Fontainebleau lobby bar: Shakin
April 2 (Bloomberg) — The ideal Miami getaway goes something like this: Ensconced in a private poolside cabana, you’re brought a steady stream of drinks while beautiful people drift by — and you haven’t a care in the world.
Despite Florida’s housing mess and faltering economy, the Fontainebleau hotel has created a world-outside-the-world feel. Except for the cabana’s flat-screen TV showing 24-hour news, I could easily have been in the hotel’s 1950s heyday, divorced of current cares. I could barely muster enough concern to ponder my next drink order.
That’s lucky for the Fontainebleau, as the owners spent $1 billion renovating the iconic semi-circular structure on 22 acres of Miami Beach, including the construction of two all- suite towers for a total of 1,504 guest rooms. With vacancy rates nationwide the highest in years, that’s a lot of space to fill. {Click to read on Bloomberg News} (more…)
Talk about cattle class. Ryanair is an ultra budget airline out of the UK (did we mention ULTRA?). It’s perfected the a la carte pricing system, meaning that although prices are mad cheap, so is the experience. They’ve gone far beyond just charging to check-in bags. Now the airline is talking about charging a pound to use the toilet. Yes, a coin-operated system to access the bathroom.
To make matters even worse, it is also likely to allow cell phone use onboard — which it will also charge (presumably) customers the ability to access.
So, the cheapest people on earth, who desperately need to pee, but don’t want to spring for it — but who will be complaining loudly to their friends back at home via cellphone about it. Sounds like a GREAT flight.
{Courtesy of the Chateau Marmont}
Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) — The Chateau Marmont is Hollywood’s most notorious hotel, so you could hardly call it a hidden gem. Yet the fanciful 1930s-era mansion is famed for both discretion and privacy, important considerations during paparazzi-mad periods like last week’s run-up to the Oscars.
You arrive at the hotel on a narrow driveway off Sunset Boulevard that leads to a low, hidden garage where a tiny, creaking elevator goes straight up to the main floor. {For more background, see my blog note on the Chateau Marmont.}
Otherwise you can hoof it up a gloomy stairway to the lobby and cramped check-in nook. Grand? Not a bit. Yet that’s part of the allure of the place, where the Hollywood history is as thick as the grime on the baseboards. [To read on Bloomberg News] (more…)
[Left, Liberty Hotel; right, Mandarin Oriental Boston, both courtesy of hotels.]
Dec. 30 (Bloomberg) — Boston can be confusing and cold in winter, and it’s all too easy to become lost on its winding, historic roads. So it’s a fine thing to pull up on busy Boylston Street, where parking spaces are fought over like the World Series, and be happily accommodated by the Mandarin Oriental hotel’s valet. After nine years and some $300 million of development, the 148-room Mandarin opened in October, bringing the Asian-style service the chain is known for.
Service is a tricky thing for a brand-new hotel. It’s often dependent on management’s ability to poach personnel from other properties. My plan is to see if they can pull off Mandarin- worthy service in several months.
On a busy Friday, two hours before the official 3 p.m. check-in time, we leave our bags in the car and ask the front desk to have our luggage brought up to the room and unpacked. We also ask for a pair of dress shoes to be shined before evening. (more…)
