Hotel Girl

The Ritz Carlton in Washington is inviting its guests to vote for which breed of hypo-allergenic dog to buy his family.

Customers can vote in the hotel's lobby for a schnauzer, bichon frise, goldendoodle (golden retriever mixed with poodle) or Wheaten Terrier.

I can't imagine us in the UK getting so excited about Gordon Brown's pet dog. But if you're caught up in Obama mania, I hope you've booked your hotel in Washington for January 20.

The Times reports today that the number of people travelling to Washington could exceed the 1.5 million who watched Lyndon Johnson be sworn in in 1965.

The 95,000 hotel rooms are nearing sold out, so unless you can afford to fork out £25,000 for the inauguration package at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Capitol Hill, you might have to start looking further afield - or ask Obama's new mutt if you can share his beanbag for the night.

Choice Hotels told me over breakfast this week that they are expanding their four star Clarion brand in the UK, Germany and Russia.

I stayed in the Clarion in Dublin a few years ago for New Years Eve and was really impressed. It's a modern business-style hotel but with a very comfortable and laid-back feel.

Sales director Brian Garvan said their new property in Stockholm is one to look out for (pictured). Trip Advisor readers rank it the second best hotel in the city.

Read the full story on TravelWeekly.co.uk

Happy Halloween! It's the spookiest day of the year, so what better time to have a look at the world's most haunted hotels.

1. The Crescent Hotel in Arkansas is the self-proclaimed most haunted hotel in America. The building is a former cancer ward, and apparently employees aren't surprised to come across the spirits of former patients. Reports have included an old woman roaming the corridors and a little boy switching the cutlery from dining room to kitchen.

2. Closer to home, the Langham in London is home to some ghoulish guests. The building used to be owned by the BBC - before it was bombed in 1940 - and some BBC bods are reluctant to leave. According to one popular tale, a BBC announcer who stayed in room 333 awoke to see a brilliant light in his room morph into an Edwardian gentleman.

3. Scotland has lots of creepy castles, but The Old Post Horn Inn in Crawford is one of the spookiest. Built in 1744, the Inn is said to play host to a young boy who was run over by a coach outside the hotel.

4, Travel Weekly's Nathan was brave enough to venture to the Menger Hotel in Texas. The hotel, built in 1859, is San Antonio's vault for vanquished spirits, with at least 32 different apparitions competing for sightings.

5.The Hollywood Roosevelt in California was the place to be seen during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Nowaways Montgomery Clift and Marilyn Monroe can still be heard rehearsing their lines on a quiet evening.

It's amazing how many results a google search for "haunted hotels" will bring up. The cynics among us might dismiss tales of ghosts in the corridors as a clever gimmick mostly used by British hotels to attract gullible American tourists.

Over to you, do you think these hotels are really haunted or is this just a cunning marketing ploy?

Chatwal's latest offering, Stay, is the former Quaity Hotel Times Square - and it shows.

The pictures on the website are mainly of pillows and sunsets - and when I arrived I could see why. The hotel was still under construction which meant dusty floors, harrassed staff and waiting at least 10 minutes for a lift.

The rooms are small, even by New York standards, but nicely decorated and clean. The hotel is located in the Diamond District, very handy for Times Square but not an area I'd want to linger in the evenings.

A taste of what's to come can be gleaned from the hotel's funky new lobby (pictured) and the new Aspen Club restaurant which launched last week, to ok reviews.

This is a good option for theatre-break customers looking for a reasonable stay near Times Square - but it looks like Stay has a lot of work to be done before it measures up to Chatwal's other properties.

I stayed at Dream, a very funky hotel not far from Time Square. Our suite (pictured) was all white furniture with blue neon lighting and huge plasma TVs. It somehow managed to blend stark minimalism with cosy comfort, perhaps thanks to the most comfortable bed I've slept in since the Dylan in Dublin.

