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World's Most Expensive Hotel Room to Get Trashed In

You've just won the lottery and you're looking to throw a bash in a hotel, but where to go?  Forbes has just compiled their list of the most expensive hotel room suites in the world.  So once you've gotten done puking in a bathroom bigger than a two-car garage you can expect to pay a whopping $25,000 a night for the Two Story Sky Villa at the Palms Fantasy Suites in Las Vegas.  You can pack 250 people into living room and another 50 on the balcony overlooking the strip.  The other American hotels to make their list was the 2,600-square-foot Presidential Suite and the Mandarin Oriental in New York and the two-bedroom Grand Suite at the Grand Wailea Resort in Hawaii - both of which run $15,000 a night.

related travel topics: luxury vacations in Las Vegas - luxury vacations in New York City - luxury vacations in Big Island Hawaii

Las Vegas Casinos Go Boom

We love watching stuff blow up.  And in the past decade Las Vegas has blown up a bunch of their casinos to make way for bigger and brighter gambling establishments.  Over at Cynical-C you can see 9 different casinos imploding in the name of progress.  Here's a sneak preview of the The Aladdin biting the dust-

(thanks neatorama)

Ho-Jo's is a No-Go

Consumer Reports recently released their results from a survey of over 35,000 participants and Howard Johnson racked up the most complaints of any chain with 55% of respondants reporting some kind of problem during their stay.  According to the survey their beds also suck.  Ritz-Carlton was the highest rated in overall satisfaction followed by Homewood Suites and SpringHill Suites.  Of the budget hotels, Microtel scored highest.  Ironically, the survey found that the cheaper the hotel the more likely they were to offer free amenities like breakfast and internet access (60% of high-end hotels charge for internet access compared to just 10% at budget hotels).  The survey also found that as both business and leisure travel continues to rise, so do prices, with fewer vacancies (and bargains) available. 

(thanks hotel hotsheet)

The Most Luxurios Spots in Las Vegas

Las Vegas is growing at incredible rate, in the last decade the number of people visiting per year has gone up about 25% and the number of hotel rooms will have almost doubled between 1996 and 2010.  Forbes has compiled their list of the best places in Sin City to live in the lap of luxury-

• Best Luxury Hotel - The Venetian - this 4,000+ room behemoth is the most lavish property in town
• Best Hotel Suite - Hugh Hefner Sky Villa at The Palms - it's a 2-story 9,000-square-foot behemoth whose living room can hold 250 people and costs a measly $40,000 a night
• Best Nightclub - Studio 54 at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino - trapeze artists, go-go dancers and four floors of party space
• Best Place for Poker Players - The Poker Room at the Bellagio - 30 tables and world-renowned players
• Best Entertainment - Cirque de Soleil at the Mirage - world famous performers in a theater with 360-degree seating and panoramic video projection
• Best Resort Hotel - Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas - 17 miles off the strip with both mountain and desert views
• Best Restaurant - Rosemary's - this place got more votes than any other in this year's Zagat's
• Best Spa - The Canyon Ranch Spa Club at the Venetian - over 120 services from acupuncture to Ashiatsu

Hotel WiFi Keeps Getting Worse

HotelChatter has recently released their annual report on the state of WiFi in hotels around the country and the consensus is that it's getting worse.  It appears WiFi access, especially free WiFi access, is as inconsistent as ever - sometimes you have it in the lobby but not in your room, sometimes you have to be a part of the hotel's loyalty program to plug in, sometimes you just have to pay 10 bucks a day.  HotelChatter did find a few hotels worth praising though-

• Marriott Residence Inns, SpringHill Suites and Courtyards - fast and free wireless connections in both the lobbies and the rooms and they'll even give you an ethernet cable to borrow
• Andre Balazs Properties - these chic hotels will give you some of the best WiFi around after you get a code from the good people at the front desk
• Jeff Klein Hotels - they have only two locations, LA and NYC, but both offer great fast and free wireless connections
• JDV Hospitality - they operate 25 hotels throughout California that will let you logon without a password or a fee, painless WiFi at its best but sadly available only in the Golden State
• Omni Hotels - it's free in the lobby, free in your room if you become a "Select Guest" and 10 bucks a day otherwise
• Holiday Inn Express - consistently good WiFi year in and year out

