Hotels

Ring in the New Year in style...

Considering calling a travel agent to make last minute New Year’s Eve plans?  Hold on!  Your perfect New Year’s Eve celebration may be found… at the doctor’s office?

A New York based plastic surgeon unveiled the country’s most expensive New Year’s Eve package on Monday.  For just $100,000, Dr. Stephen Greenberg is offering a star studded night, luxury hotel accomodations for a month, and a prettier you for 2010.

The package includes spending New Year’s Eve night in Miami with tables at three of the hottest events in town: Lady Gaga playing at the Fontainebleau, Brody Jenner hosting at JoonBug.com’s Gansevoort Miami Beach Hotel Rooftop New Year’s Eve 2010 bash, and John Legend at the W Hotel Miami Beach.

I’m not exactly sure how you’ll ring in the New Year at three parties – but for $100,000, it’s nice to have options.  Fortunately, you’ll have a Rolls Royce and personal chaffeur at your disposal for the night, which has to make party hopping easier.

But wait, there’s more!

The package also includes round trip first class tickets from New York to Miami, a choice of Penthouses at 5 star hotels in South Beach for a month and… new breasts.  Really.  A breast argumentation is included in the holiday package, along with a 24 hour nurse and unlimited spa treatments to help you relax and recover for the month after your surgery.

And all for the low, low price of $100,000.  Happy New Year!

Photo Credit: Optical Illusion on Flickr.

If you thought getting clobbered by Chris Brown was the low point of Rihanna’s 2009 woes, think again. Turns out Rihanna has been helping guests with their luggage in New York’s Bryant Park Hotel.

Rihanna & Bryant Park Hotel, NYC

Back in September, when she walked out of the Hotel de Rome in Berlin wearing a bellhop hat, it was assumed to be a fashion statement. But now it looks like there’s more to it.

Rihanna was spotted with some pals in the Bryant Park Hotel’s lobby, trying to help them move their bags. They wouldn’t let her, so she tries to grab the bags out of their hands. It ended up looking like a friendly game of tug of war.

We’re not experts on Bellhop etiquette, but Rihanna’s expertise in luggage-handling suggests that a brilliant career in hospitality awaits.

That doesn’t look likely to happen anytime soon, though. Her latest album – Rated R, is doing quite well, and the Barbados singing sensation is being paid an astonishing $500,000 by the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi for a New Year’s Eve performance.   

John Lickrish, managing director of Flash Entertainment, which organized the concert, says that “The response from the public has been fantastic since we announced Rihanna would be performing in Abu Dhabi.”

In between gigs now - bellhopping at the Bryant Park Hotel and the NYE concert at the Emirates Palace hotel – Rihanna is kicking back at a beach back home in Barbados, enjoying some R&R.

If Abu Dhabi is too far for you, here’s a primer for some more New Year’s Eve hotel parties with star-billing, and here’s the top 5 destinations people are traveling to for the New Year celebrations.

Rihanna photo by O.M. Gee; Bryant Park Hotel photo by Tone Walker

Ever wonder how those high rise luxury hotels in your favorite big cities are built?  Check out the time lapse video recording construction on the new Loews Atlanta Hotel.

The new Loews Atlanta Hotel opens in the Atlanta’s Midtown arts district  on April 1st, 2010 and promises to offer a great view from every room.

Loews Atlanta Hotel will feature 414 guest rooms when it’s completed, including 44 suites.  Each room will be equipped with a 37” HD flat-screen TV, 300-thread-count cotton linens and a plush “Ultimate Doeskin” robe.   Guests will also have access to in-room wireless Internet and wireless phones.

The new luxury hotel is looking to attract upscale business travelers with an emphasis on tech amenities like a wireless lobby bar.  In addition to Internet access, the Loews Atlanta Hotel will have 24,000 square feet of “function space” available, estimating that it can host groups of as many as 1,580 people. Of course, it wouldn’t be a luxury hotel without a state of the art fitness center, spa and on site dining, all of which will be available under the Loews Atlanta Hotel’s roof.