Dream is a fantastic place to come back to after a day pounding the pavements - and exercising your credit card - in the Big Apple. Don't forget to bend the concierge Shawn's ear if you want some insider tips on the best places to refuel.

Chatwal is planning a second Dream for New York in the trendy Meatpacking district. Check out the latest news on this here.

I also had a look round the impossibly trendy Night hotel, where the Gothic decor makes you feel like you've stumbled across Batman's lair. Keep Night in mind for your trendiest clients - it's full of music and fashion industry types.

The third hotel I visited, Time, is a more sophisticated option for a wider range of clients. The red, blue and yellow decor is contemporary and classic and rooms are very spacious for New York.

And that's not all - yes it was a busy few days - check back for my thoughts on Vikram's latest project Stay and the Sherry Netherland.

Extended Stay has sunk to the level of a twelve year old schoolboy with its new ad.

It starts off with respectable looking guests walking around the Extended Stay hotels set to a soundtrack of opera. But then you realise that each guest is pausing and sticking out their rear end before looking quite satisfied for a second.

Yes, they're using farts to sell hotels.

I'm not sure if people passing wind is the best way to smell, sorry sell, hotels - but it did make me chuckle for a minute. I must have more in common with 12 year old schoolboys than I thought..

(above, image from ad)

Whether they admit it or not, everyone loves nabbing hotel freebies.

Whereas most of us draw the line at shampoo and shower gel, Holiday Extras' customers will sink as low as running off with light fittings and even televisions.

Managing director Mike Whiting said: "Hoteliers have reported guests stealing toilet brushes, light fittings, mirrors, curtains and even televisions. Many hotels now offer guests the option of paying for items they simply can't resist."

The Holiday Extras survey revealed that top of most customers' wish lists comes fluffy bathrobes, scoring 47% of the votes. Toiletries were a close second at 29.2% with towels coming in at 15.9%.

Hotel slippers aren't much of a temptation, with just 6.1% placing them on their wish list, while a sad 1.9% are tempted by the glamorous shower cap.

Credit crunch? What credit crunch? The £800m luxury Dubai hotel opens today with rooms costing up to £13,000 a night.

Guests can enjoy an indoor ski slope and huge open air tank with dolphins flown in from the Solomon Islands. The mega wealthy can splash out on £13,000-a-night suites with a gold leaf 18-seat dining table.

Dubai's fairy tale world isn't completely sheltered from the global economic turmoil - the state is confident its tourism income will support the economy once the oil stops flowing. If not, surely they'll get a few quid for those gold leaf tables on eBay...

A fellow blogger and journalist has been having a good old moan about Scandinavian hotels that don't understand the needs of business travellers. Few hotels, she says, have tea and coffee making facilities or even ironing boards.

Kristine Lowe writes: So what do you get up in the wee hours to get out a few stories before the day starts and there's no way to feed your caffeine addiction. How do you wake yourself up enough to be productive - without having to run around town at 5am to find a place with coffee, electricity and wi-fi?

There's nothing worse than hotels skimping on little bits and pieces that are actually vital for guests. Which chains do you think are best or worst for business travellers?

Travel Weekly editor Penny Wilson has been telling me about her visit to Le Chateau Japanais, a fascinating B&B in Hastings. Here are her impressions...

I paid £70 for an en-suite double complete with Japanese loo (one of those space ship things that virtually hoses you down), Japanese jacuzzi, frankly French furniture AND a heated, outdoor Japanese hot tub, more the size of a swimming pool than the usual hole in the ground. Full wet room adjoining. Its open all night! For a few extra pounds I could choose between a traditional English or Japanese breakfast. The place isn't finished yet but I'll return when it is. It is in a typical Hastings villa that would have been a posh Victorian summer getaway in its heyday.

For good measure I threw in dinner in the historic Old Town's George Street at the newly-opened Pomegranate restaurant where I over-indulged on Turbot caught that day by one of the country's last remaining fishing fleets. If this isn't a fine example of multi-cultural England, what is?