Hotel Girl

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.

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)

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.

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.

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?