At the HDBoutique show in Miami Beach, the Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association (BLLA) announced the winners of the 2011 BLLA Awards.

The boutique hotel of the year award for 2011 went to The Iron Horse Hotel in Milwaukee, WI. The lifestyle hotel of the year award was taken by The W Hotel & Residences Hollywood.

Iron Horse Hotel, Milwaukee

The finalists in both categories are listed below:

Boutique Hotel finalists:

The Iron Horse Hotel, Milwaukee, WI

The Hotel Andaluz, Albuquerque, NM

The Jupiter Hotel, Portland, OR

Hotel Renew, Honolulu, HI

Lifestyle Hotel finalists:

W Hollywood Residences, Hollywood, CA

The Good Hotel, San Francisco, CA

The Surrey, New York, NY

The Westlake Village Inn, Westlake Village, CA

The Iron Horse Hotel has won this award for the second year running. The hotel’s owner Tim Dixon was also named BLLA 2011 Hotelier of the Year.

“I’m honored to have received these awards from BLLA and I accept on behalf of an amazing team,” said owner Tim Dixon. “This honor shows that exceptional, experiential and independent hotels can thrive in any market as long as there is a vision and commitment to customer service.”

The 102-room Iron Horse Hotel, located across the river from the Harley-Davidson Museum, is celebrating its 3rd anniversary after opening in what was formerly a historic 100 year old warehouse.

The hotel has made a name for itself not just as a luxury hotel that caters to business travelers and motorcycle enthusiasts alike, but also for the sweeping artwork by Charles J. Dwyer, and for its green practices and environmental sustainability.

Photo – Iron Horse Hotel

Related posts:
Check-in and Checkout the Hotel Art
The Nolitan – Hip but Comfy Boutique Hotel in Manhattan
Ko’a Kea – Kauai’s New Luxury Boutique Hotel on Hawaii’s Poipu Beach
One Fun-Filled Day in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The Hotel deLuxe in Portland is offering a nifty shopping package that includes nine $25 gift certificates to different boutiques in Portland, a $25 food & beverage voucher to be used at either of the hotel’s two restaurants, and free valet parking.

Since the gift certs, voucher and parking are valued at well over $250 and the shopping package rates start at $249, they’re actually paying you for honoring them with your presence. You get to spend someone’s else’s money to indulge your inner shopaholic, stay in a Hollywood themed romantic hotel, and come back richer.

Hotel deLuxe Portland lobby with video screen

The deLuxe is nuts about Hollywood. They have over 350 black and white framed photographs of stars like Audrey Hepburn lining the corridors. Other hotels have a Starbucks in their lobby. This one has a theater. There’s a giant video screen just off the lobby, and they have a free ‘movie night’ on the third Sunday of each month.  Read More »

What happens when Bullet Tooth Tony takes on the Greek God of war Ares? Ares (Tamer Hassan) wiped the floor with Bullet Tooth Tony (Vinnie Jones) in a public brawl at a Hollywood hotel.

Chateau Marmont

The footbrawl at the Chateau Marmont between Vinnie Jones and Tamer Hassan was captured by the hotel’s security cameras, but the hotel on Sunset Boulevard has so far refused to release the tape.

They apparently turned down offers of upto £300,000 for the footage. For those who have no idea what all the fuss is about, here’s a bit of background:-

Vinnie Jones is a former footballer turned actor who has starred in films including “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” and “Snatch.”

More importantly, he’s got a long history of public brawls - including a barfight, assaulting a neighbor, and an air rage incident.

Tamer Hassan, who moved from amateur boxing to movies, most recently had a role in Kick-Ass and also as the Greek God of war Ares in the remake of the epic Clash of the Titans.

Both are co-starring in an new film called Bloodout due to begin shooting next weekend. Apparently the blood-letting began a bit ahead of schedule – witnesses present at the hotel said there was blood everywhere, with Hassan all bruised up and a drunk Vinnie Jones in dire need of stitches.