Another 38,000+ Hotel Rooms Coming to Las Vegas

Between now and the end of the decade, over 38,000 hotel rooms will be built in Sin City with an estimated value of $30 billion.  Here's a quick rundown on some of the major construction taking place right now in Las Vegas-

• Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino - the transformation of Aladdin Casino and Resort will be completed this year
• The Venetian Palazzo - 3,000+ hotel rooms for a little over a billion and a half dollars (we assume the theme is "Italian")
• Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa - adding 430 hotel rooms this year as well as expanding their spa and opening a 72-lane bowling center
• Palms Place - this $600 million project will open next year with 599 rooms (1 room = $1 million?)
• Trump International Hotel & Towers - Donald's newest creation will debut next year with over 1,250 rooms
• The Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino - this mammoth project costs in the neighborhood of $2 billion and will have roughly 3,000 hotel rooms
• Encore - the second tower of the Wynn Las Vegas will have 2,000 rooms and will cost $1.4 billion when it is completed next year
• CityCenter - an absurdly grandiose project from MGM Mirage, the 18 million-square-foot project will include almost 5,000 hotel rooms, 2,700 luxury residences and cost an estimated $7 billion making it the largest privately funded project in America.  Amazing.
• Echelon Place - this one won't open for another three years but when it does there will be 5,300 new hotel rooms in town
• W Las Vegas Hotel, Casino and Residences - also scheduled for 2010, this project will have a mere 3,000 rooms

(thanks travelmole)

Related posts: Beautiful Early Vegas Photos • The Most Luxurios Spots in Las Vegas • Las Vegas Casinos Go Boom • Bye, Bye Stardust • Recycling Vegas • Top 10 Most Expensive Places for Your Date To Order a Salad • Top 10 Places to Cool Off This Weekend • Top 10 Cities For One Night Stands (and Singles)

Related travel guides: Places to Visit in Las Vegas and the Nevada desert • Casino Gambling in Las Vegas and the Nevada desert

Marriott Goes High-Tech

In an effort to woo more business travelers as well as move into the 21st century, Marriott Hotels and Resorts has started to upgrade their rooms (Warning: Plays music without asking).  They are now becoming "ultra-adaptable," your "room is now fully compatible with the way you work and play.  Just check in, then plug-in and watch as the room adapts to your needs."  It doesn't look like things are quite that modular but their new 32" widescreen LCDs do make life a little easier.  A wall mount allows you to easily plug-in up to four appliances including your digital camera, PSP, iPod and laptop.  This is definitely a move in the right direction that hopefully other hotels will be following in the near future.  Let us know if they throw in free WiFi.

Related posts: World's Most Expensive Hotel Room to Get Trashed In • Jump for Joy at Your Next Hotel • Your Unwelcome Hotel Guests • Most Watched Hotel Movies in 2006 • Hotel Room Tatoos • Hotel Hallways • Going to LA? Book a Hotel Room, Rent a Car, Rent a Dog • Best Geek Hotel • Tropicana Resort is the Dirtiest Hotel in America

The Best Designed Hotels in the US

If you're looking for the best of the best when you travel then you may want to peruse Forbes newest list of the "Sexiest U.S. Hotels."  They asked some of the leading designers from the hospitality industry to come up with a list of hotels that could, "withstand the concept of ‘trendy.’"  Beyond that, these sexy hotels had to "focus attention on the guest. Nothing is sexier than a true, defined and integral sense of self.”  The top dozen "sexy" hotels in America are-

