CasaSugar

Home Away From Home: The Madonna Inn

CasaSugar — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:30:01 -0800

Looking for a kooky, kitschy hotel experience? Then check out San Luis Obispo's own Madonna Inn. This 51-year-old hotel is an absolutely unique experience for visitors, featuring an overwhelming pink color palette and rooms with themes including "Love Nest," "Caveman," and "Portugal."

If you're in the market for a unique wedding reception venue, the Madonna Inn can handle your reception. Fully equipped with a steak house, day spa, convention center, and bar, the Madonna Inn can supply all of your needs - especially if those needs involve gaping at the Swiss-Alps-meets-Old-West decor. One last piece of advice: don't forget to direct your male friends to the rocks and waterfall urinal if they need to take care of business - it's apparently a tourist must-see.

Take the full tour.

Which Hotel Features These Artists?

CasaSugar — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:00:24 -0700

Yesterday, as part of a subversive campaign to take back advertising locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, the Public Art Campaign had local artists, including Mint and Serf, seen here, paint over ads. Mint and Serf also painted their work in a hotel recently. Can you tell me the name of the hotel?

Would You Want to Stay at the "Hotel of Doom"?

CasaSugar — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:30:34 -0700

Located in North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, the Ryugyong Hotel is also known as The Hotel of Doom and The Phantom Hotel, since construction on the hotel had been abandoned for over 16 years. Recently, however, construction started again, and there are rumors that it may be finished by 2012. This three-sided pyramid was named "The Worst Building in the History of Mankind" by Esquire magazine, but don't let that description stop you. Tell me: if this building was ever finished, and if you ever had reason to travel to North Korea, would you stay in it?

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Found It! Vibrant Orange Bedspread at Seattle's Hotel Max

CasaSugar — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:00:26 -0700

Seattle's Hotel Max is a vibrant boutique hotel that provides luxuriously hip accommodations for travelers. Located in downtown Seattle, the hotel features quirky-cool interiors as well as over 350 original paintings and photographs. Since I'm on an orange kick, I also had to give the hotel props for its beautiful bedspreads and pillows.

Want to know where you can find them for your own home? Then read more.

The bedspreads are the Wallter Premium Wave Wool Bedspread ($580). I'm a big wool-blanket fan, and I love this modern update on the fabric. If you're not wild for orange, they're also available in a neutral camel color. While the coordinating pillow doesn't seem to be available, you can buy a close match, the Wallter Tree PIllow ($120-$160) in the same vibrant orange.

Home Away From Home: Sarah Jessica Parker's Favorite Hotel

CasaSugar — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:00:43 -0700

In a Q&A in the October issue of Metropolitan Home, Sarah Jessica Parker revealed that her favorite hotel is The George V in Paris. And I can't really fault her for the choice. The hotel, an eight-story landmark 1928 building, offers 245 guest rooms, nearly one-quarter of which are suites. The hotel is so overwhelmingly Carrie Bradshaw, and so absolutely decadent, that I wish I could hop a plane (watching Sex and the City DVDs the whole way) and book a room at The George V right now. My first point of business would be to book a massage at the hotel's spa (shown here), and then finish off the treatment with a dip in the whirlpool or a sweat in the sauna. Then, I'd take a walk and enjoy some of the local attractions, since the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame Cathedral, The Eiffel Tower, and other gorgeous spots are a half hour or less away by foot. The hotel itself is only steps away from the Champs-Elysées. With private terraces, a gorgeous courtyard, an impressive collection of objets d'art, and a two-Michelin-star-cuisine restaurant, it's hard to see how you could go wrong with a stay at The George V. For a complete tour, read more.

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Great Decorating Ideas From the Hotel Saint Cecilia

CasaSugar — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:00:15 -0700

Austin's South Congress Hotel Saint Cecilia expertly mixes styles, eras, and patterns in the design of its rooms and public spaces. The uniting factor throughout the space is the hotel's inspiration. The hotel was named in honor of the patron saint of music and poetry, and the Rolling Stones circa early '70s, writer William S. Burroughs, and artist Andy Warhol all serve as muses for the hotel. Comprised of five suites, six poolside bungalows, and three studios, this hotel is a must-visit spot the next time you hit Austin. See my favorite decorating ideas from the Saint Cecilia.
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Are You Taking the Long Road Home This Labor Day?

CasaSugar — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 12:30:41 -0700

Nationally, Labor Day travel is projected to be down 13 percent from last year. Still, the highways and byways of the US will be full of families heading home today. Are you one of the many who will be hitting the road?

Source: Flickr User stevendamron

Home Away From Home: Maison Souvannaphoum Hotel

CasaSugar — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:00:00 -0700

If travel ever takes you to the country of Laos, you'd be well advised to pamper yourself with a night of luxury at the Maison Souvannaphoum Hotel in Luang Prabang. The town of Luang Prabang is a perfect destination for armchair architects, since this UNESCO World Heritage Site beautifully illustrates the fusion of traditional architecture and Lao urban structures.

The Maison Souvannaphoum Hotel was once home to Laotian royalty, and its current decor alternates between bygone colonial era furnishings in some wings of the hotel and more modern furnishings in others. Throughout the hotel, however, guests can expect beautifully furnished and luxuriously appointed quarters. After a day of exploring temples, ruins, or the city's architecture, guests can dine at the hotel's restaurant Elephant Blanc, which offers a variety of French, Laotian, and Indochinese cuisine. Or, choose to relax with a massage, facial, or other spa treatment at the Angsana Spa.

To take a full tour of the hotel, read more.

The hotel has been honored with many awards, including being noted as one of the world’s best new hotels in the Luxury Travel Awards and making the Condé Nast Traveler Hot List.

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Cool Idea: A Water Purification Plant Transforms Into a Boutique Hotel

CasaSugar — Tue, 05 May 2009 05:30:43 -0700

Thanks to the continued swine flu threat, travel to Mexico is unfortunately out of the question at the moment. But as soon as the danger of contracting the virus wanes, I want to book tickets to Puebla, Mexico, to stay at La Purificadora. This boutique hotel, designed by the architecture firm Legorreta + Legorreta, is located within an ex-water purification plant. Working around the existing structure, the hotel is a mixture of austere, modern design and unexpected materials. I love how the use of modern furniture (such as lucite) and architectural features (such as an amazing glass staircase) contrasts beautifully with the original building's timberframe structure and stonework.

For more about this hotel, read more.

The hotel's 26 rooms run for $155–295 midweek, and $205–395 on the weekends, which also includes breakfasts. Other amenities include a bookstore, bar, gym, outdoor rooftop pool, and a gorgeous outdoor fireplace. While the industrial-chic style of the hotel may seem at odds with the colonial style of Puebla's surrounding buildings, the hotel's original facade is intact, meaning that the plaster and stone exterior blends in well with the city's other 5,000-plus colonial buildings.

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Steal of the Day: Sundance Continental Suitcases

CasaSugar — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:00:00 -0800

Perhaps a grand, continent-crossing voyage isn't on the itinerary for you this year, but you can still evoke the look of a frequent flier in your home, for a fraction of the price. The Sundance Continental Suitcases ($32-100) will pack your paperwork, collections, art supplies, or what-have-you with nostalgic, adventurous style. Made of recycled cardboard, I wouldn't trust them for genuine travel, but I would surely use them to store odds and ends, DIY a planter, or stack them to build a side table.