Tag: preferred hotels
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Fondue And A Private Cinema At the New Alpina Gstaad
Ah, Gstaad. Maybe you too have fond memories of swooshing down the mountainside, hiking in the hills, sipping on Glühwein or hot chocolate, and eating fresh raclette cheese. It’s all good. But now, it's even better because for the first time in about 100 years, there’s a new luxe hotel opening: The Alpina Gstaad.
This 56-room Preferred Hotel is a real beauty -- think big stone fireplaces, pine interiors, cozy nooks, timber peaked ceilings and spectacular views of the Alps. No two rooms are exactly alike and, although beautifully-designed, also have plenty of quirk (just wait until you see the cowbell bedside lamps!)
Hotel News / Hotel Openings / Photo Gallery / Preferred Hotels / Boutique Hotels / Hotel Design / Philippe Starck / Vienna Hotels / Austria Hotels / → All Tags
Vienna's New Hotel Sans Souci Isn't Sans Charm
If you've been to Vienna you already know it’s a fascinating city that upholds its formality and grand architecture as a point of pride, but you don’t need to dig very deep to also find its modern charms--hip museums, neighborhoods, and cafes. This is the city that bred Falco, after all.
The new 63-room Hotel Sans Souci, a member of the Preferred Boutique Hotel Group, had its soft opening on December 20, but it rocked Amadeus (check the Falco reference!) yesterday during its grand opening event.
Designed by yoo, Philippe Starck’s design company, the hotel has La Véranda restaurant, Le Bar and a spa. Interiors are modern and refined in shades of grey (heh!), gold and white with opulent little touches, such as chandeliers overhanging the pool, Arne Jacobsen egg chairs, and the Roy Lichtenstein paintings found in the suites and public areas.
Also worth noting, just in case you’re a Johann Strauß groupie, Hotel Sans Souci is actually the former inn where the composer performed his “Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka“ for the first time in 1858. Just sayin’.
Gay Hotels / Hotel Loyalty Programs / Hotel Deals / Preferred Hotels / → All Tags
Preferred Hotels Is Proud Of Its Pride Collection
Whether it's major hotel chains like Marriott or Hilton offering dedicated pride packages, a new booking site for on- (or off) -the-beaten path destinations, or even a "straight-friendly" hotel in NYC, the hotel industry is catering more and more these days to the lucrative gay travel market. But lucrative or not, we’re just happy to see a hotel (group) taking an inclusive stand.
Case in point: Preferred Hotels Group, a collection of independently owned hotels around the world, whose loyalty programme “I Prefer," as well its lovely magazine, we've previously discussed.
Preferred has a dedicated website called “Preferred Pride”, with all listed hotels being either TAG-approved or a member of IGLTA, the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association. Each property, like North Carolina's divine Old Edwards Inn (pictured above), also stands for equality in its employment policies and services, and supports the LGBT community.
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How We Got This Killer View from The Bathtub at Trump Soho
As you know from our post yesterday on these nightstand lamps, we spent a night at the Trump Soho. But what we didn't tell you is how we came to spend a night in a suite with this killer view from the bathtub. Allow us to do so now.
We did our usual compare and contrast of the hotel's website and other booking sites and found that a king deluxe room was going for the rate of $419 everywhere. Not content with just booking a room without any perks, we thought maybe we could do a Josh Flagg except that Trump Hotels are not part of American Express' Fine Hotels and Resorts. However, they are a part of Preferred Hotels and Resorts, of which we happen to be a member.
Celebrity Scoop / Presidential Hotels / Barack Obama / Vail Hotels / Preferred Hotels / Timbers Resorts / Hotel Rebranding / → All Tags
Get Rebranded, Get a First Family Visit, If You're the Sebastian Vail
The brand new Library, before its Obama baptism
How’s that for a ringing endorsement of your new name? Just over a month after the Vail Plaza Hotel & Club was reinvented as The Sebastian, it swung itself a presidential visit this week. Or, rather, a presidential family visit – while Obama stayed in DC this weekend, Mrs O took the kids on a jaunt to the hotel.
According to the Mail Online, there’s a spot of controversy over the First Family’s trip to Vail following Obama’s advice on saving money – that one might like to cut back on one’s vacations. But hey, it was Presidents' Weekend after all.
Michelle Obama would almost certainly approve of Block 16, the hotel’s brand new restaurant that serves local, organic, seasonal food, as well as the newly dedicated Library (it’s just 10 days old, according to Facebook) – a room stuffed full of books, games and art which the hotel website reckons is perfect for “lively debate”. There’s also a new spa (which offers pop-up services around the hotel) and live music at the new bar, Frost, but we reckon Mrs O is too clever to risk coming over all Marie Antoinette by getting her nails done or throwing back a scotch.
Hotel Rebranding / Vail Hotels / Preferred Hotels / Timbers Resorts / → All Tags
The Vail Plaza Has Tranformed into The Sebastian Vail
If this cold weather has you craving a trip to Vail to hit the slopes, you won't be able to shack up at the Vail Plaza Hotel & Club. The hotel has been converted into the Sebastian Vail.
But the boutique hotel is still open for business, and it offers some new features, including a new signature restaurant, bar and spa. That is, just in case you want some post-ski noshing or pampering.
Hotel Magazines / Preferred Hotels / Hotel Amenities / → All Tags
Deciding What 'Preferred Lifestyle' to Choose from Preferred Hotels
iPads, be damned, we're loving our stroll through print land and our ongoing look at a dying hotel amenity--The Hotel Magazine. Sure, most hotels stock their guestrooms with the trendy magazines of the day or at least place some localized publication on the desks but there are actually a few hotels out there that still publish their own magazine. We've got our hands on a few copies of these rare breeds and we'll be documenting our finds for you here. Know of a hotel magazine we should see before it goes out of print? Send it to us!
The other week when we took a look at the Preferred Hotels and Resorts , we found out that not only do they get the pre-opening skinny on new hotels along with great rates for existing hotels, they also put out a magazine called Preferred Lifestyles.
We got our hands on the newest issue from this year and spent some quality time perusing the different "lifestyles" to lead.
Having such a wide range of hotels to write about, the magazine can touch on pretty much every destination in the world. And that's what's great about the mag's in-depth articles. They aren't built around a hotel but rather a destination, like South Africa (just before the 2010 FIFA World Cup), Utah, Boston and Rome. Suggested places to stay (of course, all Preferred Hotels) are then listed at the end of the articles.
Hotel Collections / Preferred Hotels / iPrefer / Hotel Loyalty Programs / → All Tags
What's There to Prefer About Preferred Hotels & Resorts?
The Huntley Hotel in Santa Monica, a member of Preferred Hotels and Resorts
We've been not-so-casually looking at the different hotel collections out there these days as an alternative for booking hotels. Often times, these collections have their own loyalty programs for guests as well as guaranteed perks just for booking through their sites.* These perks range from room upgrades to free breakfast and free WiFi, at no extra cost.
Recently, we've checked out Kiwi Hotels, Leading Hotels of the World and Epoque Hotels. And today, we're exploring the Preferred Hotels & Resorts collection, who we fell in like with last week after getting a sneak peek from them about the upcoming Redbury Hotel in Hollywood.