While the doors won’t open to guests until April, you can check in on the progress of the Midtown hotel (and check out current Atlanta weather conditions) via webcam.

(video courtesy of OxBlue)

In their Jan 2010 issue, Travel + Leisure has neat categorized listings of the top 500 hotels on earth. Bushmans Kloof in Cedar Mountains Wilderness Area, South Africa  – a wildnerness reserve and retreat, was voted as the World’s best hotel.

Travel + Leisure - World's Best 500 hotels

Bushmans Kloof is about 270 kms from Cape Town, and offers a full-service hideaway with a wellness focus and a predator free sanctuary to endangered species, with 130 Bushman rock art sites and one of South Africa’s Natural Heritage Sites.  The accomodations include 13 rooms and 3 suites. 

There’s also 3 restaurants and 1 bar. For a maximum of 32 guests… Gives a new meaning to personalized service. Which is why it costs $715, all-inclusive.

The second best hotel in the world, as per T+L, is the Oberoi Vanyavilas in Rajasthan, India. At No.3 on the list is Jade Mountain in St. Lucia.

The best hotel in the US was the Inn at Palmetto Bluff, in Bluffton, SC. The No. 1 hotel in California was the London West Hollywood, while The Carlyle topped the list of hotels in New York.

Check out Travel + Leisure’s full list of 2010’s 500 best hotels here – www.travelandleisure.com/tl500/2010

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After five years of design and construction, The Ritz-Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe opened last week in the midst of 30 inches of fresh snowfall. What might be a hindrance for some hotel grand openings was a welcome sight for the Ritz-Carlton, which describes the resort as “the finest ski-in, ski-out experience in California if not all the world.”

Ritz-Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe

The Ritz-Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe is the first new resort development in the Lake Tahoe area in decades. Anticipated to be the premier northern California contemporary mountain retreat, the $300 million project, situated mid-mountain in the Northstar-at-Tahoe ski area will feature ski-in, ski-out access with mountain concierge services. Read More »

The luxurious Hotel Pacific, Monterey, California

If you’re an art lover looking for a holiday getaway on the windswept coast of Monterey, California, then Hotel Pacific and Monterey Museum of Art have the perfect package for you!

The ‘Mini-Me’ package celebrates the Museum’s annual holiday showcase of small masterpieces – 7”x9” or smaller paintings, photographs, prints, drawings and sculptures – donated by the artists for auction. Read More »

If you happen to be in San Francisco, and see a balloon with a golden key heading your way, then you might want to hold on to the key. The Golden Key will open the doors to a free 3-night stay in the Presidential Suite at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, along with dinner and breakfast for two.

Palace Hotel, San Francisco

That’s because the Palace, one of the most luxurious and historic hotels in San Francisco, is celebrating it’s centennial anniversary this year, having reopened on Dec 15, 1909 after a massive renovation and patchup in the wake of the great earthquake of 1906.

Exactly 100 years ago today, a golden key was taken to the roof, attached to five colorful gas-filled balloons and sent skyward. The plan was for the key to float out over the Pacific Ocean. But the winds changed and the key headed toward Oakland.

So now they’re recreating history by ‘redoing’ the balloon gig. If you can make it there today, you can gather in front of the Palace Hotel, street level, on New Montgomery and Stevenson to view the launch of the gold key.

There’s also a ‘Gold Key Anniversary’ special in the hotel’s bar from 3:00 PM on December 15, 2009.  Guests can enjoy a Sirloin Burger & a Beer for just $19.09. The Golden Key will be launched between 3-4 pm on Dec 15, 2009.

The Hotel offers 553 guest rooms, including 34 suites – 30 one and two-bedroom suites, the Ambassador Suite, the Chancellor’s Suite, the Governor’s Suite and the Presidential Suite. You also get an indoor heated swimming pool, 3 restaurants and a fitness center.

