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.
We've been thinking warm glowing thoughts about the Le Parker Meridien in New York since we heard about their Wii workout facilities, but that was until we got this tip-off from L Mermaid. She took her mother for a Mother's Day break to the Big Apple and they booked a room worth an extra $50 to get an upgrade to a park view room.
But this is the view of the park from their upgraded room. Agreed, we can see just a little bit of park, but clearly the scaffolding and construction is the main feature of this view, and it's probably not worth an extra $50.
To make matters worse, when they checked in (admittedly a little late after bus problems) the front desk clerk didn't even want to give them a park view room--he said they hadn't paid enough. The next day they spoke to someone friendlier and decided to move to a suite with a city view. That sounds like it was a good decision.
Hotelier. The word is so romantic, so eccentric, so...French. However, run-of-the-mill real world hoteliers don't always live up to the etymology.
Always looking to bring you the most pertinent information on the worldwide hotel scene, we figured when we found hoteliers that were worthy of the French pronunciation of the word, we would let them speak to you directly. Besides, before you dropped a bunch of cash to stay at someone's house, wouldn't you want to get to know the owner a bit? Exactly. We, always oh so full of ourselves, are calling this series Hoteliers That Matter and we are sitting down with these hoteliers and letting them tell you, straight from their mouths to web ears, what you need to know about their hotels.
Having to work for Le Meridien Hotels in French Polynesia is not a bad gig at all. Nicolas Orget (a real live Frenchman!) is the Director of Sales and Marketing for the two Le Meridien Hotels in Tahiti and Bora Bora. Granted, he's not a hotelier of his own brand of hotels but he does need to pitch these places as part of his job. And we imagine this is not a hard sell.
Nicolas: "Come to Tahiti!"
Us: "Um...Ok!"
But alas, we couldn't go to Tahiti to meet Nicolas. Instead we caught some afternoon snacks with him at the Westin LAX airport lounge, a sister brand in the Starwood family.
After the jump, Nicolas explains which Le Meridien in Tahiti is right for you.
We were so excited last week about Le Meridien Hotels getting Facebooked that we never told you all about its weird and wonderful new website.
Le Meridien says the new site is all about concept. It certainly ain't just about hotels, with a lofty goal like this: they want to create "a global community for those who appreciate creativity".
One side of the site focuses on creativity with words. They've created a part of their site related to an idea of "50 beans" in a coffee cup: visitors can submit flash-fiction stories of exactly 50 words, and you can read the stories written by others. We haven't found one set in a hotel yet, but the monthly winners, whatever the topic, get displayed in Le Meridien hotels around the world.
If writing's not your forte, you might enjoy the website's display of room key art. Le Meridien has created collectible room keys designed by real artists, and some of the keys double as entry tickets to galleries that have entered into a partnership with Le Meridien.
And finally, if you're talented and creative enough to be selected by Le Meridien's "cultural curator" to join the LM100 members' section, you can get involved in videos and podcasts, too. All kinda cool, but where did the hotel side of hotel websites go?
· Hotel Animals: We know that the Hilton Waikoloa has a yet-to-be-named baby dolphin in its care but let's not forget the little Sgt. Pepper, born in July, in the Mirage'sdolphin habitat.
· Jock Jam Hotels: A shooting goes down outside the Conrad Hotel in Indianapolis. Word is Pacers b-baller Jamaal Tinsley and his crew were the targets.
·Hotel Blacklists: Jane Fonda is not welcome at The Breakers Hotel, so says Page Six. But it's not the hotel that won't have her. Its the American Legion members who say she isn't welcome.
· Hotel Filfth: You may not want to step into any of Vancouver's hotel pools. Apparently, they are all filthy.
· Hotel Retreats: The layoffs at Time Inc. can't be that bad as Gawker reports that the entire LA staff of "Entertainment Weekly" was flown to NYC and put up in the Le Parker Meridien Hotel just so they could attend company Christmas party.
· Hotel Billboard-itis: Lastly, Curbed says the folks at Manhattan Mini Storage might be trying to offend the Trump SoHo people with their bootylicious billboard ad.
Le Méridien Tahiti is expanding the respite it offers art-conscious travelers. Last year, the hotel opened L'Atelier, an onsite gallery and workshop center featuring the teachings and creations of South Pacific artists.
Taking it one step further, guests no longer have to leave their rooms to unleash their inner Bob Ross. With the Tahitian sunset through the window, visitors can use the included easel, canvas, and pastels that come, just as reliably as the mini bar, with every room to try and recreate the island's beauty.
Winter rates at the hotel start at $152 per person per night in a lagoon room which includes breakfast. The three-hour art workshops start at $120. And if you plan on staying over Christmas morning, the resort is hosting a first-ever Artistic Holiday Scavenger Hunt with the chance to win a free art lesson from L’Atelier. Good luck.
There's tons of hotel news flying around this week and we don't have time to give each and every story the love and attention it may deserve, so you will have to settle for some news briefs.
· Bravo to Marriott Hotels for going green at the company headquarters in Baltimore. Check-out this unintentionally hilarious video from Marriott Corporate about the green changes. We can't quite put our finger on it but there is something very high school about the headquarters. Is it the cafeteria? Is it the mocked-up green cubicle? Or is it the parking spaces for the cool people with hybrids?
· Chicago Tribune reports that the Trump Chicago still has not received a certificate of occupancy from the city. The hotel, which was to open on Dec. 3rd, will get a new batch of inspections this week.
· Rapper Pimp C who died at the Mondrian Hotel yesterday may have died from natural causes. TMZ says he was found fully clothed on top of his bed and there were no drug paraphernalia or other drugs found in the room. Sad. We'll still pour out some pimp juice for him.
·Le Meridien Hotels have launched a new website design today at LeMeridien.com. The creative concept behind it is called "Discovery Starts with You".
The aim of the website is to let its guests take an interactive journey into the world of Le Méridien by placing them in control of their own hotel guest experience.
But one-upping that, Le Meridien is now on Facebook. OMG, WTF, LOL and SuperPoking all apply.
· We mentioned that NYLO Hotels have finally gotten the promised Daniel Vosovic hotel uniforms but we forgot to mention that NYLO Warwick will open in June 2008. To be more specific, it's in the mixed-use development Pontiac Mills near Providence. But Warwick should suffice, right?
The Peninsula Hotel has now formally re-opened, after repairs said to cost more than $100,000. It estimates it lost $1.2m through the alleged coup attempt.
That is almost as bad as Britney Spears spending a night at the Peninsula Beverly Hills.
Some more hotel news: · The Hotel@MIT, one of our favorite Geek Hotels, is going to become a Le Meridien Hotel. The luxury brand will replace the geeky but cool @ name. [Boston Globe] · Visit Bill Clinton's hometown by staying at the newly opened Capitol Hotel in Little Rock [Mercury News] · U2's latest hotel still causing drama with local environmental agency. [UK Guardian] · Ace Hotel which has locations in Seattle and Portland, is looking at Palm Springs for its next location. [The Desert Sun]
Miami hotels are already gearing up for Art Basel next month, and plans go beyond hiring extra housekeeping to clean up the trashed hotel rooms of art buyers and "artists". Le Meridien Sunny Isles Beach is going over the top with art installations throughout the property, as part of Le Meridien's broader, brand-wide One Night program.
In addition to literally covering the property with fine art photography (in the form of appliques on windows), Sunny Isles will have newly designed keycards designed by artist Sam Samore. Besides opening guest rooms, they'll also grant access to a contemporary art space in Miami. A big One Night party is slated for December 2, just a few days before Art Basel starts up.
