10036 Travel Guide
Tags: Hotel Carpets / Snapshot / Manhattan Hotels / Renaissance Hotels / → All Tags
It's a Fugly Carpet Renaissance in Times Square
Where: Two Times Square, 714 Seventh Avenue at W. 48th Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10036| June 19, 2009 at 5:26 PM | 2 Comments
Hey! We haven't giggled about some fugly carpet in a while. And this one comes from the center of the universe, NYC, and perhaps we may one day get lucky enough to unearth enough fugly carpets to declare this place the Fugly Carpet Capital of the World.
Also, it's Friday afternoon and we want to end the week on a smiley note. This shot comes from eryoni on Flickr, and it's from (we're pretty sure) the Renaissance Times Square, where rates start at about $299 these days.
And it sort of reminds us of an 80's arcade game, no? Meh — at least it won't show too many stains from the touristy sneakers trudging all over it if New York sees another soaking wet week like the one we just had.
[Photo: Eryoni]
Tags: Kimpton Hotels / Hotel Hype / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
The Vu Hotel is Still On The Books But Expect Some Changes
| June 17, 2009 at 1:32 PM | 0 Comments
Remember The Vu Hotel from Kimpton that was supposed to open last year and then this summer near Times Square at 48th and 11th? While the website is still up and running, only a vague "Opening in 2009" date gives any clue about when this hotel will open. However from what we've heard, you should plan on staying here in 2010 instead.
A tipster, A, emailed us saying:
Just a quick note - Kimpton In Touch is now saying Jan for The Vu in NYC. Reservations taken in Sept at the earliest. Tried to confirm with the hotel direct, but always getting voice mails.
We're working on getting some new details on the property and there could be some changes afoot. There were rumors about a name change in April and that is looking rather likely. We'll keep you posted on what we find out as we find it out.
Tags: Hotel Delays / Vikram Chatwal / Hotel Openings / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
The Chatwal is Now Shooting For a September 2009 Opening
| June 17, 2009 at 9:24 AM | 0 Comments
Hey, remember when someone told us that The Chatwal would open "sooner than we think" and that "sooner than we think" was going to be July? Yeah, no: now we're looking at September.
The former Lamb's Club-turned Vikram Chatwal vanity-ish project has had a lot of obstacles to overcome, we suppose (what else takes a hotel ten years to open?) — and we checked in on the property's Leading Hotels of the World page to find that the "New hotel: Opening to be advised" message had turned into "NEW HOTEL - OPENING SEPTEMBER 2009 (date to be advised)."
We noted a couple months ago that the property had mysteriously disappeared from the list of hotels on the Vikram Chatwal Hotels site, but we were reassured that the place was still going to open — and, also, we really have no idea what this means, but when we Google "The Chatwal" the search results come up like this:
This is probably nothing we need to read into, but it's just sort of...weird.
Anyway, in conclusion: they're shooting for September and we're not holding our breath.
Tags: Kimpton Hotels / Gay Hotels / Gay Pride Week / Hotel Packages / → All Tags
Kimpton’s Muse and 70 Park Avenue Hotels Have 'Pride'
| June 9, 2009 at 10:32 AM | 0 Comments
Joining in this summer’s Gay Pride Celebrations in New York City, the Kimpton Group’s The Muse Hotel and 70 Park Avenue Hotel are offering special packages from May 1-July 31, including the weekend of Gay Pride in New York, starting June 20.
70 Park Avenue’s $259 “Propose on Pride” package (above) includes all the little luxuries you’ll want when you propose to your partner, including deluxe accommodations, champagne cocktails, breakfast in bed, a map of the Gay Pride Parade route, and a rainbow flag and disposable camera to record your outings at the parade and your special moment on bended knee.
Tags: Bill Marriott / Hotel News / Cornell Hotel School / Icon of the Industry / Party Dispatch / → All Tags
Bill Marriott Awarded 'Icon of the Industry' Honor
| June 3, 2009 at 5:02 PM | 0 Comments
Last night the Cornell School of Hotel Administration awarded Bill Marriott with its first ever Icon of the Industry award at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square. And guess what? HotelChatter was there to watch! And we were like, legally allowed guests. No party crashing here!
If you were watching our Twitter feed, then you already know a bit of how the event went down. But while Bill managed to sneak away before we could meet him (or even just brush up against his arm real quick), he made a sweet impression on us and the rest of the hotel industry folk who attended.
