HotelChatter

Killer View

Room With a Killer View: San Francisco From the Mandarin Oriental

August 7, 2008 at 8:50 AM | 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.

If you want to get this great view over the San Francisco skyline, you need to find a way to get up onto the private deck of a suite at the Mandarin Oriental San Francisco.That's what HotelChatter tipster derek did--thanks for that--before he dropped this great shot in the HotelChatter Flickr Pool.

The Mandarin Oriental is advertising that its high-in-the-sky suites have all been renovated (except they call it "transformed") recently and we're thinking for this view the 2000 square foot Taipan Suite might do the trick. It even comes with its own telescope so you can enjoy every square inch of the view properly.

Naturally, this is a suite in a Mandarin Oriental so all this doesn't come cheap. If you do want to save some pennies, book online. The internet rate of $1,800 a night is significantly cheaper than the standard rate of $3,100.

[Photo: derek728ia]

Union Square Hotels

The Galleria Park Hotel Is So Vanity Fair

March 16, 2007 at 10:10 AM | 0 Comments

Last week while in San Francisco, we checked out JDV's newest hotel the Galleria Park Hotel near Union Square. Billed as a "BusinessWeek meets Vanity Fair" type of hotel, the lobby turned out to be extremely photogenic--almost glossy.

Most guests we talked to were pleased with the service, their room, and the price--and we always gravitate toward staying in hotels that have just been renovated--soft opening kinks be damned.

Touring the hotel we were bummed to see the absence of flat screen televisions, at least in the rooms we saw. The rooms decor is inline with the magazine feel, however, the standard rooms are on the smallish side. While the room and lobby renovations looked great, the elevators were still being renovated, which caused us to have to use the stairs during our visit.

Hmm, a high profile cover, beautiful design, with some structural changes still needed inside--yup, sounds like it is all Vanity Fair to us.

More Galleria Park pics in the HotelChatter photo pool.

Related Stories:
· Galleria Park Info [TripAdvisor]

Chip Conley

Chip Conely Unveils His BusinessWeek-Vanity Fair Hybrid Hotel

January 10, 2007 at 1:52 PM | 1 Comment

Hotelier Chip Conley has shifted focus from Southern California back to his tried-and-true turf of San Francisco.

The $7.1 million renovation on the 95-year-old Galleria Park Hotel on Sutter Street has been completed. Conley, known for modeling his hotels after big magazine publications, has made the Galleria Park a "BusinessWeek meets Vanity Fair" type of hotel.

Previously known as the Sutter Hotel, the property was constructed in 1911 and had not been renovated since the 1980s. Joie de Vivre took over management from the Kimpton Group in June, 2005 and immediately embarked upon a soup-to-nuts upgrade. Amenities tailored to the needs of the sophisticated modern traveler -- including flat-screen televisions, alarm clocks with MP3 connectors and 300-thread-count Frette linens and bathrobes -- have been introduced to all 177 refurbished guestrooms.

Other business travel amenities include a Business Honor Bar where instead of candies and other snacks, guests will find office materials like a tech tool box, ergonomic desk chairs, free BART passes to the airport and a checkout packet complete with hotel bill and airline boarding passes.

That's the BusinessWeek part of it all. Now for the Vanity Fair. Rooms will incorporate a mixture of different design eras from  Art Deco to vintage and mid-century. In the lobby, "Bold gold tones, subdued blues and greens breathe new life into the lobby area" and artwork from San Fran's Lost Art Salon will hang from the walls.

And while the hotel's amenities will make you happy on the road, the hotel's introductory $139 a night rate should make the boss happy too.

Related Stories:
· Joie de Vivre Unveils Dramatic Facelift to Historic Galleria Park Hotel [Yahoo! Finance]