After years of slashing rates and cutting extras, hotels are finally getting their groove – and their amenities – back.
And we’re talking about way more than a free breakfast.
At hotels these days, it’s all about the wow factor – and that ranges from designer pajamas by lingerie designer Arielle Shapiro in the VIP suites the W South Beach Hotel, all the way up to the 24-carat gold iPads at Dubai’s Burj Al Arab.
The hotel claims to be the first in the world to offer the iPads to guests. No, the iPad is not yours to keep.
And there’s a world of cool amenities that fall somewhere between free PJs and 24-carat gold iPads.
At The Kitano Hotel in Manhattan, they’re very proud of their new toilets. Their toilets?
Yes, said General Manager Clement Carey. “At The Kitano Hotel, we have 149 guest rooms, each one equipped with a Toto toilet. It’s a combination bidet and toilet,” he said. “They cost $1500. It’s quite an amenity.”
There’s a wash feature (you choose pulsating or not) and a blow-dry feature. “It’s a warm wind of air that dries you off,” Carey said. The Kitano is the only New York City hotel to offer the Toto toilets in every room, a feature desired by the hotel’s large Japanese clientele. Totos are popular in Japan, but only now starting to catch on in the U.S.
If fancy toilets aren’t your thing, head uptown to the Surrey Hotel on the Upper East Side where the in-room mixology program sends a bartender to your room to mix drinks to your liking. And it won’t cost you a penny more than the bottle you buy.
“The mixologist will come to your room and create a drink for you based on the flavors you like,” said Patrick Chiappetta, director of operations. “The bartender will make the first four or five for you, teach you how to do it and if you want to have them come back they will or you can make them on your own”…
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