South America’s first W Hotel opens!

by Annie Scott on


The W is in South America, and it’s lookin’ good. This good. Check out that view of Santiago.

The W Santiago is South America’s first W Hotel and the building itself was designed with Chile in mind. NYC designer Tony Chi and native Chilean designer Sergio Echeverria gave the building its rockin’ look — “shaped by Santiago’s vibrant culture,” complete with local copper and themes of wine, fruits and vegetables — which you can see in the gallery below.

“When designing, you have to start with the location and its people, and what I noticed here is that friends and family congregate frequently and in large groups,” says Tony Chi. “Chilean culture is about crossing generations and bridging differences, and as a collective sentiment, it is what ultimately inspired W Santiago.”

The hotel features a 90 foot wide private, gated garden entrance filled with music and 50 foot Chilean trees. If you’re into music, you can also “play” the Drum Wall, located in the hotel living room.

The dining options include Whiskey Blue, Red2 One (rooftop bar by that heated pool there), Peruvian-Asian cuisine at Osaka, two French restaurants by Jean-Paul Bondoux and a Tea Library (aw).

If you really like it, you can even purchase a residence there. If you do, please invite me over. Thanks.
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W Hotels team up with Barneys for Fashion Week

by Annie Scott on

Part of the hooplah of Fashion’s Night Out included the unveiling of some fabulous Fashion Week-themed displays at the W Hotel in Union Square.

This was not only to celebrate Fashion Week, but a collaboration between W Hotels and Barneys stores. Through October, W guests in cities where there are Barneys locations will receive exclusive perks like complimentary bellinis and discounts when they shop at Barneys New York and Barneys Co Op stores.

Simon Doonan, Creative Director of Barneys New York and Eva Ziegler, Global Brand Leader W Hotels Worldwide (pictured together, above) were on hand to provide commentary.

I asked Doonan about why Barneys wanted to team up with W. “Well, this is a very happy collaboration because Barneys and the W Hotels are very compatible in their outlook — because they believe in style, they believe in humor, they believe in a little bit of hedonism,” he replied. “We both like to take that “New York sizzle’ and take it on the road.”

Zielger later added that W wanted to “show the outside world our passion for fashion.”

Check out the festivities below — including celeb appearances and Doonan’s tips for having a great Fashion Week!
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Some hotel futures at risk

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The number of hotels defaulting on their loans surged 125 percent in May and June this year. Travel is down (no shit), which has an obvious effect on the top line. When there’s no money coming in, it’s hard to send cash out to meet some pretty hefty obligations. So, if none comes in, none can go out … and defaults start to rise.

Some high-profile properties have defaulted already, including the Four Seasons and Renaissance Stanford Court Hotel – both in San Francisco – and the W Hotel in San Diego. Nobody’s safe in this market. Outside California, 13 hotel loans adding up to $596 million became delinquent in June alone. Most of the carnage came from Phoenix, Las Vegas and New York City.

Of course, the defaults don’t spell the end for these properties. There is always the chance that the loan terms can be changed or the hotels can be sold. There’s a long way between defaulting loans and closed doors.

The new W Hotel in Washington, DC

by Annie Scott on


Just steps from the White House, behold the new, the glorious, the totally awesome W Hotel in Washington, DC, opening in July. Yes, you can make reservations now.

There are so many jokes I could make about “W in Washington” that I don’t know where to start — I’m just glad they waited until we had a new president so I don’t have to.

So, what’s special about this new hotel? Well. Start with the very first W Hotel in DC. Then add DC’s first Bliss Spa, a three star Michelin chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s J&G Steakhouse. Put it in the old Hotel Washington, and then throw in designer Dianna Wong, who has “reimagined the historic Hotel Washington, infusing bright colors and contemporary design while preserving the building’s Beaux Arts architecture.”

The hotel features 317 rooms, including an “Extreme WOW Suite,” the W’s reinterpretation of the classic “Presidential Suite.”

Wait till you see the terrace. Click through the gallery!
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