Downtown Miami’s new Hotel Urbano bills itself as the city’s first boutique “art hotel” with an exhibit schedule directed by William Braemer, artist and Curator of Art Fusion Galleries in Miami’s Design District, who will plan seasonal art exhibitions to be displayed throughout the hotel; artwork – all from emerging artists – will also be available for purchase. An unofficial opening date is predicted for late December, but Hotel Urbano is really giving us something to look forward to in 2010 with their Grand Opening special. From January 1 through January 29, the hotel is offering rates from only $20.10 for the first night when booking two or more nights. The special includes a complimentary welcome cocktail, buffet breakfast, and the chance to win a piece of art valued at $2,010. Rates for the remaining nights go for $159. To book this deal, call 888-657-3448 or visit hotelurbano.com and use code SPECIAL.

Visit Beantown in style this fall and winter without paying a pretty penny. Ames, Morgans Hotel Group’s brand-new luxury boutique hotel in downtown Boston, is celebrating its grand-opening with special introductory rates starting at just $124/night for select stays from November 22 to January 31 – quite a bargain considering nightly summer rates are expected to be as much as $300/night. Also included in this offer are two complimentary welcome drinks. This introductory rate requires a minimum two-night stay and must be booked by December 2. Other travel dates through April 5 start at $146/night. To book this offer, call 800-697-1791 and mention promotion code SPMO25, or visit www.morganshotelgroup.com.

Hailing from cities as far apart as Napa and Palm Beach, the seven properties that comprise Kindred Hotels and Resorts have little in common other than their status as independently-owned luxury lodgings with long histories and reputations for excellence. But, a new collaboration will bring them closer together – at least on the Web. These properties have partnered up for PR purposes with a new website, staykindred.com, promising to use the portal to roll out deals and highlight what’s new. In one convenient location, the Kindred website presents a brief background of each property while promoting the latest offers with a quick link for booking and a link to the hotels’ individual websites for additional property details. The participating hotels include The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida; The Carneros Inn in Napa, California; Colonial Williamsburg Resort Collection in Williamsburg, Virginia; Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan; The Lodge at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, California; Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo, Florida; and Saddlebrook Resort in Tampa, Florida.

Interested in hotels with a backstory? Check out our Top 10 Historic Hotels.

Slated to open December 16, the ARIA Resort & Casino has a little extra pizzazz, boasting a 150,000-square-foot casino, and 4,004 stylish guestrooms complete with 42-inch flat-screen televisions, stocked mini bars, soft, luxurious linens, and floor-to-ceiling windows. Sounds heavenly, right? If you’re a penny-pincher and don’t want to sacrifice on the quality of accommodations when visiting Sin City, you’ll definitely want to check out ARIA’s great introductory rates which start at just $159/night. From December 17 through April 1, 2010, guests who stay two nights at the modern resort will receive $75 resort credit which can be used at the 80,000-square-foot spa, any one of the 13 eateries, as well as other activities and services. Other resort amenities include three pools, nine bars and lounges, and a Cirque du Soleil production celebrating the musical legacy of Elvis Presley.

Kentucky’s hippest hotel, just voted by Conde Nast Traveler’s readership as #1 in the country (and #6 in the world) for 2009, announced plans Wednesday to debut a new sister property just upriver in Cincinnati, Ohio. The 21c Museum Hotel, an upscale boutique which opened on downtown Louisville’s Main Street in 2006, has played a key role in revitalizing Derby City’s art scene. The renovated 19th-century tobacco & bourbon warehouse has drawn national acclaim for its high-style halls packed to the brim with whimsical paintings, abstract video art, photos and sculptures (like the lobby’s army of red penguin statues) – all from this millennium. The hotel’s 90 rooms feature custom touches, from furniture to pewter mint julep cups. Popular restaurant Proof on Main has become renowned for its modern twists on locally grown, regional cuisine (ahem, gourmet Bison burgers). Read the rest of this post »

The Marcel at Gramercy, a chic boutique nestled amidst NYC’s stylish (but relatively straight-laced) Gramercy and Murray Hill hoods (and extensively redesigned last year) today announced it will play host to the world’s first ever “tattoo artist in residence.” On November 15-24, LA-based Mister Cartoon (famous for inking celebs like Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, Eminem, and Ryan Phillippe) will kick off stint #1 of a temporary two-part stay at The Marcel, offering his body art expertise exclusively to hotel guests, who are granted an automatic line jump in the in-demand inker’s year-long wait list (though not exempt from his normal rates, which start at $3,000 a tat). Read the rest of this post »

Shangri-La’s newest Beijing property, the China World Summit Wing, is rushing towards a December debut in the main tower of the landmark China World Trade Centre (pictured).  Soaring 81 stories over the city’s bustling business district and directly opposite the (almost) equally elevated Park Hyatt Beijing (which opened a year ago this month), the tower is currently Beijing’s tallest. The Tihany-designed hotel, perched atop the loftiest floors (starting at 64), is set to offer some seriously unsurpassed views of the country’s capital city.

The 80th-floor Atmosphere bar and 77th-floor CHI spa will both be the highest such facilities in Beijing – with an observation deck, aptly dubbed The Peak, located on level 81 (and featuring private dining). All 278 guestrooms and suites (among the city’s largest at 700 square feet) wouldn’t be complete without floor-to-ceiling windows, free Wi-Fi (bet on unbeatable signal strength), Nespresso machines, walk-in closets, and 17-inch TV screens sleekly embedded in the bathroom mirrors. An indoor infinity pool and outdoor rooftop pine garden provide relaxing respites, with a Japanese eaterie, high-end Chinese-Cantonese restaurant, and New York grill rounding out the facilities food-wise. Ooh la-La…

Few places in the world compare to Bora Bora – a quintessential tropical isle in French Polynesia showcasing white-sand beaches, flower-scented breezes, and idyllic coves. Since getting to paradise can be a lengthy affair (it’s eight hours by plane from Los Angeles to Tahiti, plus another hour to connect), why not treat yourself to an once-in-a-lifetime experience once you land? The Hilton Bora Bora Nui Resort & Spa just unveiled brand-new over-the-water presidential villas that necessitate a splurge, if you’ve got the pocket change to spare. Read the rest of this post »

Fort Lauderdale is home to some of the most fabulous displays of private real-estate wealth in the country, but its reputation has been primarily defined, until recently, by tides of spring breakers – a playground for the riff raff, rather than the rich. That’s all changed over the last few years, as millions of dollars in development projects have poured in, quickly washing away the popular port city’s party past and elevating it to tony status as the Gold Coast’s newest “it” town. Luxury hotels bearing prestigious names like Ritz, Hilton, and Trump are sprouting up all over – with dozens of newbies opening (such as the first beachfront W in late April) and old favorites, like the landmark Yankee Clipper (known for its live mermaid shows), getting extensive facelifts. Last weekend, I checked into the Westin Beach Resort to check out the hotel’s recent multi-million dollar rebirth. 

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Goodbye travel agents. Hello iPhone. Booking a luxury vacation has become that much easier, thanks to the new Four Seasons iPhone and iPod Touch application that let’s you book overnights at one of their many hotels worldwide with just the swipe of a finger. Find a room, peruse and book spa treatments available at your chosen property, and tour your hotel before you even arrive with the “virtual vacation” feature, which showcases the Four Season’s various properties via streaming video. Download the app for free at the iTunes App Store.