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O Canada! The Waldorf-Astoria Collection, by Hilton Hotels, announced today their first hotel in Canada--The Waldorf=Astoria Hotel & Residences Montreal.
With 32 floors, 250 hotel rooms, 76 residences (that are sure to cost a fortune), ballroom space, "signature" restaurants, bars, a spa, and a fitness center, the Waldorf will make sure its presence is felt in "Our Home and Native Land!"
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by AndyG
While it's definitely the off-season for Palm Springs right now, it's also the best time to take advantage of cheap room rates at some of the desert's best hotels. We'll be rounding up some of the Palm Springs area's (including Palm Desert) most notable hotels this month. Got any suggestions or questions? Let us know.
We decided to take a spontaneous trip to Palm Springs with a few girlfriends this weekend. Forgoing the thought of sleeping on a friend's couch--or worse, the floor--we decided to hit up Hotwire to see what we could find.
And what we found and booked was a spectacular deal of $94 a night at the La Quinta Resort & Club, a sprawling Waldorf-Astoria Collection hotel made up of little casitas and villas in Palm Desert.
For realz. $94 a night. So we jumped in our friend's car and made the two-hour drive from Los Angeles into the dead heat of the desert.
While Waldorf-Astoria Collection keeps plucking new properties left and right, the renovation/re-construction is actually being started on the luxe chain's Jerusalem property.
WAC decided to renovate the historic Palace Hotel (built in 1929) and turn it into a 220-room hotel with 30 residences on site. Harry over at Jerusalemite, a Jerusalem Culture Guide, tipped us off as to what's been happening as of late:
The structure has been completely gutted, with the detailed outer walls, now a mere facade, serving as the only remnants of the original building. Despite its decrepit appearance, the former Palace Hotel is one of Jerusalem's most beautiful buildings, with numerous carvings designed as an amalgamation of Moorish, Roman and Arab architecture.
The hotel will open sometime in 2010. Go here to see what the hotel should look like when the renovation is completed.
[Photo: Jerusalemite]
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by juliana
The Waldorf-Astoria Collection wasn't kidding when it said it would be adding new hotels left and right this year.
The latest hotel to become a member of Hilton's luxury tier of hotels is the Roosevelt Hotel, the hotel's original name before it became the Fairmont New Orleans in 1965.
The The hotel was was hard hit by Hurricane Katrina and so it will undergo a $100 million renovation that will be completed by Spring 2009.
Key among those plans to restore the property to its previous grandeur will be the reopening of the hotel's famed "Blue Room," as well as the legendary Sazerac Bar. In the golden era of supper clubs from the 1930s to the 1960s, the Blue Room played host to some of the biggest names in show business as well as to an elaborate floor show. The reopened Blue Room will once again periodically host live entertainment. The Sazerac Bar, a fixture in The Roosevelt since 1949, will once again be serving its signature Sazerac Cocktails and Ramos Gin Fizzes when the property reopens.
The hotel's ballrooms will get a new look as well and WAC management team will once again do the "extravagant" Christmas decorations which was something that the Fairmont New Orleans was known for.
In total, there will be 500 guestrooms, a luxury spa and a fitness center on site. Fun fact: The hotel was known for having inspired the 1965 best-selling novel from Arthur Hailey titled, Hotel.
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We always had a sneaking suspicion that the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills would turn into a member of the Waldorf-Astoria Collection and for now, it looks like it might.
The Beverly Hills City Council has approved the plans to demolish most of the existing Beverly Hills Hilton and in its place build a WAC hotel and two luxury condominium buildings. From San Jose Mercury News:
ilton Hotels Corp., which owns the Waldorf-Astoria brand, plans to demolish all structures on the nine-acre Beverly Hilton property except the existing hotel's main eight-story tower, said Beverly Hilton Vice President Corinne Verdery, who is in charge of the project.
