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Westlake Village: Hawaii Meets Cali at Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village

HotelChatter | 39 minutes ago

If you find yourself stuck on the West Coast over the long Labor Day Weekend, unable to get to the Aloha State (or unable to afford it), never fear -- Hawaii will come to you.The Four Seasons Hotel Westlake Village has created a Hawaii-style "staycation" for left coasters in this snitzy LA burb. They've taken cues from the island of Lanai, which this month's Conde Nast Traveler coincidentally sums up as "essentially a pineapple plantation until 1990, when two resorts (now owned by Four Season...

Meanwhile in New York: “Dozens of religious retreats are nestled...

Gridskipper | 46 minutes ago

“Dozens of religious retreats are nestled in the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley of upstate New York, many open to visitors seeking quiet getaways and personal enlightenment.” From Sufi and Jewish retreats, to Siddha Yoga’s upstate ashram, there are numerous...

New York: Braving NY Restaurant Week at Chambers Hotel's Town

HotelChatter | 59 minutes ago

Exactly a month ago, we gave you our Top Five list of which New York hotel restaurants would be the creme de la crème picks for Restaurant Week. Well, a Restaurant Week red alert is fully in effect around the city as locals stumble about with gourmet stomachaches and a newfound love for tipping calculators. Since our top pick was Town Restaurant at Midtown's Chambers Hotel, we felt it was only proper to do some reconnaissance ourselves and report back on any delights found therein. After...

Worthless best price guarantees?

New York Hospitality by Vijay Dandapani | 1 hour 5 minutes ago

Hotel chains have striven over the years to displace disintermediators from the booking process with the promise to provide the best rate on the internet with some companies going so far as to guarantee that. However, the financial news website...

Beijing: Doubletree Opens in Beijing; Cookies Will Be Served

HotelChatter | 2 hours 14 minutes ago

Beijing is opening new hotels left and right just before the Olympics begin and you can now add Doubletree to the list of major hotel chains with vacancy in the host city.The Doubletree by Hilton Beijing is an upscale, 547-room hotel located between the city's Central Office District and prestigious Financial District along the Southwest 2nd Ring Road in the new Lar Valley International mixed-use business complex. The hotel is centrally situated within 10 km/6 mi of the historic Dong Cheng Di...

Wheels Up: An Emergency Landing, Paris & Northern Lights

Gridskipper | 2 hours 20 minutes ago

·Scientists identify trigger for Northern Lights [IHT]·Paris is having an identity crisis [Kottke]·NYC’s Flight 001 marks down weekend bags, mini-cosmetics and more up to %75 off [via NYT]·Revamped Italian mall, site to see in and of...

Rancho Mirage: Hi-Tech Lighting Makes Agua Caliente Resort Green, Too

HotelChatter | 2 hours 36 minutes ago

It's no surprise to us that the Agua Caliente Resort Hotel, part of a casino complex in Rancho Mirage, California, has a bunch of dazzling lights. The surprising bit is that the whole lighting system in the new hotel is so high tech and at the same time, clean and green.The fiddly details are that the hotel have used special LED cove lighting on 14 floors and this lighting has a bunch of advantages: it lasts longer, so they don't need to get staff up to change light bulbs, and it's easy to ch...

Melbourne: Unnecessary Sun Roof at Newly-Renovated Pensione Hotel in Melbourne

HotelChatter | 3 hours 8 minutes ago

On Spencer Street in Melbourne, close to one of the main railway stations and with trams stopping in front of it, the Pensione Hotel Melbourne is probably allowed to claim that it's a "perfect base" to explore Melbourne from. Nice for a hotel website speak to actually be true for once! Add to that a recent multi-million dollar renovation and it really doesn't sound bad at all.The new incarnation of the Pensione, a 114-room place that brands itself as both boutique and budget, has now got WiFi...

Miscellany - sand hotels and pocket passports

New York Hospitality by Vijay Dandapani | 3 hours 53 minutes ago

Sand castles have been around for eons both for fun (for kids) and as a metaphor for frailty. However, a team of four sculptors working 14 hours a day for seven days built the world's first ever sand hotel in...

Why are Americans still flocking to Paris?

USA TODAY/Hotel Hotsheet | 6 hours 17 minutes ago

Conventional wisdom says we are belt-tightening in a summer of high prices and dimishing stock returns and mortgage crunches. Well, yes, but Americans are still flocking to Europe, says veteran travel reporter/producer/writer/radio commentator/blogger Peter Greenberg, aka the "Travel Detective" and...

Meanwhile in Paris: Food book author and blogger Clotilde...

Gridskipper | 18 hours 37 minutes ago

Food book author and blogger Clotilde Dusoulier offers up her top picks for dining and drinking in the City of Lights in the August issue of Town and Country. She recommends Montmartre’s Coquelicot for baked goods, L’Epicerie de Bruno for...

HotelChatter Reader Deals :: End of Summer Deals

HotelChatter | 18 hours 50 minutes ago

In which, HotelChatter readers are treated to exclusive hotel deals dug up by us. All deals have a limited amount of rooms attached to them and may sell out quickly.Today's Hotel DealsTimes Square Savings$389 a nightThe Westin Times Square has introduced their Summer Savings Package which includes an upgrade to the Executive Club Level (worth $80) and a complimentary roll-away (worth $20). The savings is good for now through August 22nd on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday arrivals. Stalk George...

