Hotel Girl

I popped out of Travel Weekly towers today to check out the new Park Plaza Westminster Bridge. 

Builders were rushing around frantically to get the hotel ready in time for its soft launch on February 4. All the structural work is done and they're now ready to add the furniture in the public areas.

With 1,021 bedrooms, the hotel is truly vast. Lots of work is being to make sure guests can check in, move around the hotel and check out quickly and easily.

The huge reception desk has nine check in points and there are separate check in-desks for groups and suites/apartments.

Decorated in burnt orange and browns, rooms are more stylish and spacious than your average London business hotel.  Lots of important little details have been attended to, such as a little fridge space next to the mini bar, a power block suitable for overseas plugs and cute rubber ducks by all the baths.

Built on a site previously dubbed the "ugliest building in Britian", the hotel has a great location overlooking Westminster. And there will be plenty of reasons to stay in to eat, with the UK's first Illy Espressamente coffee bar, a sushi bar and a restaurant by Joel Antunes. 

Clients who want a taste of iconic London will love this new landmark property, so it's worth getting on to one of the fam trips being planned for March so you can give them the inside track.

Started planning your city breaks for 2010 yet? No? Well, here's some inspiration..

The new Four Seasons in Beirut opened  this week and the first guests are being welcomed in today.

These lucky people will be staying in one of the 230 rooms or suites with "oversized" terraces, taking a dip in the rooftop glass-enclosed swimming pool and chowing down in the steak and seafood restaurant.

In a few months, the hotel will open Club 26, a sky-high rooftop pool lounge that will offer 360-degree views of the city.

The Lebanon capital is turning into quite a hot destination, with great nightlife and thriving arts culture. With this swanky new hotel, now you have an excuse to visit it.

Fancy a manicure or facial while you're waiting for your next flight? Well this is your place. Virgin Atlantic has revamped its Clublounge at Gatwick.

The lounge, which I checked it out on my way to Barbados last week, has just reopened after a total facelift. It now has a Cowshed Spa and rock garden where upper class passengers can have 15 minute facials, manicures or massages for no extra charge.

If your flight's delayed as mine was, you can kill time playing on the Nintendo Wii, freeing your inner rock star on Guitar Hero, checking your email on the laptops or having brunch in the brasserie.

The new design is sleek and modern with Arne Jacobsen chairs and lots of black, grey and trademark Virgin red. The place has a relaxing 'sunday morning' atmosphere that really helps take the hassle factor out of flying - but watch out, it won't be easy going back to cattle class.

The people behind the lovely Babington House - the home of Cowshed spa - opened a city pad in Soho today.

The Dean Street Townhouse has luxurious four-poster beds, stand-alone bathtubs and all the Cowshed goodies you can smuggle into your suitcase.

Built in a 39-room Georgian townhouse, rooms come in all sizes from 'tiny' to 'bigger'. Tinies start at £95 per night - perfect for a recession-chic mini break.

For us Londoners, it also has an all-day dining room serving British favourites - I've got my eye on the Bramley apple pie.

So now you have an excuse to be lazy cow in central London - as if you needed one.

The United States has agreed to sell its embassy building in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair to Qatari Diar, a real estate investment company.

It hasn't been confirmed, but the group is expected to turn the building into a luxury hotel and apartments.

The building is Grade 2 listed so they will have to keep the facade, which includes the famous 35ft gilded aluminium eagle above the main entrance.

The Times predicts that this quirky look might fit Starwood's W brand or Rezidor's Missoni. The area's already packed with luxury hotels, from Claridges to the Dorchester, so whoever takes this project on will have a lot to live up to..

(pic: The Times)

So what has really changed the hotel sector in the last ten years? If this is a question that keeps you up at night, check out Uberoom.com's 14 most influential game changes of the decade.

Rightly, top of the list is in-room Wifi. Just a few years ago Wifi were just two funny-sounding syllables - now it's one of the first things many of us check when choosing where to rest our weary legs for the night. Since some of the top hotel chains are still charging ridiculous rates for Wifi,  (I'm looking at you Four Seasons) here are some alternative uses for your laptop.

Red Carnation Hotels, one of my favourite luxury hotel groups, is offering exclusive deals on its London properties for its Twitter followers and Facebook fans.

Last weekend's offer was £235 a night, including breakfast, a £25 dining credit and free tickets to Anish Kapoor exhibition at the Royal Academy.

This is a great saving on the usual rates. Although the deal is for an unnamed property, all the hotels are super luxurious so you can't go wrong.

And with a stroke of luck, you could end up in this glass-roofed conservatory master suite at 41 Hotel..

As the Wyndham Grand London in Chelsea Harbour comes to the end of a major facelift, its PR people have released some details about the all-suite hotel's new look.

The penthouse is now home to four luxurious suites. But these aren't just any penthouse suites..

Each one is dedicated to a fashionable area of London, such as King's Road, Savile Row and Kensington. The King's Suite has a full height Union Jack headboard (pictured) and a chair in the form of a red shoe; the Savile Suite has a paisley patterned headboard and the Kensington Suite has a pinstripe theme.

It's a cute idea, but not as daring as Choice's new Distrikt Hotel, where each of its ten floors will represent another NY hood. It's due to open this winter but, in the meantime, you can read more here. 

Thistle has transformed its slightly fusty Bloomsbury hotel into the modern new Kingsley. The group, which is the middle of renovating and rebranding all its UK properties, has pumped £10 million into the hotel.

The chintzy old fashioned rooms now have clean, simple dector, plasma televisions and rain showers.

Thistle has retained some of the hotel's Edwardian features, including a wrought iron staircase and chandeliers, which give it a touch of character. 

One word of warning: the restaurant still seems to be having major teething problems. On my visit service was hopeless and the food tasted like it had been sitting in the fridge since the hotel reopened in May.

Far and away the best thing about the hotel is its location - just a few minutes walk from Covent Garden - making it perfect for a London shopping or theatre break. Just check out some good local resturants before you go.. 

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Jealous, me? Never. My colleagues at Travel Weekly swung by the brand new W while in Barcelona for the ABTA travel convention.

I've never have wanted to sip champagne while admiring the views from the funky hotel bedrooms. Not at all. ..

The W has really made its mark on the Catalan city.  With its sail-shaped glass tower, infinity pool, super spa and chic cabanas, it would fit right in in Dubai or Las Vegas.

It is the first large hotel in Passeig de Joan de Borbó,  a trendy waterfront area with luxury shops, theaters and nightclubs.

Right now, the hotel is doing a special 249 euro opening offer including welcome cocktails, a manicure at the Bliss spa and VIP access to the glamourous rooftop club Eclipse.

Ok, well maybe I'm a tiny bit jealous. Now where's my diary...