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The Athenaeum Hotel in London Has a New Look But the WiFi is Still Free
Welcome to our regular feature, Pitch Your Hotel, where we let hoteliers, general managers and other hotel execs tell us on-camera what makes their hotels so different from all the rest. And believe us, the competition is fierce these days. So sit back, relax and listen to them explain why their hotels are worthy of your hard-earned dollars or rewards points.
Not keen on staying in cupboard room on your next trip to Londontown? Then why not go the opposite end of the spectrum by staying at The Athenaeum Hotel in London, one of London's very few privately run, independent hotels which has 34 townhouse apartments attached.
Naturally, these apartments lend themselves to famous folk on extended stays like Steven Spielberg (who turned one of the rooms into his film editing office) and Margaret Thatcher who chose to live in the Athenaeum while her house was being renovated. But these are also good choices for families who need more space during their trips.
Tags: Video / Pitch Your Hotel / W Hotels / Hotel News / Hotel Openings / Jim McPartlin / → All Tags
W Kicks Up 'The Glam Factor' at W Hollywood, Opening Today
Today's the day! W Hollywood Hotel and Residences has opened! And despite what we had previously thought, rooms are actually open tonight for $489 a night for a king bed.
We've been waiting for this W for a long time and it's a bit surreal that this day is finally here. We were able to tour the hotel last week and while traipsing through as the hotel put on its finishing touches, we chatted with the general manager, Jim McPartlin, in a Marvelous Suite which has views of downtown Los Angeles, the Hollywood Hills and the Griffith Observatory. (Note: the Marvelous adjective is W's room category name, not ours.)
McPartlin has worked for both W and Kimpton Hotels in the past and he was also the general manager at the Gramercy Park Hotel when it first opened in 2006. Now he's back with the W family, and back in Los Angeles, to welcome the W Hollywood into the mix.
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Madison Ave For Families: Around The Omni Berkshire Place With Jesse Suglia
Welcome to our regular feature, Pitch Your Hotel, where we let hoteliers, general managers and other hotel execs tell us on-camera what makes their hotels so different from all the rest. And believe us, the competition is fierce these days. So sit back, relax and listen to them explain why their hotels are worthy of your hard-earned dollars or rewards points.
To tell the story of Midtown Manhattan's Omni Berkshire Place Hotel, the hotel's Director of Sales and Marketing Jesse Suglia took us everywhere from the suite terraces overlooking Madison Avenue to private dining nooks at Fireside Restaurant, and finally into the Madison Suite, which we gave you a tour of yesterday.
Thanks to the Omni's free WiFi and Madison Ave location, we had always assumed it to be something of a business hotel. But Jesse proved that while they did have a Hi-Def TV wall in the bar for businessmen and women to catch up on sports and news, the hotel has been voted a Top Manhattan Hotel for Families and that the nearby FIfth Avenue caters just as much to children and families as it does to luxury shoppers.
The Omni Berkshire Place is 396 rooms, a restaurant and bar, and all the usual trappings of an upscale hotel property. In the video above, Jesse will briefly explain (in only a minute!) the various features of the hotel, including Omni's free Select Guest program which keeps that WiFi free and gets you shirt pressing and breakfast beverage service. If you get only one thing out of the video, let it be that you should join the program not matter what Omni you check into.
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How Aria Is Different from the Rest of the Hotels in Vegas and Probably, The World
Welcome to our regular feature, Pitch Your Hotel, where we let hoteliers, general managers and other hotel execs tell us on-camera what makes their hotels so different from all the rest. And believe us, the competition is fierce these days. So sit back, relax and listen to them explain why their hotels are worthy of your hard-earned dollars or rewards points.
The other day during the madness of opening day for the Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, we were able to track down the vice president of hotel operations, Paul Berry and have him do an on-the-fly Pitch Your Hotel with us.
We asked Mr. Berry what made Aria so different, not just from the rest of the hotels in Vegas but also within CityCenter. His answer? "Everything is different." According to him, the genesis of this entire project was to create something different that people had not yet seen before. "We're changing the paradigm, the rules and the landscape" here in Vegas.
