Hotel News We Noted: June 15, 2012

We’re almost officially into summer, friends, and it’s time for this week’s “it’s almost summer” edition of “Hotel News We Noted.” As always, feel free to email us tips and thoughts for next week’s edition.

Luxury Hotels: Four Seasons & Trump
If you’re a Trump hotels fan, you’re in luck. The brand has closed a deal on the Doral Resort & Spa in Florida and planned a $200 million renovation of the property. Four Seasons has also assumed management of a luxury favorite, New Mexico‘s former Auberge property, Encantado. They will rename the property Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado Santa Fe.

Awesome Amenity: Art Concierge
We’ve seen watch butlers, pet sitters and soap concierges, but now Rosewood San Miguel de Allende is taking personalization a step further with their new Art Concierge, who helps guests engage with the local public and community by facilitating interactive arts education and language classes. We’d ordinarily find this a strange service, but the San Miguel de Allende area has long been known as one of Mexico’s premier artist communities.

Hotel Package: Fourth of July in the Nation’s Capital
We may be biased because of our “Washingtonian” status, but we can’t help but think that the Nation’s Capital is a pretty great place to spend the Fourth of July. Starting Thursday (June 21) book rates at DC, Maryland and Virginia Kimpton hotels for $109 to $159 per night, a savings of more than 20 percent off. These boutique chic properties are the perfect home base from which to explore the museums, monuments and more. We’d highly suggest coming for July 4 and catching the famous fireworks show on the National Mall. Book here (the page goes live on Thursday) with code: BOOM. This exclusive sale is only 72-hours long, so book fast.

Hotel Visits: NYC’s 6 Columbus and The Standard East Village
We spent a quick weekend in New York City where we checked in and checked out of two boutique hotels in different areas of the city – 6 Columbus, a Thompson property, as well as The Standard East Village, formerly the Cooper Square Hotel. We loved the boutique vibe of both hotels – spare and minimalist but with luxe touches – Frette linens (both), designer bath amenities (Red Flower for The Standard, Kiehls for 6 Columbus) and piles of hard-to-find design and shelter magazines (both) for our in-room reading pleasure. Worth noting at 6 Columbus: in addition to chic restaurant Blue Ribbon Sushi, which was hopping even at nearly one in the morning, we loved the FourSquare special, which waived the $15 Wi-Fi fee for those who “checked in.” We were particularly interested in the new Standard, which is slowly renovating its public spaces and rooms from the old Cooper Square property. They’re not quite there yet – a room mishap at check-in took more than an hour to rectify (and required a few firm phone calls) – but fans of the Meatpacking property will be pleased to know that this hotel also offers floor-to-ceiling windows. We’re not sure if this was intentional, given the other location’s infamy for peep show like performances from guests, but we can say that we’re looking forward to seeing more changes down the road throughout the year.