Lights, camera, action: The Golden Globes take place Sunday in The Beverly Hilton's International Ballroom.
Roll out the red carpet: The 70th annual Golden Globes is kicking off this years’ awards season with a bang this Sunday, January 13th, at one of Oyster’s favorite hotels. The Beverly Hilton has played host to Hollywood’s favorite awards night since 1961 — and with good reason. This 569-room bastion of Hollywood glamour oozes luxury, but at prices that won’t bust the budgets of fans looking to sneak a peak at their favorite nominees (if they can snag a room, of course). And this year’s crop of acclaimed actors and actresses is seriously stalker-worthy. Helen Mirren, Ben Affleck, Meryl Streep (obviously — the woman is still the leader in number of Golden Globes ever won), Steve Buscemi, and Zoey Deshanel are just a handful of the lucky few to garner praise from the Hollywood Foreign Press this time around. And the show’s new hosts, Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, seem ready to lead all of them through a night of celeb-studded hilarity — something tells us even the Dowager Countess won’t be able to suppress a smile at their antics.
And, thanks to Oyster, you might be able to get in on the laughs as well. Whether you’re looking to crash a pre-party awards campaign à la Weinstein & Co. or are dreaming about after-party shenanigans, we’ve got the low down on the best Beverly Hills hotels to rub shoulders with the stars. Check out the details here »
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Tagged as:
Beverly Hills,
Celebrity Travel,
Golden Globes,
Los Angeles,
Movies and Travel
by Jane on January 3, 2013
Alas, 2012 has come and gone, and we can’t help but get a little nostalgic. After all, it was a great year — especially in the hotel industry. Tons of gorgeous new resorts, such as the St. Regis Bal Harbour, opened their doors, Kanye West declared Kim Kardashian his baby momma at Revel (coming soon to Oyster.com!) in Atlantic City, and hotel chains such as Marriott continued to work towards setting the bar for green initiatives. But what really rocked our world this year were the numerous (and we mean numerous) celebrity scandals that went down behind closed hotel doors. Of course LiLo makes the list (and could several times), but even the likes of cherubic Justin Bieber was kicked out of his hotel (although reportedly by no fault of his own) in 2012. So here’s a look back at the biggest celebrity hotel scandals of 2012 — and here’s to many more in 2013!
Pool at the Dream Downtown
Oh LiLo, when will she ever learn? The former child star had several run-ins with hotels this year (including partying too hard at The Standard and attempting to run out on her bill at the Chateau Marmont), but most notably may be the one in which she was arrested for a hit-and-run which took place just outside of the Dream Downtown back in September. After the actress [Ed. note: If you count her performance in Liz & Dick as acting] spent the night partying it up at the hotel’s exclusive nightclub, she hopped into her Porsche to call it a night. And we guess she was really ready to get home, because despite reportedly hitting a restaurant employee (who sustained a knee injury), she continued to speed away. NYPD later arrested Lohan on charges of causing an injury and leaving the scene of an accident.
Tagged as:
Las Vegas,
London,
Los Angeles,
Luxury Hotels,
New York City
by Jane on December 27, 2012
The beach is peaceful and has tons of on-site watersports.
The 21-room GoldenEye is hands down Jamaica’s hippest and most luxurious resort. It’s also one of the island’s most historic, as the former home of Ian Fleming, and the hideaway at which the author scribed all 14 of his James Bond novels. Today, the property, which reopened in 2010 after an extensive $50 million renovation, includes stunning cottages and villas overlooking a private beach and lagoon, as well as two happening restaurants, two pools, a tree house spa, and an extensive roster of on-site activities. The rates might cause some to flinch, but those who can afford it will find little cause for complaint. See more incredible photos after the jump or read our full review now »
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Tagged as:
In the Spotlight,
Jamaica,
Luxury Hotels,
Romantic Hotels
by Devon on December 26, 2012
Whether our favorite tweeters are giving us drunken live updates from their planes, or just making us super jealous from their private island vacations in the Caribbean, we can’t get enough of their 140 character e-postcards. And 2012 saw its share of great travel tweets from all types of tweeters. Check out some of our favorites below!
1. Jenny Johnson on every flyers worst nightmare
Comedy writer Jenny Johnson always knows how to make us laugh with her sharp observational humor and sarcastic wit, so we love when she takes a crack at her fellow passengers. In this case, it’s that guy we all know who just doesn’t know when to check his over-sized carry-on (although we can’t blame him for trying). Read More »
Tagged as:
Celebrity Travel
by Kelsey on December 20, 2012
The way we travel is always changing, and 2012 provided ample proof of that. To help you prep for your 2013 vacay, Oyster honed in on the top trends currently rocking the travel world, from the royal travel craze to the rise of the pod hotel. Here’s what’s hot — and what’s not!
The Trend: Celeb Hotel Designers
Lenny Kravitz, who designed two penthouses at the new SLS South Beach, was only one of many of this year's celeb hotel designers.
Celebrities and fashion icons — Kelly Wearstler, Oscar de La Renta, and Ralph Lauren, to name a few — have been designing hotel interiors for a while, but 2012 proved this trend certainly isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. This year we’ve seen tennis star Venus Williams design two presidential suites for the Intercontinental Miami, Diane Von Furstenburg design a two-bedroom penthouse for the Australian Hayman Island Resort, and Lenny Kravitz contribute to yet another Miami hotel design project — the SLS Hotel South Beach, coming soon to Oyster.com!