Tags: Pitch Your Hotel / AKA Hotels / Larry Korman / Interviews / Hoteliers That Matter / → All Tags
Meeting the K in AKA Hotels: Larry Korman
Welcome to our regular feature, Pitch Your Hotel, where we let hoteliers, general managers and other hotel execs tell us on-camera what makes their hotels so different from all the rest. And believe us, the competition is fierce these days. So sit back, relax and listen to them explain why their hotels are worthy of your hard-earned dollars or rewards points.
After we spent the night in the AKA Central Park, we got a tour of the hotel from the K in AKA, Larry Korman, who launched AKA Hotels in 2006. AKA is a play on the expression "also known as" but it can also stand for "Another Korman Accommodation" as it's a division of Korman communities, a larger real estate company.
As the founder, Larry is obviously very passionate about his properties but we were pleased to see that he was also extremely excited about them too. It's rare that you meet a hotelier who wants to show you every little nook and cranny of his hotel and can talk with just as much excitement about the small fitness center locker rooms as he can about the killer view from the AKA Central Park's penthouse suite, which overlooks the Plaza Hotel and Fifth Avenue.
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The Dorchester's Christmas Concierge Tells Us Where to Go
You wouldn’t know it was Christmas from the weather in London at the moment; you’d think you’d stepped back in time to the Great Flood. So we got a little thrill yesterday when we strolled into The Dorchester and saw the lobby all dolled up with Christmas trees and twinkly lights.
We were there to do something even more Christmassy – to meet the dapper Christmas Concierge, Andy Davies. Sadly, he doesn’t get his title, as we initially assumed, by togging up in a Santa suit for the rest of the month – he earns it because he’s going to be working the concierge desk by himself on Christmas Day. In fact, he’s worked all 26 of the Christmas days that he’s been concierging at the Dorchester. Yup, 26 years of service. And he’s a born and bred Londoner, so he has some serious knowledge to tap.
Seeing as we’re thoroughly unimpressed by the Christmas lights on Oxford Street this year (basically neon ads for A Christmas Carol), we took advantage and asked him where to go to feel festive in London.
Tags: Pitch Your Hotel / Boston Hotels / Jail Hotels / Jim Treadway / Interviews / → All Tags
The Liberty Hotel: A Jail You Don't Want To Bust Out Of
Welcome to our regular feature, Pitch Your Hotel, where we let hoteliers, general managers and other hotel execs tell us on-camera what makes their hotels so different from all the rest. And believe us, the competition is fierce these days. So sit back, relax and listen to them explain why their hotels are worthy of your hard-earned dollars or rewards points.
Speaking from the uber cool Ebersol Suite atop the old jail in Beacon Hill, Jim Treadway, head honcho of the Liberty Hotel in Boston, answers one simple question: "Why would someone coming to Boston stay at the Liberty Hotel".
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What Makes The Algonquin Stand Out on 'Hotel Row'?
Welcome to our regular Monday feature, Pitch Your Hotel, where we let hoteliers, general managers and other hotel execs tell us on-camera what makes their hotels so different from all the rest. And believe us, the competition is fierce these days. So sit back, relax and listen to them explain why their hotels are worthy of your hard-earned dollars or rewards points.
If you've ever strolled down West 44th Avenue in New York between Sixth and Fifth Avenues, you will find it to be a sort of Hotel Row, a block that's home to such popular hotels like The Royalton, City Club, The Sofitel, The Mansfield and The Algonquin.
With all these great options for travelers on a single block, we asked the Gary Budge, the general manager of the Algonquin, what made his hotel stand out? His answer has nothing to do with the cute little kitty, Matilda*, that hangs out in the lobby and everything to do with the hotel's individualized service.
The Algonquin has been serving guests in New York City for 107 years and its style remains traditional. You will not find aspiring models in Converse sneakers wearing earpieces here. Instead, you'll find knowledgeable staffers behind the front and concierge desks and helpful and happy bellmen opening the door for you. And yes, some are in formal wear.
But just because the hotel has been around for over 100 years doesn't mean it can't keep up with the times.
