Tag: public hotels
View All TagsHotel Sales / Hotel Deals / Public Hotels / Chicago Hotels / Ian Schrager / → All Tags
When Lightening Strikes Twice: How to Score a Room at PUBLIC Chicago’s Next $1 Sale
$1 room or not, you can still lounge with coffee or a sexy cocktail in the Library at PUBLIC Chicago
Word is out today that another One Dollar Sale is coming from Ian Schrager’s bright white Chicago gem, PUBLIC Chicago. For those unfamiliar with the online hotel sale, it’s an amazing chance for would-be guests to book a room at PUBLIC for just one buck. For those who swung and missed at the last sale -- you know, the vast majority, including yours truly at HotelChatter – the one dollar offer might feel more like the ultimate tease as rooms ended up selling out in less than five minutes flat.
Still, we’re not about to give up. Real live people picked up all 270 available rooms in the last sale so we know it can be done. And since we really, really want to stay at the PUBLIC for a buck, no less, we’re gonna play it smart this time. Which is why we talked to a PUBLIC Chicago insider for some tips on how to get a leg up at the hotel’s next dollar sale.
Friends of PUBLIC, if there ever was a way, than this is how you score a $1 room at PUBLIC Chicago.
Hotel Deals / Hotel Promo Codes / Scottsdale Hotels / Rosewood Hotels / Public Hotels / Viceroy Hotels / Riviera Maya Hotels / Chicago Hotels / → All Tags
Ride a Public Bike This Weekend for $190 a Night (And Other Summery Hotel Deals)
Deals: you want 'em, and surprisingly, everyone has 'em. Take a look at some of the latest hotel deals going around the internet today from booking sites, social media sites, flash sale sites and more. Don't forget to scroll down to see the HotelChatter-approved deal either. Who knows? You might just find what you're looking for. (But don't forget to tell us about your stay!)
DEALS, DEALS, DEALS*
· HOTEL VALLEY HO: The desert is hot right now but the prices at this Scottsdale resort are dropping. From Memorial Day through Labor Day, rates on Sunday and Monday at Hotel Valley Ho are just $119; Tuesday-Thursday is $139, Friday is $149 and Saturday is $159. There's complimentary parking and no resort fee. Also, if you stay three nights, the fourth night is free. Pre-paying 21 days in advance will save you an extra 15 percent. We actually found a rate of $154 a night for the first weekend in June with an $50 resort credit. Book online at www.hotelvalleyho.com.
· PUBLIC CHICAGO: Nearly a year after opening, the Public is keeping rates low even as summer draws near. The hotel's Memorial Day Bash has superior queen rooms going for $190 a night with lunch for two daily from Public Express served in your room or packed up to enjoy along the beach. (Just a short bike ride away.) We just checked and rooms are still avail at $190 for Friday and Saturday. You could splurge for a king at $215 a night. Book online at PublicHotels.com.
· VICEROY RIVIERA MAYA: Formerly the Tides, this Viceroy resort is offering a fourth night free when you stay three. The "Forever Summer" rate also includes daily breakfast for two, tequila and ceviche tasting and two after-sun spa treatments. Rates for mid-June were going for $453 a night for a newly redone luxury villa. Rates in the high season are typically $600 a night.
Public Hotels / HotelChatter Reviews / Chicago Hotels / → All Tags
Six Months On, How Is Public Chicago?
It’s now six months since Public Chicago opened (and three since we named it Best Hotel Opening of 2011!). It wowed us on first impressions, so we were interested, during a visit to Chicago a couple of weeks ago, how it had progressed. Even better than before? Let itself go? We were hoping for the former, rather than the latter.
First impressions were excellent, with charming check in staff and being escorted to our room by a bell man who was the spitting image of Ryan Gosling. Our room - we snagged a corner - was lovely, still white, still bright. Even the fluffy white sheepskin desk chair was spotless. Top marks to the bedroom.
The bathroom, however, wasn’t quite so impressive. Finding an ominous dark mark in the toilet pan when we arrived was hurlworthy enough; watching it sit there for two days was too much. The shower surprised us too – one of those raspy ones which makes up for its lack of water by punching way too much air through with it, so it’s painful on the skin. Unpleasant, unadjustable as far as we could see, and very surprising. Also, stingy toiletry collection of just soap, shampoo and conditioner. We had to request lotion from reception, and mourned the lack of body wash.
