1000 Travel Guide
Tags: Hotel Openings / Brussels Hotel Reviews / → All Tags
Ancient and Modern Come Together at The Dominican Hotel in Brussels
It was meant to open by the end of October, but with confirmation now that it will be coming on the market just a few days late with its November 8 opening, we can't be too strict yet with The Dominican in Brussels. Do ignore the November 5 opening date given on the hotel's web page, though--staff assure us November 8 is the real date.
A member of the Design Hotels group (the first from Belgium, in fact), the Dominican has already received high praise as the Guardian's hotel pick of the week: they were impressed with its:
sweeping archways, lofty ceilings and an interior courtyard ... its historic look echoes the abbey that stood on the site in the 15th century, but the 150 bedrooms are all ultra-modern.
Room rates start from around $250 per night. If you check in before we do, make sure you let us know if The Dominican lives up to expectations.
Related Stories:
· Pick of the Week [UK Guardian]
· Hotels in Brussels [HotelChatter]
· Travel Stories in Brussels [Jaunted]
Tags: Ljubljana Hotels / → All Tags
Ljubljana's Celica: A Prison, an Art Hotel or a Youth Hostel?
Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, has a really fascinating place to stay. The Hostel Celica might be cheap and does advertise itself as a youth hostel--but that doesn't make it not worth trying. Celica used to be a prison, is now also an art gallery and has rooms in converted prison cells that were each designed and furnished by a different artist.
You're not going to get a huge room--remember, they were prison cells--but most people agree that the funky furnishing is enough to make up for that. Shared (but clean) bathrooms and a basic buffet breakfast are also the go. Recent guests say there are plenty of positives:
The cells are marvellous, small but funky, and the staff delightful ... Creative atmosphere, including the bar and hang out rooms downstairs ... The cell bars on the window are a great touch. It's not claustrophobic as you might think it is in a cell!
But if you do want more comfort, you can actually just take a tour of the hostel at 2pm every day--for free.
[Photo: JMcNally]
Related Stories:
· Hostel Celica Ljubljana reviews [TripAdvisor]
· Hotel Hell: Hotel Ljubljana Renovates [HotelChatter]
Tags: Bulgaria Hotel Reviews / Hotel Sex / → All Tags
Grand Hotel Sofia Won't Let You Pay For Sex
[Ed. Note: Bachelors visiting Bulgaria should take note of this story from Hotel Maven Wildstag. Although with a big disclaimer from us: We have no idea if this hotel really does have some agreement with a call-girl agency. Again, enjoy.]
The Grand Hotel Sofia refused to let my date in.
I met a Bulgarian girl in a nightclub and she agreed to come with me in my hotel room at Grand Hotel Sofia but what was my surprise when the receptionist refused to let her in because she might be a prostitute. (I wonder why this should bother me so much since the prostitution is not a crime in Bulgaria.) I couldn't convince them by any means that I can take care of myself pretty well.
They ruined my night and my stay at this hotel. I guess that the guys at the reception have some kind of financial agreement with call-girls agencies not to let the competitors in Grand Hotel Sofia. I really didn't care if my girl was a streetwalker or not - I think I have the right when paying load of money to stay at a certain hotel to be able to invite my friends to visit me for couple of hours in my room.
[Photo taken at hotel but not of Wildstag's date: St Stev]
Related Stories:
· Grand Hotel Sofia reviews [TripAdvisor]
Tags: Hotel Hell / Ljubljana Hotels / → All Tags
Hotel Hell: Park Hotel Ljubljana Renovates
Slovenia's pretty capital Ljubljana is increasingly popular as a short break destination from Brits, and should definitely be put on the to-visit list from others traveling around Europe. But you should heed the warning from blogger Sheila who recently described the Hotel Park in Ljubljana as the hotel from hell. This picture of the view from her window looks pleasant enough, but apparently it needs audio to understand what kind of hell she was going through:
It really doesn't give you a clue what it was like living with saws and machinery above our heads, working from 7 or 9am till about 5pm. Constant grinding/sawing noises.
In frustration Sheila's already started posting unfriendly reviews around the web, including:
It felt like the whole hotel was being rebuilt in the room above our heads. There was a letter of apology in the room, but that doesn't actually help anyone sleep. I shared a lift with mattresses, and bits of wood, but at least the lift worked. The coffee at breakfast was undrinkable, no kettle in the rooms.
The list goes on. The building work will continue until March 2007, so it'll be a bit longer until there's even a chance that Sheila's hell will return to some semblance of normality.
[Photo: Sheila]
Related Stories:
· Hotel Park Ljubljana reviews [TripAdvisor]
Tags: Cubicle Dreamin' / Tanzania Hotel Reviews / Hoteliers / → All Tags
Cubicle Dreamin', Special Friday Edition: A Hotelier's Wish
Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.