The Chateau Marmont, a popular celebrity haunt, is most famously known as the place where John Belushi died in 1982. The hotel offers 63 suites and bungalows. The adjacent Bar Marmont is still one of the hottest bars in tinsel town. There’s also a heated outdoor pool with gardens and a large sun pati0. 

Photo by Gary Minnaert

Info: 8221 Sunset Blvd Hollywood CA 90046;  (323) 656-1010; www.chateaumarmont.com/

Related posts:-
Kiefer Sutherland Attacks Strand Hotel Christmas Tree
David Cook Tells Fans to Leave His Hotel Room
Celebrity Sightings at Madame Tussauds Hollywood

Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will be hosting the 82nd Academy Awards on March 7, 2010 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

Giant Oscar

It’s customary at this stage to write about the best hotels for the Oscars – the ones which are strategically located for the red carpet, the Los Angeles hotels with the most glitz and glamor for the after-parties, etc.

Also, since not everyone will be in LA, you’ll find below famed hotels around the world with strong connections to tinseltown.

LA Inc. – The official tourism marketing organization for Los Angeles has come up with an LA Guide to the Oscars, with a neat roundup of hotels that have links and/or proximity to the Oscars and the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Highland.

The Renaissance Hollywood Hotel & Spa offers a vantage point for celebrity spotting and for watching the preparations; the Roosevelt Hotel for soaking in the Oscar history;  the new W Hotel with it’s own red carpet; and the Hotel Bel-Air and Beverly Wilshire as celebrity hotspots.

Movie Hotels - List of America’s top 10 movie hotels, where countless classic celluloid scenes have been shot. The list is topped by the Fairmont San Francisco, followed by the Bellagio in Las Vegas and the Plaza Hotel (also a Fairmont) in New York.

The Plaza Hotel, New York

Two LA -based stars on TA’s list of movie hotels include the Millenium Biltmore and the aforementioned Beverly Wilshire.

The remainder is rounded up by the Renaissance St. Louis, The Roosevelt Hotel in New York, Fontainebleau Miami Beach, Timberline Lodge in Oregon, and the Mountain Lake Hotel in Pembroke, VA.

Hotel-themed Movies - List of the top 8 academy award winning hotel movies. As in movies centred around a hotel, which went on to be nominated for an Oscar or worse… 

The top three on the list are Grand Hotel (Berlin), Hotel Rwanda and Hotel Paraiso (Portugal).

The remaining five are made up of Four Rooms and Hotel, Holiday Inn, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, Hôtel Terminus – The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie, and International Hotel (aka The V.I.P.s).

Celebrity Hotels – List of the world’s top 10 hotels owned by celebrities. Properties on this list owned by Hollywood stars include Robert Redford’s cool Sundance Resort in Utah, Robert De Niro’s hot Greenwich Hotel in New York and Francis Ford Coppola’s soothing Blancaneaux Lodge in San Ignacio, Belize.

Lastly, here’s a few takes from UpTake on celebrity hotels where you’ll get a red carpet welcome, mingle with Hollywood celebs and enjoy the Oscar party atmosphere.

Chateau Marmont

Take 1   – Chateau Marmont, Hollywood
Take 2   – The Standard Downtown, Los Angeles
Take 3   – The Mondrian, West Hollywood
Take 4   – Soho Grand, NYC
Take 5   – Cheeca Spa and Lodge, Florida Keys
Take 6   – Hotel Vancouver, Vancouver, Canada
Take 7   – Huka Lodge, Taupo, NZ
Take 8   – Guanahani Hotel and Spa, St. Barthelemy, West indies
Take 9   – Byblos Hotel in St. Tropez, France
Take 10 – One & Only Palmilla, Cabo San Lucas

Photo credits – Giant Oscar – Alan Light; Plaza Hotel – TripAdvisor; Chateau Marmont – Gary Minnaert