Hotel Minibars / Chicago Hotels / Public Hotels / Hotel Souvenirs / → All Tags
Public Chicago's Postcards Show Just How A List Their Public Was
It’s not often a hotel minibar can tempt us with something we actually want to buy, which is why the minibar at Public Chicago made us smile during our stay the other week.
As we showed you back when the hotel opened, the minibar contains a Public-branded pack of postcards of film stars, like Dustin Hoffman as a bell man for the Ambassador East.
This time, we took the $10 plunge and opened the pack, tempted by a picture of Elizabeth Taylor. But if you’re looking for postcards that trumpet their origins, as we were, prepare to be disappointed – the hotel’s name is on a sticker on the pack, and nowhere on the cards.
Having said that, not only do you get a neat little clutch of glam black and white pics of the stars of yore – they’re all pictures of said stars at the Pump Room, or the Ambassador East. The same photos as you’ll find by the Ppublic bathrooms downstairs below the lobby.
Hotel Trends / Hotel Hype / Hotel News / Public Hotels / Even Hotels / Commune Hotels / Edition Hotels / → All Tags
We're Sensing a New Naming Trend Here...
With this morning's announcement of IHG's newest hotel brand, Even Hotels, we started to look at the names of a few other new hotels that have come about in recent years and there's something kinda innnereesting about them. Take a look:
· Even Hotels: The new fitness-conscious brand from InterContinental Hotels. The first Even Hotel will be announced shortly and will open in early 2013.
· Commune Hotels: The new parent company of JDV and Thompson Hotels. Previously, a temporary name of JT Hospitality was being used. Commune plans to announce a new brand later this year.
· Public Hotels: Ian Schrager's new affordable chic hotel brand. The first location opened in Chicago last September (and quickly became one of our fave stays.) A New York location is expected next year.
· Edition Hotels: The brainchild of Schrager and Marriott Hotels opened first in Waikiki but was shut down last year. Another Edition is now open in Istanbul with South Beach, London, New York and Bangkok hotels all coming online "soon."
Hotel News / Hotel Openings / Manhattan Hotels / Marriott Hotels / Edition Hotels / Public Hotels / Hotel Construction / King and Grove Hotels / → All Tags
From A Hotel Standpoint, New York Is Pretty Much Done With the Recession
New York, New York—so great they named it twice. But, hey, don't just take our word for it (we live here, so we're a little biased). Talk to all the hotel developers who are buying up hotels left and right. Because of them, New York City alone accounted for 20% of hotel transactions across the entire country in 2011, announced The Real Deal.
In some ways, we already knew this. Well. We didn't know the exact numbers ($3.5 billion in sales, to be exact), but we did know that there were some major hoteliers sniffing out the next NYC locations for their brands. At a glance: Public New York is on its way, Edition New York has already found a location, and two other Marriotts (a Courtyard and a Springhill Suites) will be popping up in Herald Square.
Further downtown, Andre Balazs' Standard empire is steadily expanding eastward. And let's not forget about King & Grove, who recently burst onto the scene with two well-established NYC properties firmly under their belt.
Hotel Booking Sites / Public Hotels / Hotel Sales / Room Rates Gimmicks / Chicago Hotels / Hotel Woes / → All Tags
The Public Was Failed By Public Chicago's Online Reservation System
OK. It happened. The Public Chicago's $1 sale came and went in the blink of an eye, and by the end of it (five minutes later), we were left still clutching our measly dollar, and cursing the hotel gods above. But it eases our conscience—slightly—to know we weren't the only ones duped into thinking we were actually going to score a $1 hotel room yesterday.
So what was going on? Well, just like with any place that gets inundated with too many customers all at once (eBay, Ticketmaster, Missoni for Target), some people simply got lost in the shuffle. Of course, some actually did end up scoring reservations. And hooray for them. But understandably, we were a little curious to know how—three times in a row—one minute we managed to snag a room, and the next, it was gone. So we spoke with a Public Chicago manager to find out her take on the whole melee. See below to read her response!
Room Rate Gimmicks / Public Hotels / Chicago Hotels / Hotel News / Hotel Sales / → All Tags
Public Chicago's One Dollar Sale Sells Out in 5 Minutes
Perhaps we shouldn't have vigorously cheered on the Public Chicago's One Dollar Sale because rooms sold-out today in just FIVE MINUTES.
But as we've seen with other gimmicky hotel sales (see: LHW and Copley Square), the Public's sale did not go off without a few hitches.