• The Setai in Miami - innovative designs incorporate the bedroom and bathroom
• St. Regis in San Francisco - "light and airy" rooms with amazing views of the city
• Grammercy Park Hotel in New York - each unique room has a different layout
• Chambers Hotel in New York - great location and style makes anyone feel exclusive
• Chambers Hotel in Minneapolis - artists Damien Hirst and Gary Hume grace the walls
• Hotel Hana Maui in Hawaii - beautifully restored cottages in a traditional village
• Inn of the Anasazi in Sante Fe - small but extremely well decorated rooms with all the accoutrements
• Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica - this boutique hotel has a "retro-glamour design"
• Hotel Rouge in Washington D.C. - high design with barstaff in go-go boots
• Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur - an intimate resort with stellar views of the rugged ccoast and redwood forests
• Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles - a throwback to the golden days of Hollywood
• Santa Maria Suites in Key West - a beautiful hotel with a tropical vibe

Best Geek Hotel

HotelChatter has just come out with their definitive list of the geekiest hotels in the world, and of their top 6, three of them are in the US.  Leading the list is the Tribeca Grand whose Room 06 and Room 16 have iStudios decked out with all kinds of Apple goodness.  #2 on the list is Boston's Hotel @ MIT, perks include free wifi, chemistry cartoons in the bathrooms and MIT robots in the lobby.  The Wynn hotel in Las Vegas came in at number 6 on their list because of the hi-def TVs in every room , remote-controlled lighting, and hotel-wide VOIP.  All in all, a pretty lame list.

Hotel Hallways

Some people like to document the pictures left behind generic hotel room art, others like to post photos of guests jumping on beds, and recently we came across someone who is intrigued by the elegant corridors of hotels from around the world.  Every few days a new hallway appears with riveting commentary such as:

"None of this prepares you for the creepiest hallways in hoteldom. The universal reaction is: The Adams Family or the Munsters. They're so wide you could drive an armoured personnel carrier down the middle of them. The ceilings are low. The lighting is dim (as if they'd turned the original gas fixtures into sconces) and the paint color looks as if it was originally way-off white, then subjected to 30 years of nicotine stain."

(thanks growabrain)

Bye, Bye Stardust

In case you didn't hear, the iconic Stardust Hotel and Casino was demolished a few days ago.  Following its construction, the Stardust was the largest casino in Nevada with state's largest swimming pool as well.  The Stardust sign became an easily-recognizable icon for the city of Las Vegas over the years.  For more Stardust related minutiae head over to YesButNoButYes for a great roundup of Stardust related links and photos.

Your Unwelcome Hotel Guests

Ever wondered just how clean your hotel room really was?  It's probably better if you don't think about it.  According to a recent piece on Concierge, it appears that most hotel rooms are a lot grosser than we'd like.  They evaluated three tiers of hotels from five-star to economy accommodation and found that they were all pretty filthy.  E. Coli was found pretty much everywhere including the ice buckets, telephone and alarm clocks.  In the economy rooms it wasn't just E. Coli but fecal matter that was found on the desk chair and the bedroom floor.  Fear not, while this is pretty gross it's not that harmful-

For the sake of comparison, the average hotel room may be cleaner than the average household and less risky to your health than sitting near someone with a cold on a long-haul flight.

At the end of the day, you get what you pay for when it comes to cleanliness and the best thing to do is to try not to think about it too much.  Spend your time enjoying the mini bar instead.   

Tropicana Resort is the Dirtiest Hotel in America

Everyone's favorite hotel review website, TripAdvisor, has just released their Best of awards for 2006 and have also included a category entitled "10 Dirtiest Hotels in the U.S."  Topping off the list is Virginia Beach's very own Tropicana Resort Hotel.  Some of the kudos they've received include: "tropicana stinks," "Hated IT!!!," "Don't stay here," "Resembles Frat House," "VA Beach's most vile place ever!!!!!!!!"  Our personal favorite has to be this one though: "Filthy Dirty / Ants in the beds / Vomit on the sink and toilet" - that pretty much sums it up.  You can check out the rest of their top 10 list here - Florida was the big winner taking 4 of the top 10 spots.

Related posts: World's Most Expensive Hotel Room to Get Trashed In • Las Vegas Casinos Go Boom • Ho-Jo's is a No-Go • Marriott Goes High-Tech • Vote for Your Favorite American Architecture • The Best Designed Hotels in the US • One Week and 50 States - The Ultimate Road Trip

Most Watched Hotel Movies in 2006

The largest provider of on video-on-demand to U.S. hotels, LodgeNet, has released their numbers for the past year and the #1 movie watched in hotel rooms was The Da Vinci Code.

