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What is Alex Trebek is a Badass for Chasing Down a Hotel Burglar?

Where: 12 Fourth Street [map], San Francisco, CA, United States, 94103

We've written a bunch about staying safe in hotel rooms lately but even well-known nerds celebrities need to learn how to protect themselves when staying in hotels.

"Jeopardy's" legendary host Alex Trebek revealed yesterday that his hotel room in San Francisco had been broken into and that he ruptured his Achilles tendon as he chased the robber down.

Trebek revealed the traumatic incident (in Jeopardy-speak) right before he hosted the National Geographic Geography Bee at Google Headquarters in Mountain View.

What is, it happened at 2:30 a.m., chasing a burglar down the hallway of my San Francisco hotel when my Achilles tendon ruptured and I then fell on carpet, bruising the other leg in process. Surgery on Friday," Trebek said, according to Patch.com.

San Francisco police have confirmed the incident and the subsequent arrest of Lucinda Moyers, 56, who was booked on charges of burglary and receiving stolen property, namely the victims' purses and wallets. TMZ is also reporting that the suspect lifted a bracelet that Trebek's mother gave him.

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Drive a New Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid Zipcar at the InterContinental San Francisco

Where: 888 Howard St. [map], San Francisco, CA, United States, 94103

When you stay at the InterContinental San Francisco, you can use a Zipcar, from the eco-friendly car-sharing program. But you won't get just any old ride; you can drive the new Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid, which isn't available for purchase till 2012.

The hotel offers eight Prius Plug-In Hybrids in its Zipcar fleet and a smart charging station, which is easily accessible in the porte cochère by the main entrance.

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W San Francisco Corner Room Tour: It's a Girl

Where: 181 3rd St [map], San Francisco, CA, United States, 94103

Long established as one of our least favorite W hotels in the world, this month we returned to W SF to check out the new room designs slash renovations. While this particular W is never going to be able to hide the fact that it was first built to be a Radisson, then switched to a W at the eleventh hour, back in 1999, the latest interior renovations definitely raise the W SF up a couple notches in our book.

The renovations are Asian-femme -- white and pastel-y with plenty of soft touches. No doubt the W brand's glory days began with the launch of W Montreal and ended after the opening of W Hong Kong. Earlier W's like the one in SF and later W's, like the one in Boston, have never met the standards of the 2005 - 2008 era.

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Hungry for March Madness? Fill Up with Four Seasons San Fran's Beer-and-Cheese Bracket

Where: 757 Market St. [map], San Francisco , CA, United States, 94103

While you carefully monitor your March Madness brackets in hopes of winning the office pool, the Four Seasons San Francisco created its own special bracket for the NCAA championships where you're sure to win every time. The hotel is serving up a March Madness beer-and-cheese bracket.

The San Francisco hotel's Seasons Bar and Lounge presents every beer-and-cheese pairing like a basketball slate, with each slate offering three beer tasters and three cheeses for $22.

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The Hotel Palomar San Francisco Will Craft a Cocktail Just for You

Where: 12 Fourth St. [map], San Francisco, CA, United States, 94103

Hotel Palomar San Francisco's Fifth Floor bar is kind of like the one from Cheers. Only, instead of it being where everyone knows your name, it wants to be where everyone knows your drink.

No need to order a straight Manhattan or martini here. The bar has put a Cocktail Consultation on its menu, where the bartender will custom-make a libation for you and then keep it on file for future visits.

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Does a Flirting Convention Mean More Sold-Out Rooms for the Hotel?

HotelChatter always has a funny way of showing up at hotels during interesting convention events. Remember our International Mister Leather run-in? Well, when one of our operatives was in at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco last week, they noticed this convention was taking place: Society of Single Professionals: Bay Area Flirting Convention.

Sadly, our operative was not able to get in there and wow everyone with their own flirting skills. Still, we hope a good time was had by all, especially the hotel's occupancy rate. We wonder how many rooms were booked that night because of this convention and specifically how many rooms were booked after the event.

It must have been better than he "luvahs" at the W Hoboken's speed-dating event. After all, it was Oprah-approved!

Hotel Video Tours / Intercontinental Hotels / San Francisco Hotels / Convention Center Hotels / → All Tags

Inside the Intercontinental San Francisco

Where: 888 Howard St. [map], San Francisco, CA, United States, 94103

Last week, we told you about the Michelin-starred grub at Luce, the restaurant at the Intercontinental San Francisco, but today, we’re going to take you on a video walkthrough of a standard guestroom there so you can get a feel for the entire hotel experience.

