Can I have an extra pillow? I mean prostitute, of course

by Iva Skoch on

I learned something new today. Apparently, the coded way for a hotel guest to ask for a prostitute is “Can I have another pillow?” At least that is what Matt Rudd says in his very funny Times article about his life as a concierge in a 5-star hotel in London. It is well worth reading, even if one pillow is typically your speed. The whims of some luxury hotel guests are entertaining, to say the least.

Just in case you were wondering, the concierge is not supposed to arrange anything illegal, be it drugs or “extra pillows.” Miraculously, call girls apparently do make it into hotel bars and staff discovers indecent behavior in the bathrooms quite regularly. At that point, a staff member can suggest the couple might want a room next time. That, of course, is perfectly legal.

Welcome to “robot” restaurant, Germany

by Iva Skoch on

What do you get when you combine fine German engineering with the restaurant business? That’s right, you get a fully automated restaurant, or a food-serving roller coaster, as some like to call it.

Yes, folks, that’s Baggers restaurant in Nuremberg for you. You don’t need waiters to order food because customers use touch-screen TVs to browse the menu and choose their meal.

There are long metal tracks criss-crossing the dining area and run from the kitchen, high up in the roof, down to the tables, twisting and turning as they go, BBC reports. And down the tracks – in little pots with wheels fixed to the bottom – speeds food. “Supersonic sausages, high-pace pancakes and wine bottles whizzing down to the customers’ tables with the help of good old gravity.”

As far as I can tell, you still have to chew your meal, but give Germany a few more years and they might come up with a robot to do that for you, too.

Discount for “poor” Americans at Venice bar

by Anna Brones on

The dollar might be low, but if you make your way to Venice you can count on a discount from Harry’s Bar, the renowned Venetian watering hole said to be the birthplace of the Bellini and Carpaccio, and where Ernest Hemingway himself downed martinis. Offering a discount to “poor” Americans who are suffering from the weak dollar is representative of a growing concern across Europe that a decrease in US tourists will have an effect on the tourism industry.

At the entrance of Harry’s Bar you now find a sign that says, “Harry’s Bar of Venice, in an effort to make the American victims of subprime loans happier, has decided to give them a special 20 percent discount on all items of the menu during the short term of their recovery.”

How bad is the current state of the US dollar? When the euro was first introduced in 2002, one US dollar was worth 1.10 euro. Today the same dollar gets about .64 euro, which makes the price of even a simple meal of nutella and a baguette expensive.

“Since the start of January, we noticed a drop in (American) customers of between five and 10 percent and now that we are in April its looks really frightening,” said Arrigo Cipriani, owner of Harry’s Bar. Then again, what better solution to economic frustration than a refreshing Bellini?

Rat causes a 3-hour power outage in Stockholm

by Iva Skoch on

The year of the Rat has been going well so far. Rats have been getting more attention than ever. At least on Gadling. At least by me.

It warmed my heart to see that yet another rat got into the spotlight lately. On Saturday morning, a giant rat had apparently sneaked into a signal box in the Sheraton Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden and caused it to short-circuit. The rat was electrocuted and Stockholm’s central train station, as well as nearby hotels and shops, lost power for three hours.

I am sure Sheraton is thrilled about the rat publicity.

Photo: limonada, Flickr

Conflict bubbles over Swiss “Champagne”

by Jeremy Kressmann on

The French are a particularly jealous bunch when it comes to the sparkling wine better known as Champagne. As Anna pointed out in this earlier post, European trade laws mandate that only sparkling wine from the French region of the same name can truthfully be labeled as “Champagne.” The French government has taken numerous steps to preserve their ownership of this name, going so far as to restrict the number of French vineyards that can operate within the Champagne region and filing numerous lawsuits against other wines that try to use it.

But lately, French efforts to restrict the Champagne brand name seem to be getting out of hand. As this article reports, the small Swiss town of Champagne, first named in the year 885, is fighting the French government to continue using the city’s name on its local wine. Apparently the city used to sell as many as 110,000 bottles of local wine using the town’s name, a quantity that fell to only 32,000 bottles last year when the Champagne name was removed from the label. That’s quite a difference.

While the whole naming controversy does seem a bit silly, I can understand the rationale. The French have cultivated a world famous brand and have profited handsomely from its popularity. The same is true of any other famous foodstuff, be it vodka from Russia, steaks from Argentina or oranges from Florida. But just how much of the popularity of a famous food brand is hype and how much is substance? Some will argue that nothing beats the “real thing,” but ultimately I think it’s a question that can only be answered by our stomachs. Some might scoff, but maybe a Swiss Champagne is equally as good as a French one? France, it’s time to grab a glass of bubbly and chill out.