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Tags: Hotel Weddings / Valentine's Day Hotels / Fort Meyers Hotels / Marriott Hotels / → All Tags
Sanibel Harbour Marriott Goes Buckwild with Bridezillas for Valentine's Day
High season for weddings may start in June but you can always count on the seriously schmaltzy types to get hitched on Valentine’s Day. Like the 48 couples who are getting married or renewing their vows at the Sanibel Harbour Marriott Resort & Spa this year.
That’s right, unless you fancy yourself a wedding crasher, you may want to rethink your dates for a quiet winter getaway in Fort Meyers.
Tags: Hotel Closings / Ritz-Carlton Hotels / Marriott Hotels / Viva Vegas / Hotel News / → All Tags
The Ritz-Carlton at Lake Las Vegas to Close on May 2
Semi-shocking news for Las Vegas. The Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas is reportedly closing down on May 2nd. According to KTNV, the 304 employees at the hotel were given notice yesterday that the resort would be closing. Hotel officials have said that, predictably, the tourist slump in Vegas and the poor economy is to blame. USA Today also reports that the owner of the property, Village Hospitality, has decided to stop funding the place.
The reason why this closure is not so shocking is that with so many new rooms open on the Strip that are keeping prices down, it's hard to justify a trip far off the Strip for the same price as a room near all the action. That said, this is Vegas. Never admit defeat right? So it's a little surprising that the place would close down entirely.
Tags: Video / Hotel Video Tours / London Hotels / Marriott Hotels / New Hotels / JW Marriott Hotels / → All Tags
Inside J.W. Marriott Grosvenor House in London: This Is Luxury?
We just got back from London, and as you can see from our review of the Dean Street Townhouse, we slept around the hotels a fair bit. Our longest stop however, was at the J.W. Marriott Grosvenor House, where we spent three nights right on the edge of Hyde Park in the posh Mayfair neighborhood, on a row with other 5-star hotels like The Dorchester, The Metropolitan and The Intercontinental.
To tell the truth, the location was of course the best part about the hotel, and we would have been disappointed with the value for the money if we had paid full price ($350 a night) for the stay, but instead we scored it with our last ditch resort—a "Name Your Own Price" Priceline search that yielded us the unbeatable rate of $160 a night for this 5-star hotel in London.
So what was wrong and what was right with the place? Find out after the jump
Tags: London Hotels / Hotel Keys / JW Marriott Hotels / Marriott Hotels / Snapshot / → All Tags
This is the Weirdest Room Key We've Ever Encountered
We can't very well do a "Guess the Hotel" story with this picture, can we? Not with the name of the hotel printed right there on whatever the heck this thing that calls itself a key is.
Yes, this is a room key to the Grosvenor House J.W. Marriott Hotel in London, which was one of our stops during a lively trip to London last month. So you stick this thing into a little hole next to your room door and when the light blinks green, you remove it and open the door. It's a simple procedure really, but wouldn't room key cards be cheaper and easier? This odd thing was kind of difficult to keep track of, considering how it was too thick to fit in our wallet and didnt hook onto anything.
It's plastic; nothing too fancy, we hope. So have you seen this type of key before? And stay tuned because, on Monday, we'll have a full gallery and review of the Grosvenor House J.W. Marriott to follow.
[Photo: HotelChatter]
Tags: Autograph Collection / Marriott Hotels / Hotel Hype / Hotel News / → All Tags
Finally! Marriott's Autograph Collection Announces Seven New Hotel Members
The Celebration Hotel in Florida.
We had a feeling Marriott Hotels would be ramping up the development of their new Autograph Collection at the start of 2010 and today we now have the announcement of seven hotels to be included in this quasi-independent collection.
According to the press release, the hotels are all a part of the Kessler Collection of hotels which are largely based in the Southeast. They include:
· The El Monte Sagrado, Taos, New Mexico
· The Grand Bohemian Hotel, Asheville, North Carolina
· The Mansion on Forsyth Park, Savannah, Georgia
· The Bohemian Hotel Riverfront, Savannah, Georgia
· The Casa Monica Hotel, St. Augustine, Florida
· The Grand Bohemian Hotel, Orlando, Florida
· The Celebration Hotel, Orlando, Florida
Tags: Anti-View / Airport Hotels / Marriott Hotels / Baltimore Hotels / → All Tags
You Win Some, You Lose Some at Airport Hotels
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.
The thing is, Airport Hotels could have really good views for its hotel guests, especially if they are Plane-Spotting enthusiasts but more often than not, airport hotels have yielded some of the ugliest anti-views yet.
This one from the Marriott BWI Airport has a triple whammy against it. Not only does it not have views of planes taxing on the runway, it has a view of a rooftop AND a view of the neighboring Hilton. As HotelChatter Flickr pool member Tom Barnes says:
The view of the new Hilton from Room 411 is surely an anti-view if there ever was one.
Room rates are also not that cheap here, starting at $199 a night for an Advance purchase rate that is non-refundable. Also, the hotel's Moniker's restaurant is undergoing renovations and will not be open until later in March.
Tags: Killer View / Marriott Hotels / Hotels Near Niagara Falls / Hotel Photoshop Magic / → All Tags
The One Where We Revisit the View from the Marriott Niagara Falls
We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
Way back in 2006, in the early days of calling out hotel website photos for being a little too embellished, we made fun of the Marriott Niagara Falls room photos because they so clearly were photoshopped. C'mon, is there a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow too?