His speech was pitch-perfect with the right amount of self-deprecation, a pinch of family history, a dose of "work hard" rah-rah-rah and a wise note about recessions--"they always end," he said.
We'll have more on the event for you tomorrow but for now, let's just say we've fallen in love with Bill all over again.
Tags: Hotel Packages / Baseball Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Deals / → All Tags
The Milford Plaza is Still Pitching Deals to Baseball Fans
| May 1, 2009 at 2:13 PM | 1 Comment
Are you one of those people who waxes on and on about how awesome Shea Stadium or the Old Yankees stadium was? Or are you just, like, a die-hard New York baseball fan? Or, um, do you like baseball? The Milford Plaza, which offers itself up as a baseball hotel season after season (recall the New York Mets 1986 World Series Winner commemorative deal where you could get an upgrade for $19.86, and then '07's $20.07 room upgrade for baseball fans in honor of the 2007 season) is pitchin' to you again.
And this year's "Take Me Out to the Milford" promo is a hot opp for those nostalgic, memorabilia-collector types: from now until September 12th, you'll receive an upgrade to Milford Club accommodations (where available) when you present a piece of memorabilia from either Shea or the old Yankee stadium at check-in:
Whether it's an old photograph of the playing field or an authentic game ticket, guests are invited to share all forms of nostalgia for New York’s former stadiums.
In addition to the upgrade, guests will also receive a Milford Plaza drawstring backpack (1 per room) with a bag of peanuts to snack on during the game.
Rates start at $159 per night right now (ah, how things have changed since the 2007 package, where rates were $259 and up).
[Photo: Paulo.Barcellos]
Tags: Killer View / Manhattan Hotels / Best Western Hotels / → All Tags
The Beauty Of a Hotel View Is In the Eye Of the Beholder
| April 30, 2009 at 2:24 PM | 0 Comments
We are suckers for a room with a killer view. We find that we are even more likely to forgive some minor hotel inconveniences if we can stare out the window at something pretty--yeah we are that shallow. Let's help out our fellow hotel mavens by uploading rooms with killer views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. We will feature our favorites in this space from time to time. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number of the hot view.
You know what? The world is full of people complaining. And mean people. And swine flu. And sadness. And, unfortunately, bad hotel views.
However. Let's all take a minute and polish our attitudes and remember that when it comes to hotel room views, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Right?
Take, for instance, a Manhattan hotel view — and we all know that big city views have the most dangerous potential to go from possibly-killer to impossibly-anti-view due to the crowding of buildings and whatnot — such as this one. This is a shot by Kevin H., who, instead of posting a complain-y caption of his Best Western President hotel view (which, by most standards, would be a certified anti-view), but he captioned it:
View from the window of my room at the Best Western President hotel in New York City's theater district. It made me think of an Edward Hopper painting.
Look at that. A little positivity in such a negative world. A little more positivity: rates here start at only $110 for some dates in May. Hooray!
[Photo: Kevin H.]
Tags: Hotel Delays / W Hotels / W New York Downtown / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel News / Starwood Hotels / → All Tags
No W For Downtown NYC Until 2010
| April 29, 2009 at 3:13 PM | 2 Comments
Oh, New York City. You have so many visitors and so many hotels and so many opportunities and so much wonder and merriment and oh, so, so, so many hotel delays.
The latest in hotel delay news today comes to us by way of an eagle-eyed tipster, who noticed the opening date of the W New York Downtown had quietly changed on the hotel's website from "Summer 2009" to the vague "2010," which is particularly upsetting because it is now the only W property on the coming-soon-from-Starwood roster without a concrete opening date posted. You know, kind of like being the only kid in the high school graduating class who has "Undecided" listed as his college of choice on graduation day. Sad.
We knew the W Residences in the same FiDi building have not been without their own set of issues; namely, most good views from the condos remain blocked by a close-enough-to-touch building next-door, which is supposed to be razed sooner rather than later but who knows. Still, the hotel was expected to open on time this summer — alas, it appears, not so much.
Tags: Simon van Kempen / Manhattan Hotels / TV Set Hotels / → All Tags
The Chicago Sun-Times Goes Inside Simon Van Kempen's Hotel
| April 29, 2009 at 9:11 AM | 0 Comments
Oh, goodness: an ambitious newspaper reporter has finally done it. The Chicago Sun-Times has gone into The Hotel Chandler, the hotel managed by Real Housewives of New York City's real hubby Simon van Kempen, and they've lived to tell the tale.