7 Great Travel Tips

CNN Money has put together some great travel tips to help you get where you want to go easier, faster and with more comfort.  Their tips include how to get through security faster at the airport, how to get a hotel room in an overbooked hotel, how to upgrade your room without paying more, how to milk your frequent flyer miles, how to get first class seats for coach prices, how to get an upgrade on your rental car and how to get hooked-up after getting bumped off a flight.

How to Properly Complain

MSNBC has an interesting article about the best way to complain if you have a problem with your hotel. Here is one hotel manager's tips for getting what you want in the most kopasetic manner-

• Pick your battles - keep thing in perspective, there's no need to freak out about the number mandarins in your Asian salad
• Complain immediately - don't drag your feet for a month, if you've got issues complain as soon as something happens instead of waiting until your back home
• Make yourself understood - if you do write a letter make sure it's legible
• Don't hop to the top - if you have a problem with something, address those who are responsible first before going straight to the top
• Keep it within reason - you're not getting your whole stay comp'd for free just because room service was a little late with your order
• Be nice

Pick Your Suite

Do you like to bear near the elevators? Do you like to be at the end of the hall so no one hears your screams? Do you like being near the ground floor in case there's a fire. Do you prefer the top floors for the view? Do you like sleeping facing East so you get those early morning rays? Well, Hilton has decided to let you pick your room online starting next year at their Homewood Suites. This idea is so simple that it's sure to catch on quick with other hoteliers. The website will include pictures and descriptions of every room in the joint.

(thanks tripinform)

Working Out On the Road

Want to know where the best hotel gyms anywhere in the US reside? The Athletic-Minded Traveler (ain't that a mouthful) has compiled a list of the top 11 gyms. The ratings are based on their own survey of over 3,000 hotels. Here's the list-

1. Houstonian (Houston)
2. Park Hyatt at Bellevue (Philadelphia)
3. Four Seasons (San Francisco)
4. Embassy Suites Lakefront (Chicago)
5. Venetian (Las Vegas)
6. Bellevue Club (Bellevue, WA)
7. Inn at Ponte Vedra (Florida)
8. Grand Hotel (Minneapolis)
9. JW Marriott (Orlando)
10. Ritz Carlton Boston Common
11. Le Parker Meridien (New York)

Hotel Room Tatoos

First it was people jumping on beds, then it was hotel pools, now we've dug up a website that shows the secret pictures that may be lurking behind the tacky art in your hotel room. Secret Wall Tatoos has a frighteningly large collection of pictures available - make sure you take a peek behind the frames the next time you're at the HoJo's.

(thanks neatorama)

Rooftop Wetness

After you get tired of looking at people jump on hotel beds you can head over to Hotel Splash where they blog about nothing but hotel pools from around the world. The fabulous rooftop pool pictured above is the Soho House in NYC.

(thanks hotel hotsheet)

Alofty Goals

Aloft doesn't just have a super-slick website, they've also got some real innovations in the areas of eco-friendly and healthy luxury hotels. Parking areas and the "backyard" are specially landscaped to absorb sound and give guests a more natural feeling. Special attention has also been spent to provide guests with more healthy alternative food choices for professionals on the go. They also offer wifi and make it very easy to plug and play with all your peripherals. Expect to see the first aloft hotel from Starwood Hotels and Resorts sometime in the beginning of 2008.

(thanks a luxury travel blog)

Quick! Head for the Hills!

That time of year is slowly creeping up on us again where it's time to pack the bags and head to your next of kin's for some holiday grubbing. If you feel like you can't take another year of hearing about Aunt Sally's bad back maybe you should take a vacation instead - at least, that's what Omni Hotels is proposing with their newest incentive program called "Run from the Relatives." From about a week before Thanksgiving until the week after New Year's you and the one you really love can hide out for 200 clams a night at Omni's in LA, San Diego and a few other spots. If $200 seems steep consider that it includes a $50 AmEx gift certificate and a list of excuses for why you bailed on the fams.

