Think 725 bucks a night is too steep for staying at Robert De Niro's Greenwich Hotel? Good news: The place has lowered the rate to a paltry $550 per night, reports Hotel Chatter. We'll assume the snacks are still free.
Those headed out to the Hamptons this summer have a gorgeous new place to stay: the Surf Lodge, a 32-room hotel from the people behind the nightclub Cain. Opening its doors for the holiday weekend, the hotel, located smack in the middle of New York's favorite Beemer-congested vacation destination, offers property-wide Wi-Fi and houses a restaurant to be helmed by Top Chef runner-up Sam Mason. Best of all? It beats crashing with your banker friends over in Guest Hampton.
183 Edgemere St., no phone, Montauk, NY, surflodgemontauk.com
France is hardly known for its bonhomie. Foie gras, the guillotine, and doe-eyed nymphets, yes, but not for giving visitors the red-carpet treatment. And it was the carpet—a ratty navy and purple one—that reminded me of that Gallic offhandedness last time I passed through Newark. I was booked on L'Avion, the lavender-heavy all-business-class French airline that operates a shuttle service from NYC to Paris. (It rents planes from Lufthansa, hence the occasional untranslated Achtung sign onboard.) The problems, of course, started at check-in.
It's getting harder and harder to make a splash in luxury-crammed Dubai, but we bet Donatella Versace can do it. Italy's blondest couturier unveiled plans yesterday for the Palazzo Versace Dubai, a 1.4-million-square-foot hotel and residence to be outfitted exclusively with the Versace Home line. Amenities include a Versace boutique, male and female hair salons, and—you guessed it—a "scuba lagoon with a simulated tropical marine environment." Given the rumored sale of Versace's Lake Como estate to an unnamed Russian multimillionaire, is Donatella crafting herself a new lair? Hard to say, but safe to assume she won't be bunking in the just-announced Dubai tower designed by Christian Lacroix.
Departing today: The Great Brazil Express, a new luxury train touring some of South America's most beautiful terrain. Its inaugural seven-day trip starts in Curitiba, southern Brazil's largest city, and wends its way west to Iguazu Falls, a sight at which Eleanor Roosevelt apocryphally exclaimed, "Poor Niagara! This makes it look like a kitchen faucet." Whether or not you're as impressed by running water (a lot of it, admittedly), you'll find an equal amount of appeal in the train's plush decor and accommodations. Trips start at about $3,500, and they only book 22 passengers per tour. Check out the trailer below—yep, even train trips have trailers now—and try to get past the narrator, who sounds exactly like Troy McClure.
The lads across the pond have just launched a new set of online videos on travel. Best of all, it doesn't star a lad at all: The host is the fetching Camilla McPhie, who guides you through Santiago, Chile. (And, yes, she includes the obligatory "tasting weird foreign food" scene.) Unfortunately, you can't embed the file, but you can watch it by clicking here.
Of the dozen new properties set to open in the city before this summer's Olympic Games, the first might also be the best. It's certainly the hippest: Opening today next to the Imperial Palace, the Emperor Hotel has an angular, Day-Glo aesthetic, courtesy of LA- and Berlin-based Graft Lab—the same design firm behind both Berlin's stylish Hotel Q and those pink tents for Brad Pitt's New Orleans Pink Project. They've outfitted the new joint with a glass-walled rice wine cellar at restaurant Shi, and a sleek rooftop bar, Yin. (Also on the roof: a Jacuzzi. They must be hoping the city's notorious smog will die down a bit.) And if you're going before the games, be sure to check out the photos from German artist Sascha Kramer, whose work will be on display throughout the building until the end of June.
The Emperor Hotel, rooms from about $175, 33 Qihelou St., Dongcheng District, Beijing, 011 +86 10 6526 5566, designhotels.com
Boston's Colonnade Hotel is now offering guests a 20 percent discount on days when the market is down. Dubbed the Bull and Bears package, it's the latest example of a nascent trend: travel deals for struggling Americans. (Hey, no complaints here.) Still, the markdown is no reason to cheer for the economy's downfall—you get a 10 percent discount when stocks are up.
[Luxist]
