Tag: wyndham hotels
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Tryp By Wyndham is Going Down Under to Brisbane
We know it doesn't look like much now, but this shrouded warehouse building has some big shoes to fill in the future. If all goes to plan, by the middle of next year, this vintage brick structure will get a new makeover and become Australia's first Tryp by Wyndham.
Tryp Brisbane will bring an edgy and locally-inspired design to Australia's third largest city. Situated in the city's Fortitude Valley area, guests will be within walking distance to the area's hottest nightclubs, boutique shops and trendy restaurants. But if you don't want to leave the hotel, the lobby will feature a ground-floor restaurant and hip bar, that's posh enough for Brisbane's elite scene as well as gives travelers a taste of the local nightlife.
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[UPDATED] The Shelborne South Beach is Closing for Renovations, Maybe for Good
[UPDATE, 5.14.13: Wyndham Hotels has given an explanation of what's going on with the hotel. Scroll down for that statement. UPDATE, 5.16.13: Menin Hotels have also given us a statement saying that would retain ownership of the hotel. Full statement is below the Wyndham statement.
Could there soon be one less hotel in Miami, a town that's been riding a recent hotel boom? Possibly.
We got a tip last week from one of our trusted South Beach spies saying that the Wyndham-operated Shelborne South Beach hotel would be closing and instead would reopen as a condo building. (Already the hotel is partially made up of condo units which are typically rented out to visiting guests.)
Sure enough, we headed to the hotel's website and found this note:
The Shelborne will have a limited number of rooms available June 1 - October 31, 2013 during its amazing transformation into South Beach’s newest lifestyle luxury resort, the Shelborne Wyndham Grand-South Beach.
Despite this "limited number of rooms" mention, we've got word that the hotel is indeed closing completely during the renovations and there are still whispers that it will reopen only as a timeshare. We're still sifting through the Shelborne shards but this is what we do know:
The hotel underwent a renovation back in 2011 so at first glance, it may seem too soon to have yet another facelift. But the reality is, some of those condo-hotel units are in bad shape as the owners were not obligated to renovate their units. HotelChatter saw how dire some of those rooms were when we stayed at the property back in December. This was our take on the place:
The Shelborne's suite had last been furnished in the early 1990s, the dining chairs were broken, the mattress was so old you could feel the springs, the tables were scratched and water-damaged, the art was like that of a greasy strip mall generic Asian restaurant, the floors felt so dusty we were relieved to have brought slippers from our last hotel, and the power outlet actually shocked us as we tried to plug in our phone charger. Firetrap much?
Need more convincing of the shifty state of the Shelborne? Just take a gander at some of the hotel's recent TripAdvisor reviews.
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Langham's in New York, Wyndham's in Miami, and Radisson Blu Goes to Philly
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 Next Radisson Blu Will Be In Philly: In other Radisson news today, the Radisson Plaza Warwick in Philadelphia is undergoing a $17 million renovation that will see the hotel converted into a Radisson Blu property by this summer. This will be the fourth Radisson Blu to open in America, after this month's Mall of America opening. The Warwick, which originally opened in 1926, contains 297 rooms, 4 suites, a fitness center, 3 dining venues, and is even listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
For more juicy hotel news, read on!
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CitizenM Times Square Isn't Happening 'Til 2013 (And Other News)
There's tons of New York 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.
· CitizenM Times Square Is On Track For Summer 2013: European-based budget hotel chain CitizenM have been circling for a while now on a yet-to-open CitizenM Times Square property on 50th and Broadway. At the beginning of 2011, we were told the brand was shooting for a 2012 opening in Times Square (which obviously never happened). Now, CitizenM executive Michael Levie tells USA Today that construction is well underway, and that the 24-story, 240-room tower is set to open by next summer. What else? The company is also planning a second NYC location in Soho, set to open the following year.
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Chicago's Hotel 71 to be Sold and Eventually Managed By Wyndham
Didn’t we go on and brag about how you could live it up like Bruce Wayne at Hotel 71 in Chicago, and now has the hotel gone and been sold? Yep, Hotel 71 is set to be purchased by Hospitality Properties Trust with plans for Wyndham Worldwide to manage it. The hotel underwent a $15 million dollar renovation back in early 2011 which lifted the face of the lobby and rooms.
Since opening, it's had an unfortunate round of luck that started with an owner (Robert Falor) and his dream-turned-nightmare of a condo hotel plan. Defaulting on over $125 million in debt, the hotel was then sold to Canyon Capital Reality Advisors back in 2009 for $34 million. The official word isn’t out yet on what HPT is now paying to aquire Hotel 71, but one insider estimated about $87 million.