Photo courtesy Starwood Hotels & Resorts

Info: 2 New Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94105;  (415) 512-1111; www.sfpalace.com/

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The  posh Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel in Knightsbridge, a very upscale part of London, has been laid low by singer Alicia Keys, who walked out on a free 3-day stay worth £5,000 in the hotel’s Luxury Suite.

Jumeirah Carlton Tower London

Madonna has stayed in the same suite. So has Michael Jackson. Besides, it wasn’t a ‘nasty surprise’ kind of thing. The hotel had apparently been in discussions for a week with Alicia’s team, to get the suite ready for her. They even closed off one entrance for her arrival.

But the minute she laid eyes on the suite, Alicia demanded a bigger suite. When told that she was looking at the biggest and best suite in the hotel, the Empire State of Mind singer promptly turned on her heel and walked out on the free stay. Something about not ‘feeling the vibe.’

For the record, the Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel was voted as the ‘Best UK Business Hotel’ at the Conde Nast Reader’s Travel Awards last year. The hotel overlooks the private gardens of Cadogan Place with spectacular views over London’s skyline, and offers three restaurants and one of London’s most exclusive health clubs.  

The Luxury Suite, which Alicia Keys snubbed, was designed by interior designer Kuan Chew and showcases commissioned art works by British artists, timber flooring, a crystal chandelier in the bedroom and a Bose entertainment system. The suite’s signature bathroom is kitted out with a Jacuzzi spa bath and mirror TV, under floor heating, and walk-in rain shower.

Photos courtesy Jumeirah

Info: On Cadogan Place London, SW1X 9PY, UK; 020 7235 1234; website 

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Bedroom of a Study at Yale Suite

The Study at Yale, a new boutique hotel located in downtown New Haven, Connecticut, right near Yale University, is offering several packages and specials this holiday season.

The New Years Eve Package, available on December 31, includes overnight accommodations at the Study at Yale, two tickets to The Temptations Review performing at The Shubert Theater on December 31, a special post-show party in Heirloom (the hotel restaurant/bar) with open bar, and hors d’oeuvres, a midnight champagne toast, and late check out.  This package is $395 per couple, based on double occupancy (does not include tax).

The Study at Yale is also offering a holiday shopping package, available through January 15, 2010.  This package includes overnight accommodations and a hot mulled brandy cider at check-in or after shopping.  In addition, shoppers can redeem their receipts for either a free drink or movie passes (or both).  Rates start at $149 (excluding tax).

Art lovers who want to visit the nearby Yale Center for British Art and the Yale University Art Gallery can enjoy the Connecticut art trail package, which includes breakfast for two, valet parking, and overnight accommodation.

The Study at Yale offers 124 rooms with high-speed internet access, flat screen HD TVs, and workstations.  There are also seven suites as well as one three-bedroom Presidential Suite with personal butler service.  The Study at Yale also offers an on-site restaurant, Heirloom.  In-room dining is available.

The Study at Yale
1157 Chapel Street
New Haven, CT 06511
(203) 503-3900

Photo credit: The Study at Yale

World Class Golf @ Hotel Principe Felipe in Murcia Spain

Are you looking for a vacation that includes lots of warm weather and golf or maybe tennis? If you are wild about golf and want to get away from the cold this winter, right now you could stay at this five-star Spanish resort and play unlimited golf for seven days at about $450 per night. Staying here at the Hotel La Manga Club Príncipe Felipe is definitely a luxury but for many it might be the perfect getaway regardless of the price.

There are two types of accommodations within La Manga Club, both ideally placed to make the most of the resort’s facilities: The gorgeous five-star La Manga Club Hotel Príncipe Felipe or the comforts of the self-catering apartments and guestrooms at nearby Las Lomas Village. While we were there in November, the mild temperatures had everyone out walking the paths through the extensive resort property. We had only one morning of fog that caused the morning tee off to be delayed a little, and to cause a few to pull on a sweater. Otherwise, our week in La Manga was a wonderful Spain vacation with the family. Read More »