(thanks hotel hotsheet)

Spend the Rest of Your Days being a Mystery Guest

Screw being a mystery shopper.  Why not be a mystery guest instead at some of the best hotels in America. Small Luxury Hotels of the World is looking for their very own inspectors.  If you're anal and know what a proper luxury hotel should be like, you could be for them.  If you're hired you'll "spend one or two nights at an SLH property, where [you] will be responsible for thoroughly reviewing every aspect of the hotel - from service levels to the standard of the furnishings to the quality of the food and beverage." The application form is relatively generic and asks about what hotels you've stayed in in the last year, what your luxury hotel expereince would be, and requests that you give them a sample review. Some of the hotels you could be staying at include the discreetly hidden and exclusive Lodge at Moloka'i Ranch, the epicurean mecca of Hotel Providence, or the state-of-the-art spa at Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain. More information can be found at Small Luxury Hotels.

(thanks hotelhotsheet)

Plane Paranoia Persists

We reported yesterday that all the inconvenient security measures at airports were at least making boarding times five or ten minutes faster, but the New York Times today follows up with a story in the toll that extra checked baggage is having on travelers and the airlines. Business travelers who normally never check anything find themselves wasting up to an hour checking and claiming their bags at airports. the NYT suggest a few solutions to checking your bags.  Virtual Bellhop and Luggage Forward will ship your bags to you, however, at 200 clams for an overnight delivery from NYC to LA it hardly seems worth it. Another (better) option is a new service from Bags, Inc. (a.k.a. Baggage Airlines Guest Services - curiously, they have no website) which allows you to check your bags and get printed boarding tickets at your hotel for a 10-spot.  They currently operate out of Orlando but should be spreading like a plague to other big cities in the near future.

related travel guides: central florida

To Tip or Not to Tip

You know how it is these days, you check into a luxury hotel or resort and there's a whole laundry list of folks whose job it is to serve you and every one of your whims.  Oh sure, they massage you, set your bath, get that fire in the fireplace blazing, schlep your bags, etc. but there's so many of them that it's hard to keep straight how much tip you should be giving.  Luckily, Forbes, has got the dope on how much to shell out when you're being pampered - they took a survey of hotel industry consultants and service people and came up with an idea of how much it should cost you to say "thank you." Here's a brief rundown-

• chambermaids - a minimum of $3, daily
• bath butler - varies (real helpful, right?)
• doorman - two bucks an errand, a dollar a bag
• hotel concierge - $5-10 a service or $50-200 at the end of your stay
• front desk staff - $2 an errand
• limo driver - 15% of the bill
• personal shopper - 10% of your purchases
• pool attendant - between $5-20 per tanning application (depends on how cute they are)
• room service - 15-20% of the bill
• ski valet - $2-5 per person, per day
• spa technician - 18% of your bill is standard
• computer technician - not necessary but nice to tip
• valet parking - a few bucks
• bellman - $1-2 per bag

Basically, if you can afford to be staying in a place that provides you with a personal shopper, you should be tipping generously.  The basic rule: share the wealth with those who serve you and you will be rewarded in kind.

(thanks a luxury travel blog)

Jump for Joy at Your Next Hotel

What's the point of staying in a hotel if you're not going to jump on the bed, right? Like-minded folk are putting their pictures and videos on Hotel Bed Jumping HQ. They don't have a rating system as of yet but you can read reviews of the beds in question and submit your own. Who wouldn't jump at the chance?

(thanks Upgrade)

Cultural Overload in San Francisco

As if there wasn't enough culture in San Francisco already, the Hotel des Arts will let you soak it in while you sleep.  This French Quarter, boutique hotel features the work of local artists. Standard Queen, Deluxe Queen, and Suites are available by phone reservation only and "designed and painted by emerging artists from around the world. Some Painted Rooms are imaginative installations and some are edgy graffiti inspired works of art. They are available in all three of the room types listed," above.