Today's special edition is brought to us by hotelier Richard Chanter of the Chanters Lodge hotel and blog in Livingstone, Zambia who is desperate for a vacation. Enjoy.
I'd love to go back to Dar es Salaam for a break. Kunduchi Beach was beautifully located as I recall, 35 long years ago, with white sands and glorious sunshine. The architecture makes the hotel seem like an Arabian palace! Life of a king! No responsibilities for a week! Visit new friends!
I bet the Tanzanians that stayed at our Lodge are great cooks, Indian ladies usually are, so when I got menu fatigue in the hotel I'd call them up and book myself in for a curry or two! No stock taking! Not my staff! No purchasing! No guests! I'm a guest! Wow!
Do I take the laptop? Guess so, after all it's a pleasure not a pain. Gotta blog anyway! Does Kunduchi have wifi? Don't know, no stress, if they don't I'll find somewhere that does and explore a bit! Tanzanians are humble, friendly and cheerful, so I guess my short break on the beach in Dar will be just great! Swim in the pool, enjoy the seafood, read a book. I'm nearly there already!
[Photo: Heart of Daftness]
Related Stories:
· Hotel Blog Watch: The Chanters Lodge Blog [HotelChatter]
Tags: Anti-View / → All Tags
Room with an Anti-View :: Scaffolding.
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
Ah, the dreaded scaffolding view. This shot was taken from room 155 at the Grand Union Hotel in Ljubljana. But the guest tries to look on the brightside by saying,
I had worse than this. Scaffolding right in front of my own hotel room window.
Related Stories:
· poederbach's photostream [Flickr]
· Grand Union Hotel reviews [TripAdvisor]
Tags: Brussels Hotel Reviews / Free Wifi Hotels / International Hotel WiFi / → All Tags
Hotel Le Chatelain :: Free WiFi in Ixelles
[Ed. Note: As we mentioned earlier this week, our publisher took a fancy European trip last week while we toughed it out in the wilds of Colorado with our laptop tied around our neck. Here is one of his reports from a Beligum hotel. Enjoy.]
Our first night in Belgium we stayed in the "all suite" Hotel Le Chatelain in the Ixelles area of Brussels. If you are dead set on being steps from the Grand Place touristgasm then you probably want to keep hotel hunting. However, Le Chatelain offers oversized rooms, flat screen televisions, and important European hotel features like enclosed showers (we hate when the water gets all over the floor thanks to a curtainless shower/tub), and free WiFi in the lobby/courtyard. Free WiFi is kind of a big deal in Europe, as you can end up paying upwards of €30 a day for hotel WiFi access!
The supposedly efficient German airline Lufthansa managed to lose our luggage, but the desk staffers at Le Chatelain made our life a lot easier by calling the baggage folks and coordinating the luggage drop off for us.
The view from our room, #703, looked up Rue Washington, a quiet street in Ixelles. Avenue Louise, and all its high end shops, are only a block away, plenty of Art Nouveau buildings are within walking distance, and the Place du Chatelain bar and cafe scene are just blocks away.
One caveat: If you think you can walk to the Grand Place from Ixelles, prepare for a good 40 minute walk. Our advice? Take a tram or a cab, the nice folks at the front desk will help you find our way.
More Le Chatelain Brussels Hotel Photos
Related Stories:
· Belgium Field Trip [Jaunted]
· Hotel Le Chatelain [TripAdvisor]
· Conrad Hotel Guests Drive Lamborghinis So Top That [HotelChatter]
Tags: WiFi Hell / International Hotel WiFi / → All Tags
Diamond Hotel's WiFi Rip-Off
The Diamond Hotel in Manila looks nice enough from its website and it is a five-star resort. But hotel blogger and cute boy "Wayan" was less than impressed. He tells a tale of something we at HotelChatter can identify with, a pure hatred for hotel WiFihell:
I found their WiFi to be pay per hour - $5 pay per hour. $5 per hour which you had to pay for in the second floor business office, not, as might be expected, near where non-guests would be using WiFi
To make matters worse for Wayan, desperate for a drink, he was dismayed to find the hotel bar closed from 2-5pm. Without alcohol to ease his traveler's tension, he proceeded to work offline but was agonized still:
Then, in the middle of my offline work, they switched from love ballads to World Cup, that would be low love ballads to very loud and annoying World Cup, in Japanese!!
This traveling veteran doesn't recommend the hotel to anyone for these reasons and we'll have to agree. The last thing we want is to chuck out money for our internet without a cocktail in hand whilst listening to sports coverage in Japanese.
Related Stories:
· Diamond Hotel? More like a Lump of Coal! [Metblogs.com]
· DiamondHotel Reviews [Trip Advisor]
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