Our favorite features of the room? Enormous windows (though not such awesome views), a cozy work desk-sitting area, a huge flat-screen TV on which to watch Anderson Cooper spout off on CNN, an iPod docking station, huge marble bathrooms (though the sliding doors were kind of unwieldy and didn’t lock!), neutral-toned patterns and fabrics, and well stocked minibars.

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What The Michelin-Starred Grub is Like at The Intercontinental San Fran

Where: 888 Howard St. [map], San Francisco, CA, United States, 94103

Though Michelin decided to skip rating Los Angeles restaurants this year, we caught word of their just-released 2010 San Francisco rankings and noticed that Luce at the Intercontinental San Francisco just got its first star under the direction of recent Iron Chef competitor, Dominique Crenn.

After our meal there this past weekend, we totally understand why.

The meal begins with an unassuming amuse bouche of panna cotta-textured celery root mousse with citrus foam to get your palate ready for the unexpected flavor combinations still to come. Appetizers on the menu, which is small but still impressive and diverse, run the gamut from a warm and hearty autumn vegetable medley, to a streamlined Kona kampachi tartare served with pickled apples and shaved cauliflower with bright green celery sorbet, to a combination of both styles in the modern dressing up of an erstwhile working-class comfort food: roasted bone marrow (served in-bone lest you have any doubts) with garlic confit, fried capers gremolata and grilled bread.

Smear it all together and you’re transported back to a 19th century farmer’s table.

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Lovely View of the HVAC at InterContinental San Francisco

Where: 888 Howard St [map], San Francisco, CA, United States, 94103

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.

This morning we let you know that the chef at the Intercontinental San Francisco would be leaving the property to fight it out on "The Next Iron Chef" and as we were browsing for photos of the hotel, we came across this anti-view. Eee.

Then again, this hotel is adjacent to the Moscone Convention Center, making it the best choice for folks who plan on spending most of their days in the convention hall. But as large as the hotel looks, there are only 550 rooms in the hotel--22 per floor and as you know, InterContinental is a chi-chi business traveler brand.

So hopefully, the amenities in-room--like flat-screen TVs, iPod docks, bathrobes and especially, the private in-room bars--make up for some not-so-chi-chi convention center views.

Hotel Restaurants / Celebrity Chefs / Intercontinental Hotels / San Francisco Hotels / → All Tags

InterContinental Chef Leaves the Kitchen for 'Next Iron Chef'

Where: 888 Howard St. [map], San Francisco, CA, United States, 94103

Dine at the InterContinental San Francisco's Luce restaurant and you just might get a glimpse of the next Iron Chef. Luce's Chef de cuisine Dominique Crenn will battle for the title in the Food Network's second season of The Next Iron Chef, which will debut Oct. 4.

Crenn and nine other contestants seek join the ranks of Iron Chefs such as Cat Cora, Mario Batali, Bobby Flay, Masaharu Morimoto and first-season winner Michael Symon. Just being on the show can greatly help the French-Moroccan chef's career, as past alumni have gone on to become Food Network stars.

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W San Francisco is 'Sew Excited' for The Return of Project Runway

Where: 181 Third Street [map], San Francisco, CA, United States, 94103

We’re not much of a fashionista (unless the GO designer lines at Target count), but several label-conscious ladies in our lives faithfully follow Project Runway. And we'll admit, supermodel Heidi Klum is one foxy mama (emphasis on the mama bit as she's prego with her fourth kid!)

Not one to miss out on anything involving the words "fashion" or "stylish", is a W Hotel who regularly puts together hotel packages for NYC's Fashion Week and has even once partnered up with dress designer Diane Von Furstenberg. So it's no surprise to hear that W San Francisco is serving as a screening venue for the Season 6 premiere episode of Project Runway.

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The Good Hotel Also Has a Photo Booth in The Lobby

Where: 112 7tth Street [map], San Francisco, CA, United States, 94103

We've drooled over the iMacs in the business center at the The Good Hotel before but peeking into the hotel over the weekend, we got giddy when we noticed a photo booth in the lobby (You can see it on the left.)

While Mama Shelter's photo booth was connected to an iMac, the Good Hotel's photo booth is more like the old school ones that you used to see at carnivals and fairs, except it's, thankfully, a little more modern. From the hotel's rep:

It is a newer digital version in which you can change your background, have fake hair, or just have the original color or black & white option. At the moment the price for the photobooth is $5.00 and you get two prints. One you can take home with you and another to put on our ever-changing corkboard wall by the lobby elevator.

Indeed, there are rows and rows of these pictures on the wall in the lobby which makes this place a very fun hotel to hang out at. Not to mention all the good you can do while staying here. Also good? The low room rates which start at $89 a night during the week.