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Tagged as:
Dominican Republic,
London,
Miami,
New York City
by Kelsey on November 27, 2012
Hotels and drugs have often gone hand in hand over the years. Whether it’s a drug-crazed freakout à la Charlie Sheen, a tragic celebrity overdose, or a massive drug bust, plenty of drug-related events have taken place under the roofs of some of the country’s finest hotels. In light of the NYPD’s $5 million coke bust at The Crowne Plaza Times Square announced yesterday, we decided to round up the most shocking hotel drug scandals of all time.
Drug dealers wheeled over 100 pounds of cocaine out of The Cronwe Plaza in rolling suitcases before getting busted.
Many drug dealers fly under the radar by staying in sketchy motor inns, but some prefer to splurge for something nicer (after all, dealing can be quite the lucrative “profession” so we hear). The upper-middle-range Crowne Plaza is a premier pick in Times Square — and yesterday, the NYPD announced that it was recently the site of a $5 million coke bust. The traffickers attempted to pass as tourists, wheeling the 100-plus pounds of cocaine out of the hotel in rolling suitcases before getting arrested.
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Tagged as:
Las Vegas,
Los Angeles,
New York City
We’ve all heard celebrities complain about how difficult it is to be famous — and we understand that sometimes you just want to grab a coffee without having a dozen paps photographing your every move. Still, when sponsors regularly put you up in $7,000-a-night Presidential Suites that we can only dream about, please excuse us if we’re not feeling all that sorry for you. But to be fair, we here at Oyster are just as guilty as the next person of loving all that’s glitter and glamour, so we’ve been checking out where some of the top celebrities have stayed. Keep reading and discover the stars’ not-too-shabby digs!
The Celebrity: Kim Kardashian
For $8,000 you can also stay in this bi-level presidential suite.
The Gansevoort’s Presidential Suite was Kim’s pick during her stop in New York to film a season of Kim and Kourtney Take New York. The 2,700-square-foot, bi-level penthouse has an expansive terrace with city views; a dining area with a wet bar; a living room with a foosball table and a fireplace; a lofted bedroom featuring a plush king bed and a top-notch sound system; floor-to-ceiling windows, and two bathrooms, one of which has its own steam shower and whirlpool. The hotel also features a chic outdoor pool, a myriad of popular late-night spots, and a renowned Italian restaurant.
Tagged as:
Chicago,
Hawaii,
London,
Los Angeles,
New York,
Oahu,
Orange County
by Jane on November 6, 2012
We met the guys of Delta Spirit at Austin City Limits just a few weeks ago and were instantly hooked on the band’s modern take on rock music. Currently on tour (catch them in San Diego tonight), the band spends plenty of time on the road and share our love — and extensive knowledge of — travel. So we caught up with the group’s lead singer, Matt Vasquez, for a little Q&A to get his take on what makes (and breaks) a vacation. Check it out after the jump!
The band is on tour through January 2013.
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Tagged as:
Delta Spirit,
Puerto Vallarta,
Tucson
by Jane on November 5, 2012
Skyfall comes out this Friday and to celebrate we’ve taken a walk down double-oh seven lane (which involved watching all 22 films, of course). And we’ve discovered that — just like us — Bond has a thing for traveling, and particularly, staying at ultra-luxe hotels. Whether it’s where the character was born or where the infamous “shaken, not stirred” line originated, the debonair crime fighter has left his mark on some of our favorite spots around the globe.
Today, the massive Fleming Villa remains intact, featuring its own private pool and even the writer’s original desk over which he slaved year after year.
Why 007 loves it: The GoldenEye Hotel is where it all started. Reopened in 2010 after a $50 million renovation, this Jamaican hotspot is the former residence of Ian Fleming, who came up with his famous character on the property’s lush grounds. Every year, the scribe spent several months in his ocean-side villa, writing all 14 of his famous tales of the sleek and sophisticated spy. When Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Chris Blackwell bought the property in the 1980s, he realized the appeal of the historic estate as well as its untouched surroundings and converted it into a resort.
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Tagged as:
Bahamas,
Jamaica,
London,
Luxury Hotels,
Miami
Take me out to the ball game! cmannphoto/iStockPhoto
Game one of the 2012 World Series is going down tonight in San Francisco as the Giants take on the Detroit Tigers for (global?) supremacy. Though we here at Oyster are still mourning the Yanks not making the cut (we blame umpires, A-Rods, and ankles – in that order), it won’t stop us from tuning into this series with high hopes for some first-class baseball. And we’re also hoping to get the skinny on the first-class digs Verlander & Co. will be calling home during their stint in San Fran — as well which hotels are big enough to fit a roster full of Giants in Detroit. So we dug through the baseball archives and discovered the MLB’s favorite hotels while visiting these championship cities in the past. These hotels, not surprisingly, feature all kinds of ballplayer-approved amenities, including state-of-the-art fitness centers and luxe beds perfect for getting a good night’s sleep. The Giants and the Tigers definitely won’t be able to blame any lackluster performances on where they batter shack up. Read More »
Tagged as:
Business Hotels,
Detroit,
Historic Hotels,
Luxury Hotels,
San Francisco,
Sports and Travel
