Hotel Girl

Fairmont hotels and resorts has been found guilty of unfair dismissal of General Manager Judy Adams after she refused to sack two long term employees and sign off on a budget she felt was unrealistic.

The hotel group had pressurised her to sign the inflated budget to improve chances for sale of the property in Richmond, Canada.

Read the full story here

And here's another list of top hotels in the world - this time by Daily Telegraph's Ultratravel magazine.

Been to two out of the five so quite impressed with myself - had a wicked cocktail at Raffles in Singapore many moons ago with my sister - Singapore Sling of course.

BUT I genuinely don't know what Burj al Arab is doing on the list. When i went there the wine service was terrible and they ran over my glasses with one of their golf carts. Oh and i thought the inside fountain looked a bit like Disneyworld... Am I wrong?

Anyhoo, very willing to accept any freebie press trips to the three I haven't sampled yet.

Depressing news from a study by Sheraton today - 88% of working professionals take their Blackberry to bed with them.

Worse than this, two thirds (64%) couldn't resist checking them just before they go to bed and then as soon as they wake up.

Astonishingly, only slightly fewer (62%) sneak a peak during the middle of the night.

But it's not making us happier, the study by Sheraton hotels and resorts also found that 71% of UK professionals surveyed now feel compelled to be connected to work 24/7 resulting in 64% feeling they now work harder than they did five years ago.

                                                                     It seems not everyone is mourning the loss of the King of Pop Michael Jackson, who died of a heart attack/pain killer overdose last Thursday.

Whilst most people have mixed feelings about the tragic news, it seems hoteliers around Jackson's Neverland Valley Ranch in Santa Barbara County, California are reaping the rewards.

Hotels close the estate in Los Olivos are now fully booked, despite the fact that Jackson's family has denied reports that a memorial service will be held there on Saturday.

The Fess Parker Wine Country Inn in Los Olivos, which is located less than a mile from Neverland Ranch, told reporters that once news hit that Jackson's body might be coming to Neverland they sold out in just 20 minutes.

Police had said the Jackson family were planning a public viewing on Saturday, leading thousands of fans to set up camp outside the isolated property 240km north of Los Angeles.

Every cloud...

Living proof you don't have to be a diva to have celebrity-style demands, another cracking list has been compiled of nutty requests from demanding guests and not a s'leb in sight.

Bizarre demands include a arrranging a candlelit dinner in a cave, a craving for a New York cheescake - from New York - while in Portugal, building a replica coffee shop for a proposal and to top it all off a golf course designed on a glacier.

It does make you wonder...

 The suite where Dannii Minogue broke the happy (or sad) news to teary X Factor contestants on Saturday night looked strangely familiar.

No, I wasn't belting out an audition of my own - I visited the Atlantis on a fam trip to Dubai in May.

The Bridge Suite is stunning. It connects the hotel's two towers, which means it has amazing views over the whole resort and the ocean.

The 10 lavishly decorated rooms are fit for even the most stroppy superstar, with a marble bath, golf-leaf 16 seater table, and personal butler service.

At $25,000 a night, the Bridge Suite is one of the most expensive hotel rooms in the world. It will be interesting to see if any of the contestants can ever afford to go back there. Hotel Girl doesn't usually comment on reality TV, but my money's on Danyl.

(above, the corridor where Dermot consoled or congratulated; right, the view from the Bridge Suite)  

.