We were able to determine that hotel was not "dangerously" close to Niagara Falls but that it was definitely the closest hotel yet and provided you get the right room category, you could have a pretty killer view of the falls.
Photographic proof of that comes from Mr.Kathika, who dropped this shot of Room 1422 into the HotelChatter Flickr Pool. There's no rainbow over the falls and you can't jump out the window in barrel but that view of Niagara is amazing. Room rates start at $119 CAD for a queen room with views of Niagara and a fireplace.
Tags: Hotels Doing Good / Hotel Emergencies / Starwood Hotels / Marriott Hotels / Loyalty Program News / Hotel News / → All Tags
Help Haiti With Your SPG and Marriott Points
As the aftermath of the massive earthquake in Haiti continues to reveal worse than expected damage, destruction and death tolls, countries and people from around the world are asking what they can do to help.
And help is arriving in some unusual forms. Domestic airlines like JetBlue and American flying medical personnel and doctors to Haiti. (Update: That was a hoax. See comments below.)
For the folks feeling hopeless at home, several text messaging operations have been going around whereby cellphone users text a code to a number and automatically $5 or $10 will be sent to a humanitarian rescue effort. The charges will show up on your bill at the end of the month.
And now we hear that Starwood Hotels' loyalty program, Starwood Preferred Guest is offering a way to help too.
Guests with SPG points can donate them to the American Red Cross. Here is the breakdown:
Tags: NFL Hotels / San Diego Hotels / Hilton Hotels / Starwood Hotels / Marriott Hotels / → All Tags
There's Plenty of Hotel Rooms for Fired-Up Jets Fans in San Diego This Weekend
Have you seen LaDanian Tomlinson’s rap video that popped up on You Tube this week? Shot a couple of years ago, it suspiciously only goes viral in the leadup to the Chargers playoff game against the New York Jets this Sunday. Hmm …
Despite this distraction, the Jets are preparing for their biggest game of the season, and the hardest of hardcore fans were booking flights to San Diego before the end of last Saturday’s game. But are there hotel rooms in LT’s town to house Fireman Ed and his friends?
Tags: Marriott Hotels / Hotel Deals / London Hotels / Spain Hotels / Hawaii Hotels / Resort Hotels / New York Hotels / → All Tags
Sorry, Hilton: We're Going with Marriott's Global Rate Break Instead
In the wonderful world of hotel promotions, the elusive weekend rate slash hasn't been so slippery these days. Chalk it up to January sales, a.k.a. the veritable Black Friday of travel shopping. Only instead of a day, deals are rife through the month, and instead of Tickle Me Elmo, you're looking for an available King suite.
Those too good to be true deals usually come with a caveat or two, though. "Book by [blank date]," "Exclusions may apply," blah, blah—we've heard it all before. We were weary when we heard that Marriott was kicking off a Global Rate Break of 20% off weekend stays, and up to 40% off at select resorts, especially in light of Hilton's similar—and so-so—weekend sale.
Here are the rules of the game: you have to book by January 22nd for stays from the 22nd through March 21st of this year, the deal applies to select locations worldwide, and a Friday or Saturday stay is required. Promo code: F5X. Let's do this.
Tags: Hotel Ice Rinks / Holiday Hotels / Marriott Hotels / Athens Hotels / → All Tags
Ice Skating Near the Acropolis is Now Possible, Thanks to the Athens Marriott
We have sort of a fetish for hotels with ice-skating rinks which is why we're tingling with excitement over the new rooftop ice skating rink at the Athens Ledra Marriott Hotel in Greece.
From now through the end of February, guests and Athens residents can skate for free at the rink which is operated by the hotel atop the Star City Cinema complex next door. And it's not called "The View on Ice" for nothing as the amazing scenery of Athens is spread out before the skaters as they go round and round the rink. Check out the Acropolis in the background of this photo!
The rink is open from 11am to 11pm daily. Seasonal drinks and food catered by the hotel are also served.
Right now, the hotel is also offering a two-night "Explore the New Acropolis Museum" package which gives you two complimentary tickets to the new Acropolis Museum, accommodations with an Acropolis view and of course, the chance to do triple axels on the ice. The package is priced from $179-$249. Use promotional code M11 when booking. It's available from now through February 7.
Tags: Hotel Openings / Marriott Hotels / Rome Hotels / Courtyard by Marriott / → All Tags
Rome's New Courtyard by Marriott Has Nice Views, OK Prices, And a So-So Location
The camera never lies, and that looks pretty far off to us
It’s probably our favourite city in the world, but we always find Rome particularly tricky when it comes to accommodation. In fact, were we not so fond of it, we might be a little put off.
Most of the cheap hotels are clustered round Termini station and the area is, not to put too fine a point on it, scuzztown. If you want somewhere more salubrious, you have to pay through the nose.
The latest addition to the Rome hotel scene is the 162-roomed Courtyard by Marriott west of the Vatican, which used to be the Hotel Central Park. Will it shake the hotel scene up? Sadly, we reckon probably not. Rates are OK for Rome – about €100, and they have a three nights for the price of two offer running until April next year – and there are some smashing views of St Peter’s, as you can see from this pic.
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