For starters, some folks, including us, never got an email from Public Hotels announcing the start of the sale. This is pretty crappy as signing up for the email was the preferred way of learning about the sale.
Yet even the folks who did receive the email and clicked the link to the sale ended up losing their rooms during the checkout process. Like our own contributor Juliab who tweeted:
Yup, i got a room for 1 date, gave them my card details and get an error message.
Meanwhile inside HotelChatter's HQ ASchechter had three separate reservations go through but each time was thwarted by an "Error!" message at the end.
Public Hotels / Hotel Deals / Room Rate Gimmicks / Ian Schrager / Chicago Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
Hold the Phone: The Public Chicago Will Be Offering Rooms for Just a $1
We never once thought the rooms at the hot new award-winning Public Hotel in Chicago were too pricey (we stayed there on opening night for $135 and have recently seen specials for $100 a night) but it looks like hotelier Ian Schrager is staying true to his promise to make Public available to the public--because he's just announced the hotel's first ever ONE DOLLAR SALE.
For a 90-day period starting on a secret date, Public will offer three special guest rooms per night, each with a rate of just $1. Not $10, not $5, ONE DOLLAR.
Once the sale goes live, prospective guests have 48 hours to book a room for $1 within the 90-day booking period (meaning you can book your stay either 10 days or 90 days in advance.)
It is first come, first served so there is no time to think it over, text with your boyfriend, DM your roommate or ask your friends on Facebook if you think you should book it. You just book it. Right there, right away. And then you can use the savings to have a seriously gluttonous meal down at The Pump Room.
HotelChatter 2011 Awards / Chicago Hotels / Public Hotels / Radisson Blu Hotels / Virgin Hotels / JDV Hotels / Waldorf-Astoria Collection / Hotel Openings / Hotel Art / → All Tags
Best Hotel Scene of 2011: Chicago Is Having a Bit of a Hotel Renaissance
It's what you've been waiting all year for--The 2011 HotelChatter Awards! We'll be bringing you the best and worst of the year all day today and part of tomorrow. Agree or disagree with our picks? Air your thoughts in the comments below.
This year marked the introduction of not one but three major hotel brands to the good ol' US of A. And the midwestern city they all chose as a launching pad? Why, Chicago! Where else?
After Radisson Blu Aqua Chicago and Public Chicago opened literally within a month of each other, we then got sideblinded by the news that, when it debuts in 2013, Virgin Hotels' first location will be Chicago (specifically, in the North Loop, next to The Wit and Trump Chicago). We wondered for a minute whether this had been Virgin's plan all along, or if they simply got wind of the burgeoning hotel scene going on in Chicago right now, and decided to forgo the coastal cities like New York and LA.
Either way, we see this as the city to watch in 2012, and we can hardly wait for 2013 to come so we can get inside the world's first Virgin Hotel. Until then, however, there will be plenty going on in this city—we're looking at you, Waldorf-Astoria and JDV!—to keep us distracted.
HotelChatter 2011 Awards / Hotel Services / Public Hotels / → All Tags
Best New Hotel Service of 2011: Public Express
It's what you've been waiting all year for--The 2011 HotelChatter Awards! We'll be bringing you the best and worst of the year all day today and part of tomorrow. Agree or disagree with our picks? Air your thoughts in comments below.
We already gave Public Chicago an award for Best Hotel Opening this year but when we combed through all the new services that hotels introduced this year--like cookies and lullaby, BMW bikes at Fairmont Hotels or the OCD coin-washing at the Westin St. Francis--we couldn't stop thinking about the "game-changing" room service option, called Public Express.
HotelChatter 2011 Awards / Public Hotels / Hotel Openings / → All Tags
Best Hotel Opening of 2011: Public Chicago
It's what you've been waiting all year for--The 2011 HotelChatter Awards! We'll be bringing you the best and worst of the year all day today and part of tomorrow. Agree or disagree with our picks? Air your thoughts in comments below.
Going by our 2011 Master List of Hotel Openings, there were quite a few hotels that we were excited to see open but the one that lived up to our (admittedly low) expectations and more was Ian Schrager's newest hotel brand, The Public Chicago.
We weren't quite sure what to expect when we arrived on opening day to check-in but every nook and cranny in the hotel surprised us from the simple yet stylish rooms and public spaces to the complimentary bikes and the newfangled room service option, Public Express. And we can't forget about the delicious but quite affordable Pump Room restaurant.
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