Tags: Pitch Your Hotel / Hoteliers That Matter / Sheraton Hotels / Hotel Rebranding / Hoyt Harper / Starwood Hotels / → All Tags
Sheraton's Hoyt Harper Wants You to Check Out The New Sheraton
In a rare second helping of Pitch Your Hotel this week, we introduce Hoyt Harper, Senior VP of brand management for Sheraton Hotels, who met with us at the Sheraton New York to fill us in on the new changes happening with his hotels.
The brand has poured $4 billion into their North American hotels in an attempt to transform Sheraton's image from that of a dowdy, outdated hotel collection (with so-so guest satisfaction reviews) into a vibrant, modern, "social traveler hotel"--a place where folks on business or leisure can get comfortable in the Sheraton Sweet Sleeper beds and stay connected using the Link@Sheraton, a sort of internet cafe in the lobby.
But while some brands have been changing up their logos (i.e. Holiday Inn, Renaissance by Marriott), Harper told us that the Sheraton logo will remain the same. The logo is iconic and recognized worldwide thus "We're keeping it," he said.
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The Westin New York's GM Takes Us Inside His 'Healthy Hotel'
Welcome to our regular Monday feature, Pitch Your Hotel, where we let hoteliers, general managers and other hotel execs tell us on-camera what makes their hotels so different from all the rest. And believe us, the competition is fierce these days. So sit back, relax and listen to them explain why their hotels are worthy of your hard-earned dollars or rewards points.
We popped into the Westin New York so that we could ask Gerard Widder, the hotel's general manager, about what makes his hotel so great. But instead of just giving us a stand-up pitch, Gerard took us along on a tour of his hotel--showing off the hotel's fitness center, spa, new executive guest rooms and the lobby bar, Bar 10. (We have to give him major props for filming all of this on the fly and while running on the treadmill too!)
Westin Hotels really need no introduction but Widder wanted to show us that despite being located amidst the frenetic pace of Times Square--which is where tourists and business travelers alike converge--the Westin Times Square goes to great lengths to offer a respite from the mad world below.
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Pitch Your Hotel: GEM Hotels Are Not 'Nightclubs With Rooms'
Welcome to our regular Monday feature, Pitch Your Hotel, where we let hoteliers, general managers and other hotel execs tell us on-camera what makes their hotels so different from all the rest. And believe us, the competition is fierce these days. So sit back, relax and listen to them explain why their hotels are worthy of your hard-earned dollars or rewards points.
GEM Hotels is a fairly new collection of independent boutique hotels that have opened up in NYC. The collection has only three locations--Chelsea, Soho/LES and Midtown West. These are small hotels with small rooms but at budget-friendly prices and with lots of perks.
What the rooms lack in size, they make up for in comforts like complimentary Wolfgang Puck coffee in the rooms, turndown service, free WiFi, flatscreen TVs, bathrobes and Gilchrist and Soames toiletries.
And even outside the rooms, the hotel continues to offer guests perks and useful services that don't require a lengthy consultation with a concierge or an added fee.
Tags: Pitch Your Hotel / Hoteliers That Matter / Hot Hotelier News / Interviews / Denihan Hospitality / 10 Hot NYC Hotel Openings / → All Tags
The Surrey Hotel Promises 'Considered Moments' For Its Guests
Welcome to our regular Monday feature, Pitch Your Hotel, where we let hoteliers, general managers and other hotel execs tell us on-camera what makes their hotels so different from all the rest. And believe us, the competition is fierce these days. So sit back, relax and listen to them explain why their hotels are worthy of your hard-earned dollars or rewards points.
Last week, we attended an event for the soon-to-open Surrey Hotel on New York's Upper East Side. But this was a little different than most "Getting to Know You" parties.
For starters, the event was held in Beverly Hills so that West Coast folk could get a more intimate look at the hotel without having to fly to NYC. The party was also held at the Cartier store on Rodeo Drive which might seem a little presumptuous but if you recall, the hotel plans on having a Cartier Closet in its lobby.
This exclusive retail space will offer guests the chance to buy smaller luxury items that they may have forgotten to bring with them such as cufflinks and sunglasses. (Yes, regular Cartier prices will be charged here.)
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