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At Manhattan's Newest Hotels, It's Nothing But Foo Dogs, Sewing Machines And Curvy Walls
Now, let's not make a big deal about this, but summer is kinda...sorta winding down. And coming up is back-to-school season, which for NYC, is usually one of the busiest times of the year, hotel-wise.
But another thing to look forward too, of course, is new hotel openings! This year, Manhattan is adding a new boutique hotel housed inside an old hat factory, known as more ›
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Dream Downtown Could Be Someone Else's Dream Now
Update: We just want to reiterate that the Dream Downtown's possible sale to the Sahara Group is just speculation at this point. Now get back to your regularly scheduled Dreaming.
Everyone's going down, down, down downtown, including some deep-pocketed Indian investors who recently fronted $570 million for a controlling stake in the Plaza.
The Sahara Group, who also picked up the JW Marriott Grosvenor House in late 2010, is reportedly on a spending spree, and New York hotels are hot, so hot right now. The NY Times reports that Sahara Group may be about to acquire Chatwal's Dream Downtown.
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5 Steps Around The Lobby At Parc 55 In San Francisco
We once told you about the amazing views from an executive suite at the Parc 55 Hotel in San Francisco. But to be honest, there's some photo-worthy action going on downstairs too, in the hotel's gigantic lobby (that also doubled as our office for an afternoon).
From quaint seating areas like the one above to funky art and free internet, the lobby at Parc 55 is the perfect fun-filled hotel pit stop to break up your walking tour of San Francisco.
Click through our photo gallery below!
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Wyndham In Trouble, Big Time, With The Federal Trade Commission
It looks like Wyndham is in some serious doo-doo with the Federal Trade Commission, who has filed a lawsuit against the company for allowing security breaches in their information databases to occur not once, not twice, but three times.
According to InformationWeek, the separate incidents, which occurred over 2008 and 2009, led to "the exposure of 600,000 credit card accounts and $10.6 million in fraudulent credit card charges." Yikes. Hackers were able to break into the database and forward people's credit card information to an unnamed website in Russia. Yikes again!
Wyndham has responded by saying the FTC's claims are "without merit," and that so far, no customers have actually lost money as a result of the attacks. But, the thing is, the attacks still happened.
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Hyatt Will Take Over the Wyndham Chicago on June 1
There's even MORE news coming out of Chicago. First, we learned theWit was on the verge of opening up an awesome new retractable roof. Then we found out the Affinia Chicago was out and the MileNorth Hotel was in (and with free WiFi too!).
Now we hear that the Wyndham Chicago was bought by Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc. who have brought on Hyatt to rebrand the property a The Hyatt Chicago Magnificent Mile.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the 416-room hotel on North St. Clair will officially turn into a Hyatt on June 1. A $25 million renovation will also happen later this year.
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Why It's Good to Be a Wyndham Rewards Member If You Love 'The Avengers'
The newest Marvel movie, "The Avengers", hits theaters tomorrow and interestingly enough, Wyndham Hotels loyalty program, Wyndham Rewards, is the movie's official hotel partner (we had no idea comic book movies had hotel partners.)
Wyndham is doing a bunch of cool things for the movie's release but the biggest opportunity is the chance to win 1 Million Wyndham Rewards redeemable points. That's enough to for 166 room nights at a Tier 1 Wyndham property or 62 nights in a Tier 4 hotel.
The contest is part of the Super Hero with Super Sweeps" sweepstakes that Wyndham Rewards has put together for current members and entrants who become loyalty members. The grand prize winner not only receives the million Wyndham Rewards points but also, four red carpet movie premier tickets for a future Marvel movie in 2013, $2,000 in spending money and an autographed movie poster.
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Sweet Dreams Are Made Of...Singing Karaoke At The Dream's New Karaoke Bar
[UPDATE 10:37am: Though Jelsomino is located inside the Dream New York, sources at the hotel have told us that the bar is actually a separate entity, owned by (and imported from) Russian hospitality and nightlife company, Ginza Project]
Our friends at Condé Nast Traveler have picked up on a new venue that recently opened inside The Dream New York: a Broadway-themed underground karaoke bar called Jelsomino. And, as we've seen with other NYC hotel venues under the Chatwal empire (we're thinking of high-concept hotspots like Romera at Dream Downtown and the all-red Lambs Club inside The Chatwal), there's nothing subtle about the place.
The Dream doesn't just 'open a karaoke bar' and that's that. No, it sets up eight VIP tables with bottle service, astronomically-priced cocktails, iPad song menus, and even a troupe of backup singers and dancers on stage. Golly, our dreams really have come true.
