Looks like the Park Hyatt Beijing is slated to be open in time for the Olympics!
If you have the guts to go out to China for the Olympic chaos this year, this hotel will get you high to help you get away from the craziness.
Er, high in the sky, that is: the new hotel will be in the Beijing Yintai Centre, the tallest skyscraper on Chang'an Avenue -- and its restaurant on the 66th floor will be "the highest restaurant in the city, featuring international cuisine and 360-degree views of Beijing."
The whole thing is pretty far up there; the lobby is actually on the 63rd floor of the building.
According to the website, the 237-room hotel isn't taking reservations just yet -- but you should give 'em a ring just to be sure.
PARTY FOUL, MAN: the owner of the Grand Hyatt Cairo recently decided to ban liquor from his hotel. Citing religious reasons, the Saudi owner showed everyone he was totally serious by reportedly pouring over one million dollars-worth of beer, wine and whisky into the Nile River.
One million dollars. Into the river.
Dude, COME. ON. There are thirsty men and women in America; why'd you have to go and be that guy by dumping all that precious nectar into a @#$%!*# river?
According to the LA Times, the Egyptian Hotel Association is all like "oh hells no":
The move is a gesture to bring his business into conformity with Islamic standards. That may be so, but the Egyptian Hotel Assn. has its own rules. The organization has given [the owner] an ultimatum: Either put the liquor back by July 2 or have his hotel demoted from five to two stars
Ha! That'll show him: take away stars from his hotel to depress him so much that he'll want to drink away his sorrows. Well played, Egyptian Hotel Association.
Meanwhile, we're wondering if the Nile tastes delicious right now.
From June 26th through August 3rd, 2008, Hyatt Gold Passport members can score special rates: up to 25% off the "prevailing rate" at all participating Hyatts (which excludes Park Hyatt, Hyatt Place, Hyatt Summerfield Suites and Andaz).
The catch: you have to book by June 26th (next Thursday) and pre-pay in full.
As usual, the offer is subject to blackout dates and there are some extra charges for extra people in the room, but it may be worth it to check out the discounted rates if you have to go somewhere during the month of July.
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
Double thanks to intrepid traveler mhodges who's been busily dropping photos into our Flickr pool. This one is an anti-view from the Hyatt Regency Belgrade in Serbia.
Apparently the Hyatt in Belgrade also has rooms with views over the river and the old town area of Belgrade--this view looks to the "modern" architecture and chaos of new Belgrade, which seems to be lacking some charm. Graciously, though, mhodges did say that this Hyatt has fantastic service and beautiful rooms, so if you end up in a room on this side of the building it's obviously better to just close the curtains.
The bottom of the range king-size rooms come for €185 (US$280) over summer, or you could always go for the presidential suite (with a better view) for €1,505 (US$2,400).
The Hearst Corporation is suing the developers of a resort, casino and beach club in Las Vegas. You may ask: whatever could the Hearsties, a magazine publishing company, want to sue the developer for? Turns out the resort's name is going to be The Cosmopolitan, and that's the name of one of Hearst's biggest publications. Women's Wear Daily reports:
The Hearst suit alleges the defendants are seeking to trade off of the publisher's "famous, long-established family of marks...and [the defendant] has stated its intention to use those marks in connection with goods and services that are the same as or related to the goods and services to which the public associates the marks with [Hearst Communications Inc.]."
Unless the resort plans on having in-room sex quizzes, 37 ways to get a bikini body in three weeks, and embarrassing moments tell-all as part of its resort services and amenities, we kinda think this lawsuit is without merit. And besides there's like a ton of other Cosmopolitan hotels out there already. Now if the resort wants to publish its own magazine called Cosmopolitan, then we've got a problem.
The resort is on track to open in late 2009 and will feature over 2,200 condo-hotel units, 800 hotel rooms under the Grand Hyatt flag, retail and restaurant space and a beach club. Hmmm...then again, 37 ways to get a bikini body in three weeks might actually be a good hotel service to have here.
How does an airport hotel win the title of "Number One Hotel in Texas" from the 2008 Expedia Insider's Select List? We headed to the Grand Hyatt DFW, in the new Terminal D at DFW airport, to investigate.
Now, don't get us wrong, we never judge a hotel based on its proximity to an airport, but we were a little bit skeptical here. The last airport hotel we stayed in was so noisy that it made us feel like we were asleep inside a tornado. And frankly, after we'd checked out, we sort of wished a tornado would come by and level the building so nobody else would have to endure such an experience.
So why anyone would rank an airport hotel -- no matter how nice -- above the rest of the hotels in the Lone Star State was a mystery to us.
Next summer, these rooms will be looking a lot better!
Looks like we weren't the only ones who thought the Hyatt Regency Suites Palm Springs was in poor shape. The hotel was just sold and its new owner wants to (thankfully) spend some money on prettying the place up.
The Memphis Biz Journal reports that next summer the hotel will being an $18.9 million renovation:
The renovation will touch virtually every aspect of the hotel, including redesigns of the lobby, atrium, restaurant, and lounge, while guest suites will be fully refurbished with luxury-quality finishes and 37" flat panel TVs in the bedroom of the suites and 42" flat panel TVs in the parlor.
A new fitness center, full-service spa and new pool will be added as well.
We can't stress enough how badly this hotel need a re-do. Let's hope they double-proof the window panes too to keep out the street noise.
The hotel will remain a Hyatt and we expect prices to jump a bit but it wasn't exactly a cheap hotel to start with and now you will be relaxing in comfort.
While it's definitely the off-season for Palm Springs right now, it's also the best time to take advantage of cheap room rates at some of the desert's best hotels. We'll be rounding up some of the Palm Springs area's (including Palm Desert) most notable hotels this month. Got any suggestions or questions? Let us know.
Yes, this picture was taken this year. Hard to believe, we know.
This oddly-shaped hotel (we think its like a trapezoid) is located on Palm Canyon Drive, right smack in the middle of where everything goes off at night. All rooms are one-bedroom suites with their own private balcony, granting you plenty of space to recuperate from a hangover at a boozy night out.
However, there is a catch to being close to all the action.
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by Jenna
