heavily leaned towards boudoir-chic, we wondered what Priceline had gotten us into. Over the cut glass cabinet cum reception desk, we were handed our room key (made of recycled PVC) and invited to grab a small vial of Moroccan spices sitting out in a basket near the elevator. What?!
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Sneak Peek at The Cartagena de Indias Boutique Hotel
Jaunted correspondent, Courtney Scott, was one of the very first guests to stay the night at Cartagena’s newest luxury boutique hotel, the Cartagena de Indias. Watch the video above as she takes you on a guided tour.
The six floors and 32 rooms of the Cartagena de Indias are sitting on prime real estate -- centered on a quiet street between Cartagena’s three bustling plazas and a five minute walk to some of the sexiest restaurants in the old city, including Oh La La, Don Juan and La Perla.
Although typical hotel amenities will not be fully operational until the November 11th grand opening nears, the rooftop infinity pool and Jacuzzi are both open and boast surreal 360 degree views that more than compensate for the lack of room service and WiFi.
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Inside The Crosby Street Hotel
They say good things come to those who wait, right? Well, we were hoping that would be the case with the Crosby Street Hotel. We were trying not to tap our feet too loudly as the opening was delayed, and last night, our patience was rewarded and we were one of the very first guests to spend the night at the swanky SoHo property.
The hotel had been apologetic about the electrical-problem-delay last week, and that concern carried over to check-in, where we were greeted by an eager front-desk clerk, as well as the hotel’s GM, who again apologized for the delay and told us that they were still working on some things, but were for the most part ready to rumble.
Except he didn’t say it quite like that because he was delightfully English (slim, suited, blond, posh accent)—which seemed perfect for the property’s background and vibe.
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Inside Ink48, The Newest Kimpton on The Block
We spent a night last week at Ink48 and for a hotel that only opened a few days before, they were surprisingly pulled together. That is, if you ignore some of the construction that's still going on downstairs in the lobby and on the exterior of the hotel.
Still, we've been waiting a long time for the Vu Hotel Ink48 to open and service-wise, it did not disappoint. There were a few things about the room that could have been better and we are still not thrilled with the price point but fortunately, the friendly, easy-going Kimpton attitude prevailed.
Location
The hotel is outside Times Square at 48th and 11th Avenue. Look for the building that still has scaffolding above the entrance. Historically, this area was known as Hell's Kitchen but some times it's called Clinton when people want to sell it as an up and coming neighborhood. The Ink48 website calls the area Hell's Kitchen so we're guessing that's en vogue again. Either way, if you've ever wondered where Manhattanites go to buy their cars, they come to this 'hood where several car dealerships are located.
Check-In
We checked in rather late at night (around 10:30pm, thus missing the two-hour wine reception in the lobby) yet the front desk was properly staffed with two front desk agents and a supervisor helping them out. We had no problems checking in and after a few minutes, we were on our way to the 12th floor.
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A Work Geek's Dream For Just £1: Inside the Hoxton Hotel
You know that warm feeling you get when you snag a nice hotel room for a song? Well forgive us for sounding smug, but we are currently basking in the afterglow of what we can say with complete conviction was the best deal we’ve ever got on a hotel. Because last Thursday, we spent the night in the snazzy Hoxton Hotel for just £1 – yup, $1.66.
We’ve been meaning to hit up the Hoxton’s famous £1 sales for months now, but kept remembering a few minutes too late to bag one of the rooms (they sell out in about 4 minutes). So at the last one, in July, we prepped up.
We pre-registered our details to save precious seconds, stuck the sale date in our computer’s calendar, and decided to go for a weekday, a couple of months in advance – thinking most people would try and snap up the up-and-coming weekends. And we were right. Two minutes later, we were printing out our confirmation number.
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Looking For A Quirky Hotel? Try Ruedesheimer Schloss's Glockenspiel
This video also has some narration to it so adjust accordingly if you're at work!
First, you might be asking yourself, “what exactly is a glockenspiel, actually?” We’re glad you asked. A glockenspiel is a set of bells or metal bars that you can use to play a tune. It’s sort of like a xylophone, only kookier, and a lot more fun.
While on a recent trip to Germany’s winemaking Rheingau region, we got the chance to stay at the Breuer’s Ruedesheimer Schloss Hotel in the picturesque riverside town of Ruedesheim am Rhein. The hotel has a real-life clock tower glockenspiel that peals out four German drinking tunes (the favorites of the current owner, Heinrich's, father) on the hour every hour. We worried that the sharp tones would wake us up a little earlier than we’d like after a day (and night) of sampling the region’s famous Rieslings, but the bells only ring from 10:00am-10:00pm, so we were assured of a good night’s sleep.
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Inside the W South Beach (Finally!)
Last week we got to check out the home of that lush garden patio, the W South Beach (which one commenter guessed correctly), and we’ve gotta say: now we’ve seen it, the breathless hype makes a little more sense. (But the rates? Hmm, not quite.)
The hotel is just like its location: beautiful and showy; laidback by day, and a total scene by night. Summer is meant to be low season in Miami, but not at a just-opened hotel like the W. The place was jumping by 7:30 pm on a Friday night—the Bentleys parked outside were only the first sign.
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Inside The Hotel Monaco Baltimore
[UPDATE: A hotel rep has emailed us to say that the matter has been resolved and the hotel will not be up for auction. Also, the hotel was never in danger of closing as it is only "a tenant and the dispute was between ownership and a contractor." So go ahead, book your rooms.
When we read last week that the Hotel Monaco Baltimore might be facing an uncertain future, we thought we’d better pop along and see it sharpish. So when we needed to make an unforeseen stop in Baltimore, and the room rates were still holding to the introductory rate of $159, we shacked straight up.
We asked as many staff as we met (sorry for bothering you, bellmen, valets and cleaning ladies) about the lawsuit that could see the hotel up for auction. All of them told us flatly that it wasn’t true – except for the manager, who said he wasn’t at liberty to talk about it. After spending the night there, we’re crossing our fingers it’s not true too.
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