The hotel has received curiously little press coverage and, frankly, we don't know too much about the place — but the Sun-Times went where we were scared to: inside, on a guided tour with Simon himself, who says, "we have had guests who've refused to check out until they get my autograph or photograph. It doesn't happen every day, but it happens." Interesting.
The purpose of the article, we assume, was to shed a bit of light on the hotel itself and, um, settle once and for all what exactly goes on during Simon's fabled day job.
Tags: Hotel Openings / Hotel Delays / Vikram Chatwal / Times Square Hotels / → All Tags
Rejoice! The Chatwal Shows Signs of Life, Might Open This Summer
| April 28, 2009 at 5:32 PM | 0 Comments
No, we can't believe it either. Surely egged on by our not-so-wild speculation and eyebrow-raising (what? The fact that the hotel disappeared from the VCH website was legitimate cause for concern), we received a sparkling nugget of a press release in our inbox today: it was from The Chatwal, the mythical, fabled hotel from hotelier Vikram Chatwal that we thought would never open.
Well, it still hasn't opened — but it is showing signs of life! The hotel announced today that it has hired itself a general manager: one Mr. Joel Freyberg, who most recently held the position of Executive Director for New York's Waldorf Towers (at the Waldorf Astoria).
And — ready for this? — this caught our eye: "Opening in July 2009, The Chatwal will salute the New York City “baby grand” hotels of a bygone era, offering unparalleled accommodations and a fresh perspective on the luxury hotel experience."
July! July! July! It's coming! And now...we wait. And no, it does not appear to be accepting reservations yet.
Tags: Vikram Chatwal / Hotel Hype / VCH Hotels / Hotel Rumors / Lamb's Club Hotel / → All Tags
The Chatwal Will Open 'Sooner Than You Think'
| April 23, 2009 at 10:36 AM | 1 Comment
From the depths of a late-afternoon delirium, our emotions got the best of us and we were moved to write a poem about how upset we were that we couldn't find Vikram Chatwal's ten-years-in-the-making The Chatwal — slated to open this year — on the official roster of VCH's open or in-development hotels. However! Thanks to a fairly confident commenter and an official hotel rep, we are happy to learn that The Chatwal is indeed on the way. Supposedly.
Says BVCH:
Because of the more traditional nature of the product and slightly different demographic that The Chatwal will [we feel] ultimately will appeal to, it is being marketed outside of the VCH Collection as a stand alone property and possibly the progenitor for its own line of hotels... but make mo mistake about it, it is coming and sooner than you think.
Interesting. Very interesting. An official hotel rep confirmed this morning that this was arrurate — the hotel is "still slated to open this year," and we'll get the deets as the opening date gets closer. Hm. Okay.
While this is good news, it's also kind of disappointing because now we have to wait some more. This is kind of like one of those relationships where you don't really trust the other person but they keep you hangin' on. Or like that Diana Ross song. Vikky, set us free, why dontchya babe?
Tags: Vikram Chatwal / Hotel Hype / VCH Hotels / Hotel Rumors / Lamb's Club Hotel / → All Tags
Has VCH Given Up On The Chatwal After All?
| April 22, 2009 at 4:50 PM | 1 Comment
Vikram had a little Lamb,
little Lamb, little Lamb,
Vikram had a little Lamb,
Whose name was changed, we know.
He named his Lamb 'Chatwal' one day,
'Chatwal' one day, 'Chatwal' one day,
But we checked the VCH website and —
Oh wait, where did it go?
We were sitting around Dream-ing (ha! See what we did there?) of Vikram Chatwal when we realized that it's been a mighty long time since we'd heard anything about The Chatwal, the "upcoming" Times Square hotel formerly known as the Lamb's Club Hotel which has, so far, been a decade in the making. What gives? Isn't that bad boy supposed to be opening soon?
Maybe not. We did a thorough search for info about the hotel and dug up nothing: the Leading Hotels of the World website still says "opening to be advised" and the Chatwal site itself is still claiming that the hotel will be "coming soon." Hmm, whatever.
But then: we headed over to the VCH website (yes! And we did enjoy ourselves some hot jams, thank you very much!), to find that The Chatwal was mysteriously absent from the listing of U.S. hotels — and the roster seems to be up to date, since Dream Cochin is listed as open and Dream Downtown's opening has been updated. Interesting.
Anyone know what's going on or why The Chatwal seems to have mysteriously gone missing? Let us know.
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