New York: NYC Waterfalls Packages :: Drop $75K at the Buckingham

HotelChatter | 19 hours 22 minutes ago

Got $75K you want to, say, throw into the East River? Or maybe you've got a compulsive spending habit that makes you want to throw yourself into the East River? NYC's Buckingham Hotel has a water-themed treat that's right up your alley! To celebrate artist Olafur Eliasson's man-made waterfalls that have been installed along Manhattan's East River this summer, The Buckingham is offering a special waterfalls package for the ridiculously rich only. But it includes some of our best friends -- cha...

Jetcetera: Partnerships, Bans & A Rooftop Pool

Gridskipper | 19 hours 42 minutes ago

·60 Thompson’s west coast bi-level rooftop lounge is up-and-running [Style.com]·"Witches, Goblins and Nazis all part of Europe’s strangest festival [Spiegel]·LA to (maybe) ban plastic bags by 2010 [Treehugger]·Iraq banned from competing in Beijing Olympics [BBC]·Meanwhile in...

Hotel Stocks, Like Many Others, Probably Not a Good Investment Right Now

HotelChatter | 20 hours 10 minutes ago

As predicted Marriott Hotels are not alone in this tough economy. Starwood Hotels just announced their second quarter earnings which were also down but by a "better-than-expected" 16.4 percent. Still Starwood expects lodging demand to keep weakening for the rest of the year.And if you were thinking about investing in hotel stocks, think again. In morning trading, Starwood shares fell $3.25, or 8.2 percent, to $36.57. During the past 52 weeks, the stock has dropped from a high of $74.05 last J...

Travel: Oddee has put together a list...

Gridskipper | 20 hours 31 minutes ago

Oddee has put together a list of ten of the world’s ghost towns, complete with awe-inspiring photos of the abandoned areas. Sites include Namibia’s Kolmanskop, Taiwan’s San Zhi and Italy’s Craco. [via Kottke]

Las Vegas: For Once, a Vegas Hotel Tempts Your Taste Buds, Not Your Wallet

HotelChatter | 20 hours 58 minutes ago

As part of a "Tingle Your Taste Buds" package, Renaissance Las Vegas is providing perhaps the largest dining credit we've ever seen. The package starts at $199 and includes accommodations, a specialty drink or wine tasting and a $150 credit to ENVY The Steakhouse, helmed by executive chef Stephan Kauth. The restaurant has garnered WineSpectator's Award of Excellence three times and was named "Best New Restaurant Off Strip" by Las Vegas Life Magazine. And since The Renaissance is a non-gami...

New York: Snapshot:: Fair Weather at the Plaza Hotel

HotelChatter | 21 hours 45 minutes ago

Isn't it always sunny at The Plaza? You'd think that after coming out of their $400 million dollar renovation they would be able to control the weather. Especially if guests are spending upwards of $800 a night, the stay better be perfect for enjoying the Plaza's prime location on Central Park South within walking distance to all the haute boutiques. At their Fifth Avenue entrance, which consistently reeks of horse dung as the park's carriages idle across the street, the hotel has this shiny...

After the Aloft Hype Dies Down, the Guest Reviews Come In

HotelChatter | 22 hours 20 minutes ago

Now that the smoke has cleared from the first big blitz of Aloft hotel openings and we had a chance to spend a night in one ourselves, we dropped by our trusty ol' pal TripAdvisor to check out customers' reactions to the brand. And the reviews were kinda all over the place. Most of them were positive, though, and the words "cool" and "funky" were used a lot. Someone even called it a "hipper Four Points by Sheraton" (really?) but then finished out the review by saying the concept just doesn't...

Houston: Bad Boys, Bad Boys:: Escaped Convict Nabbed at Red Roof Inn Pool in Texas

HotelChatter | 22 hours 52 minutes ago

It's still hot here in the city and so we're well into dreaming of rooftop pools and cabanas with mimosa pitchers. Thus we totally have to sympathize with the escapee prisoner who was caught taking a dip in the swimming pool of a Houston, Texas Red Roof Inn on Tuesday. The convict, charged with murder during the robbery of a convenience store in April, had lost weight in recent months and managed to shimmy his way out of jail through an air conditioning duct no more than one foot wide. Missi...

Best Lebanese Restaurants in Paris

Gridskipper | 22 hours 53 minutes ago

With a large expatriate community and a steady flow of tourists from the Middle East, Paris has one of Europe's best concentrations of quality Lebanese food, and a large choice of restaurants. One of the Mediterranean's great cuisines, carefully prepared...

New York: Guess The Hotel Revealed :: Inside the Carlyle Hotel

HotelChatter | 23 hours 27 minutes ago

Wow. Yesterday's Guess the Hotel game was super easy for you as everyone guessed correctly--it was The Carlyle Hotel on E. 75th Street and Madison Avenue.We spent a very short time in the hotel as we got in late at night and had to be out the door by 10am for a meeting. However, this was plenty of time for us to realize why the hotel is one of Manhattan's best luxury hotels. That is, unless you overstep your check-out time. Keep reading for the full review.

Planes: “A New York City lawyer [Thomas...

Gridskipper | 23 hours 55 minutes ago

“A New York City lawyer [Thomas Mullaney] is suing Delta Air Lines Inc. for $5 million, claiming the carrier’s incompetence and indifference left him stranded in Paris for four days last October during an airport workers’ strike.” $5 million plus...

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