Langham Hotels to open doors at Chicago’s IBM building

by Melanie Nayer on

One of Chicago’s most iconic buildings is about to get a new tenant.

Oxford Capital Group LLC and Langham Hotels and Resorts said they will develop a luxury hotel in the IBM building in downtown Chicago, directly across the street from the luxury hotel Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago.

The new hotel, to be called Langham Chicago Hotel, is expected to open in 2012 and will occupy floors 2 through 13. There will be around 330 guestrooms and suites ranging from 525 square feet to more than 2,000. Guestrooms will have floor-to-ceiling windows providing views of the Chicago River, Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline. The Langham Chicago Hotel will also host a 5,000 square-foot ballroom, a 9,000 square-foot restaurant, wine room, indoor pool and fitness center.

To date the Langham is a well-established brand overseas with properties in Asia and Europe, but only two hotels in the United States (Boston and Pasadena). The addition of the new Chicago hotel marks Langham’s efforts to increase their luxury brand to U.S. travelers.

[via Chicago Sun-Times]

Bellagio hotel cancels $25,000 casino chip

by Melanie Nayer on

In a move that might even make Danny Ocean rethink his plans, the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas just announced it would cancel its $25,000 casino chips in an effort to thwart thieves who hit the casino a few weeks ago.

Associated Press reports the luxury Las Vegas casino and hotel is canceling the high-roller chip to send a message to thieves: the chips are worthless if they aren’t redeemed by April 22. Apparently, a man in a jumpsuit stole $1.5 million in chips from the casino and made off on his motorcycle two weeks ago. AP reports the majority of the stolen money was in the form of $25,000 chips.

The hotel also advises guests who might have $25,000 chips lying around to cash them in now, before the chips are out of commission.

We’re just wondering: If you had a $25,000 chip from the Bellagio, would you have it just lying around in your coin jar?

Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong closes out 2010 with ‘quirky’ stats from spa, restaurants

by Melanie Nayer on

There’s more to hotels than guest rooms and bars. The people behind the scenes – from the food and beverage staff to the spa therapists and general management – work to make your stay special. But did you ever stop to wonder just what they do when they’re planning their daily guest check-ins?

I checked in with my friends at the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, to see how their year shaped up and was surprised to find some pretty interesting statistics. It just goes to show you… a hotel stay is more than room service and a helpful concierge (although they certainly add to the ambiance). It’s the little things that happen around you that really make a difference.

Did you know that since January, the Pastry Kitchen at Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, has consumed around 212,000 pounds of flour and around 43,000 pounds of butter to make their pastry creations? Did you know that the restaurant has sold over 14,000 portions of its signature dish, Hainan Chicken Rice and produced more than 55,000 pieces of Dim Sum items?

Here’s a look at some of the quirky things have happened behind the scenes at one of Hong Kong’s favorite hotels:

  • Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong has produced over 60,000 freshly baked scones for their legendary afternoon teas.
  • Since January, The Mandarin Cake Shop has produced over 10,000 jars of their Rose Petal Jam.
  • Since January, The Mandarin Cake Shop has produced over 7,500 signature American Cheesecakes for all cake-lovers.
  • Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong’s Pastry team has baked over 9,000 Almond Croissants in 2010.
  • The Mandarin Barber has conducted 14,076 haircuts this year.
  • The Mandarin Spa has performed over 12,000 massages during 2010 and used over 84 cups of massage oil this year.
  • The Mandarin Spa and Salon has manicured over 4,500 pairs of hands since January 2010
  • Guests in the hotel’s Clipper Lounge have consumed around 455,000 pieces of Oyster in 2010.

Next time you walk into a hotel think about the amount of work that goes into each guest throughout the year. You never know… you might the first one to experience a new spa service or a signature dish, or you might be the guest that helps create a hotel’s new dessert menu item!

Five perks at Tokyo’s business hotel for the dead

by Tom Johansmeyer on

There’s a hot new hotel in Tokyo, and everyone’s dying to get in. You have to meet specific criteria to stay at this place … and if you can ask for a reservation, you won’t get one. Simply put, the living aren’t welcome. LISS Center Shin-Kiba calls itself a “business hotel for the dead,” a spot where corpses can wait until funerals are arranged.

So, what makes this hotel so special?

1. Obviously, it’s only for bodies, not the sentient. So, it’s awfully quet.

2. It’s a pretty exclusive spot, too – only 37 “guests” can be accommodated.

3. Bar codes keep everything in order … no need to worry about wandering into the wrong room!

4. You can pay by the hour … well, by the 12-hour block: rates start at 3,675 yen for half a day. For a funeral room, you’ll drop 2,100 yen an hour.

5. You get elbow room while planning to get rid of the body for good. Says Nokai Matsushima of LISS Sytem, “We want the families to have time to think, so they can decide on a satisfactory ceremony while their deceased relatives have a place to rest (temporarily) at our ‘business hotel.'”

[photo by pakrus via Flickr]

Snow and ice strand travelers in their Smoky Mountain cabins

by Kraig Becker on

Dozens of travelers to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee were left stranded in their rental cabins earlier this week thanks to snow and ice covered roads. Most had a minimal supply of food and were unsure when they could resupply thanks to the treacherous conditions.

Winter storms dumped several inches of snow on the region, but it was the ice that posed the real danger. The narrow and winding mountain roads became impassable thanks to a thick coat of ice which caused many vehicles to slide off the pavement and become stuck in ditches. Without ice chains on their tires, most vehicles were useless on the slick surface, which meant that visitors to the Majestic Mountain Lodges near Gatlinburg were forced to stay in their cabins and wait for assistance.

Some couldn’t wait however. Running low on food, many of people set out on foot for the nearby town, pulling sleds behind them as they went. Once they made the walk into Gatlinburg, they would purchase their needed supplies and then hike back up the mountain to their cabin. That round-trip trek would take several hours to complete.

Slowly the conditions have begun to improve over the past few days, but even salt trucks and plows have had problems getting up the steep mountain roads. For now, most of the visitors have had to stay in their cabins and wait for the ice to clear.

Would this kind of ice storm be a fun winter adventure or leave you with severe cabin fever? It seems that if you were well stocked on food and supplies, it would be fine just relaxing by the fire. But if you were running low on those things, it wouldn’t be much fun at all. I’d hate to be the guy that drew the short straw to make the beer run.