In their place would stand a 170-room, five-star hotel, two luxury condo buildings with a total of about 100 units and a conference center, as well as a landscaped garden studded with public art works that would be accessible to the community, Verdery said.
While the garden is a nice concession, Beverly Hills residents are still concerned about traffic and they should be as the Santa Monica/Wilshire intersection where the hotel is located is already so jacked up. The residents are even starting a petition drive to derail the $500 million project.
What will happen to Trader Vic's inside the hotel? We don't know yet....
[Photo: Artanis Knarf]
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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.
· The Waldorf-Astoria Collection: As expected, the Waldorf-Astoria Collection keeps on growing. Hilton's luxury chain, anchored by the flagship Waldorf-Astoria in New York, has announced plans for the Palace Jerusalem which will be a 220-room hotel with 30 residences on site. The building for the hotel was actually built in 1929 but will undergo a complete restoration and renovation before opening in 2010.
· Kimpton Hotels: Kimpton is already planning a Hotel Palomar for the City of Brotherly Love but they are also working on adding another hotel in the Robert Morris building on 17th and Arch Streets. Both hotels should open sometime in 2009.
· RockResorts: The Inn at Beaver Creek will now be known as The Osprey at Beaver Creek and has been snapped up by RockResorts. The 41-room hotel will get a $7 million renovation this summer and re-open just in time for the 2008/2009 winter ski season.
· The Opus Montreal: The Opus has opened a new dining scene called Koko Restaurant & Bar, a 9000-square feet serving modern Asian cuisine. The name Koko was inspired by the glamorous Coco Chanel and actually Koko means "here" in Japan.
· The Lanesborough: The posh London hotel has also added a new restaurant, Apsleys. The fine dining establishment will feature modern Italian cuisine from chef Nick Bell. Apsleys will open in what was formerly The Conservatory Restaurant.
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Spalding and Muffy--The Waldorf-Astoria's target clientele.
The Waldorf-Astoria Collection is rapidly collecting hotels across the world to put in their exclusive collection. Most recently, they announced plans for the Waldorf-Astoria Sarasota and the Dakota Mountain Lodge in Utah, both which will be built from the ground up.
But WA is still picking off already established hotels from the Hilton Hotels portfolio. The newest member of the collection is the Rome's Hilton Cavalieri, best known for its Gladiator Training program and Doggy Luxe packages.
While we expect more additions to be announced shortly, so far the WA Collection includes:
· The Waldorf-Astoria: The original flagship hotel on Park Ave. of course. However, we think that anyone seeking truly luxury digs here should hit up the Waldorf Towers instead of the regular rooms.
· The Biltmore: This Phoenician desert retreat is a fave amongst presidential and industry bigwig types and the spa is not to be missed. However the hotel did have a problem with its drinking glasses. Ask for bottled water!
· La Quinta Resort and Club: A desert retreat just outside Palm Springs. We stayed there back in 1995 and loved it. Not sure what it's like today.
·Grand Wailea Resort and Spa: We've also been to this hotel on Maui way back in the 90s but if it was good enough for Michael Jordan back then, it's probably still pretty posh today. Also, it has a Tarzan rope swing in the pool area.
·The Qasr Al Sharq: Yet another desert retreat, although you have to travel a bit further for this one. It's in Saudi Arabia. Hands-down the most exotic property yet.
For more on the Waldorf-Astoria Collection, visit the official website.
Stayed at one of these Waldorf-Astoria Collection properties? Let us know how your stay went.
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[Ed. Note: We had a secret operative at the Waldorf-Astoria on Monday night when Madonna was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Said spy, AllBeachy, gives us the full report of what went down. Madonna fans listen up. Enjoy.
The normally somewhat-staid Waldorf-Astoria was rockin’ on Monday night as the annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction dinner crowd took over the ballroom. Beautiful People abounded, as a mix of luminaries from the worlds of entertainment, publishing, and business table-hopped and schmoozed it up.
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