Starwood, the parent company of W Hotels, gets high marks from travel agents

Vacation Agent, a trade magazine for travel agencies, recently released the results of a reader survey that asked travel agents to share their favorites in everything from rental cars to hotels. The survey was sent to the more 100,000 travel agents, including 18,000 home-based agents. The agents were asked to write in their picks as opposed to choosing from a list of suggested brands.

The end result is a list of hotel chains across the world that, at the very least, have made a positive impression on a lot of travel agents. If you’re trying to decide which rewards program to sign up for and rack up points with, this list might provide a good starting place.

Now, the envelope please….

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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

Related posts:-
Travel + Leisure – London West Hollywood is America’s Best Hotel (2009)
5-diamond Luxury Hotels in the USA

This is the first part of a series showcasing the best gyms in hotels across the United States.  We’ll start with the most populated city: New York, and work our way through popular U.S. destinations.  Travelers venturing to New York know they are in for some walking but what if your trip is all stuffy business meetings and thinking outside the box?  (Raise your hand if you’re in corporate America and hate that phrase.)

To keep your fitness routine going while you’re away, consider one of these hotels that really put some thought into their gyms.

The New York Palace:

The New York Palace offers top of the line equipment and 7000 sq.ft. of spacious fitness center and spa.

If you find yourself without running shoes and workout clothes, (because you’re like me and forgot to pack that sort of thing) don’t sweat it (heh).  The New York Palace offers complimentary sneakers and workout clothes!  Each of the many cardio machines has it’s own personal screen.  Also free?  Bottled water and fruit.

Trump International Hotel and Tower:

Personal trainers at your service at the Trump International Hotel and Tower, NYC.

If you are a Plus One Active user, you will certainly find access to that as well as the internet in this hotel’s fitness center.  On top of having free personal trainers at your service, the center also can provide, upon request, a comprehensive fitness evaluation and nutritional counseling beyond ‘stay out of the carb-filled mini bar in your room, Missy/Mister.”

The Affinia Dumont:

The Affinia Dumont in New York City has a Fitness Concierge!

Complimentary Experience Kits come in yoga, running, and strength-training flavors and they are yours if you stay at this fabulous hotel.  In addition to the Experience Kits, the Affinia Dumont boasts a beautiful fitness center that is sure to get your mojo moving.  The Fitness Concierge (swanky!) “can offer fitness-related information about the neighborhood. And he can act as your personal trainer in our fitness center, or provide a complimentary fitness evaluation by request. (Yours, not his.)”

The Hyatt and the Grand Hyatt:

The Hyatt can deliver workout clothes to you room within an hour. (Charges apply.)

Trusted source TODAY loved this chain of hotels for their 24 hour fitness centers, as well as the service (gym clothes delivered to your room within an hour.)  “Some locations even offer customers a Garmin Forunner, a wrist-top GPS monitor, which you can borrow from the concierge and use during your run.“   TODAY went on to rate the fitness facilities a 5 out of 5.  {source}

The W:

The W

With three locations in New York City, The W covers a lot of ground both in geography and with their stunning “Sweat” centers.  Like the New York Palace, each cardio machine is outfitted with it’s very own screen.  No peeking!
While there are many more hotels in New York that boast beautiful workout centers, you and I both know the trick is motivating yourself to get into one.  With so much to do in New York City, you’d be hard-pressed to find me on a treadmill when I could be taking pictures of the sights of The Big Apple.  Still, these hotels seem to get it right.

Photo credits: The New York Palace, Trump International Hotel and Tower, The Affinia Dumont, The Hyatt and the Grand Hyatt, and The W.

Business Traveler magazine announced the winners of their Business Travel Awards, and the Park Hyatt was one of the big winners, receiving the honor of “Best Hotel Chain” from 4,000 business travelers surveyed.

The Park Hyatt brand is the “smaller, luxury” branch of the enormous Hyatt empire, with white glove service, art collections and “cuisine” rather than food. This kind of experience doesn’t come cheap, so it makes sense that business travelers — with an expense account — are fans of the brand.

If you are one of the lucky wealthy who can afford to stay at the luxurious Park Hyatt, you can find premier locations in North America including Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington D.C.

Park Hyatt Chicago

Outside of the US, you can find Park Hyatts in Buenos Aires, Hamburg, Istanbul, Dubai, Beijing, Sydney and Tokyo, to name just a few. They are also building additional properties in locations like Tbilisi, Mexico City and Mallorca.

Park Hyatt Dubai

Rooms and rates vary depending on where you are, but it’s a luxury hotel with corresponding costs and amenities. From the websites I gather that the common decorating theme is “expensive and hard to clean white furniture” which is a treat few of us enjoy at home — one of the many joys of business travel, along with room service coffee and towel service.