boutique hotels

Ian Schrager Plans New Hotel Brands

Hotelier extraordinaire Ian Schrager has a new project. Schrager has sold his interest in the Gramercy Park Hotel and has announced his latest company, Schrager Hotels which will create two new hotel brands.

Schrager said of the sale: "I received an offer that was just too good to refuse. However, it is a bittersweet moment as well. I put 110% into that hotel as I do with all of my projects, but it was time to move on and seek new challenges." Schrager, who is at least mostly responsible for the proliferation of boutique hotels in the past couple of decades, plans to create two separate brands, one luxury lifestyle brand and one that is stylish but less expensive. The first hotel under one of these new brands will open in Chicago in September 2011, the $25 million renovation of the Ambassador East hotel. Schrager is also continuing to work on the Edition hotel brand that he launched with Marriott International which recently opened its first hotel on Oahu.

Schrager plans to have his new hotels in cities such as, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Paris, Barcelona, Istanbul, Mexico City, Rio De Janiero, and other cities in Europe, Asia, China, India and South America.

Tags: boutique hotels, ian schrager, schrager hotels

The Henry Jones Art Hotel: Celebrate History, Art and Even Homelessness

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Art

The term "gibetting" doesn't often come up in hotel tours, but it did almost immediately at the Henry Jones Art Hotel, in Hobart, Tasmania.

The hotel is located right on the city's gentrified harbor and in the oldest part of this city -- the place where where convicts would land starting in 1804, the earliest days of Australia. Let's just say it wasn't a place for coddling, so as a warning to convicts who might be tempted to behave badly, the bodies of the executed who'd already behaved badly were hung from a gallows-like structure and allowed to rot right where new arrivals couldn't miss it.

Which happens to be right outside today's hotel, explained Warren Glover, the hotel historian. (Hotel history tours are free whether you're a guest or not, and Glover's an excellent storyteller.) He'd taken me outside to explain the area's history, and as I looked at the spot where the nasty business was once undertaken, a wedding party streamed around outside, taking advantage a sunny and crisp March day.

So yes, things have changed quite a bit in the past two centuries.

The hotel opened in 2004, on the site of a jam factory which was once the biggest employer in Hobart. The jam factory closed in the 1970s, and in the intervening decades, it became something of a homeless squat. When architects Morris-Nunn and associates were transforming the space into a hotel, they not only kept original architectural details -- the structure dates to 1825 -- but they also preserved some of the more decorative damage done by the building's unofficial residents. A fire started accidentally by a squatter left a pretty pattern on the ceiling in one of the hallway's, for instance. But the art you'll find here is far more than just architectural.

Tags: art, australia, boutique hotels, contemporary art, homeless, hotels, tasmania

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Tablet Hotels: Unique Hotels for Global Nomads

by Marsha Reid (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Ever since Expedia came into my life, I can't remember how I booked my flights and hotel stays. Well, actually, not really. I remember, but now it just seems odd to call the airline or hotel directly to make my reservations. I mean, how crazy is that? I have become socialized and willing to accept the middle man in a transaction that requires none. Ah, marketing and capitalism! Anyway, as much as I love Expedia, it is a purely functional site. And does it really to be anything else? Probably not. But for me, as I make my travel plans and my imagination is running wild with expectations of excitement and adventure, I also want to be inspired throughout the entire planning stages of my trip. I want the search for that perfect boutique hotel that will inspire to explore, write, and photograph all of the wonderful experiences that I am anticipating. That is why I love Tablet Hotels, an online resource for unique hotels around the world. The site design is clean and allows the viewer to easily maneuver through the site with little to no difficulty. You can search for your perfect hotel by name, destination, agenda, atmosphere and style. The hotel pictures are plentiful, vibrant and inviting. They make you want to travel. I especially enjoy reading and appreciate the detailed and information review of each hotel featured. Tablet Hotels is an online hotel guide that is worth becoming addicted to.

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Tags: boutique hotels, BoutiqueHotels, Online Hotel Guide, OnlineHotelGuide, Tablet Hotel, TabletHotel

Area-Daily, Daily Inspiration For Those With Wanderlust

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

The latest find for upscale travelers, dedicated to making their time off really count is Area-Daily.com. The site offers a daily email with tips on where to stay, what to eat and where to shop in farflung locales. The emails also contain video reports from Area-Daily's on-the-spot travel gurus letting you peek at the places you are longing to go. Recent coverage has included a safari in Kenya; a wine-tasting festival in Park City, Utah; and a cheese school in San Francisco. Daily inspiration to keep working toward your vacation when you are trapped at your desk.

[via The Netscape Blog]

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Tags: boutique hotels, travel, vacation, website

Miss Sixty Hotel

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

The latest fashion brand to open a hotel is jeans brand Miss Sixty. The Miss Sixty Hotel in Northern Italy features rooms were each designed with the vision of one artist. PSFK reports that the overall design was created by Studio63 and that the white exterior can be changed with colored lighting. The hotel will also provide web cameras to guests just in case they are interested in making new friends.If all goes well the Miss Sixty hotel could become a new high-end chain.

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Tags: boutique hotels, hotels, miss sixty, MissSixty

Starck Joins New Hotel Brand

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

New hotel chains are popping up as fast as condo projects lately. Philippe Starck, the ubiquitous designer who is no stranger to hotel design, has been selected by SBE Hotel Group to create the look for a new unnamed hotel brand. SBE is owned by Los Angeles club god Sam Nazarian and the first property will be on the site of the Le Meridien in Beverly Hills which is set to open in 2008.

SBE managed to tied Starck down to a 15-year exclusive deal (so much for his claim in an interview last year that he'd be retiring in three years). The new boutique brand will be hitting all the hot spots including New York, Miami and the Caribbean but instead of creating new hotels, these will all be conversions. Starck will also remodel the Ritz Plaza in Miami but it will not be part of the new brand. He will also design restaurants and lounges including a new Brentwood restaurant set to launch in May.

SBE seems to have learned from the drama involving the Roosevelt hotel and Amanda Scheer Demme, who blocked hotel guests from her exclusive clubs. In an article in Travel Weekly, Michael Doneff, SBE Entertainment Group’s vice president of marketing promises that "if you stay at our hotels, you will have preferred access to our nightclubs.” It's a smart move to make the guests feel like they pare part of an exclusive group rather than feeling alienated in their own hotel.

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Tags: boutique hotels, hotels, le meridien, philippe starck, PhilippeStarck, Ritz plaza, RitzPlaza, sam nazarian, sbe, starck, travel