Tampa Fun in the Sun

Wander — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 08:51:08 +0000

Tampa is found on the west coast of Florida. Tampa is a large city with many businesses, but also has many tourist attractions and beaches.
The attractions in Tampa include Busch Gardens Africa. With so much to see and do here you will want to research Tampa hotel rooms in advance.

Also worth a visit in Tampa are the Florida Aquarium, Dinosaur World, the Weeki Wachee Springs. The Raymond James Stadium is host to major professional football games and is the host to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa Florida has lots of shopping centers, and restaurants, bars and a lively nightlife. Much of city life is centered around the downtown area, which contains the Port of Tampa and the Waterfront district. With two universities, many entertainment venues and the outstanding Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Tampa has earned itself a reputation for being Florida’s cultural center. You may wish to consider Tampa extended stay hotels to get the best savings for your vacation dollars. For budget minded travelers you may want to look intoTampa hotel packages for your stay in the city.

You will come to Tampa, Florida from the international airport or you can access the city by using Interstate 4 or Interstate 75. No matter how you get there, Tampa, Florida is an exciting bustling city that not only has the amenities of the urban metropolis, but also the nice subtleties of a Florida beach town.

The city has many exceptional attractions, it comes as no surprise that Tampa offers an array of hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, and affordable accommodations. Some of the most popular hotels in the city can be found in the heart of the downtown district, close to facilities such as shops and restaurants. The waterfront Tampa hotel rooms have really great views and are extremely desirable properties. Looking for discount rates? Try the weekend and summer, rates are usually reduced and this is a good time to find discounts. You may wish to consult some hotel reviews when planning your next trip. Research Tampa hotels and book early for best selections.

All About Boutique Hotels

Wander — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:05:47 +0000

It is becoming increasingly common to see that many of the new, smaller, hotels are describing themselves as a “Boutique Hotel”. All across the world, in such places as the city of London in the UK, there appears to be an increase in the number of hotels describing themselves as a “Boutique Hotel” but what makes a boutique hotel and where did they originate from? This article discusses this question in detail.

Boutique hotels are usually small hotels run by a family, couple or small enterprise. However, there has been a recent trend for some of the larger hotel chains to build hotels to meet the specific demand for these hotels so this distinction may not hold true for much longer! Nearly all boutique hotels are uniquely styled to a high quality, especially in the decoration and furnishings, and commonly based upon a theme (such as a period in time). Such themes can range from a hotel decorated and furnished in the 17th Century style to one which is focused on chocolate for avid chocoholics. Not all boutique hotels are based upon one particular theme, sometimes there may be a number of distinctive themes or each room may be styled in a contrasting them altogether.

Where Was The First Boutique Hotel?

Boutique hotels first appeared in the late 1980s in New York USA. Although some hotels claim to have been boutique hotels as far back as 1981 in places such as London UK and San Francisco the first hotel to be described as such was the ‘Morgans’ hotel, New York, in 1984. These earlier claimants were, therefore, subsequently described as such and can not, realistically, claim to be the first.

‘Morgans’ hotel was owned by Steven Rubell and Ian Schrager who had commissioned the Parisian designer Andrée Putman to create a unique, highly stylized, hotel in New York. Putman created the hotel in what has become known as an “America meets Europe” fashion. When promoting his Morgans Hotel large hotel chains wanted to make his hotel stand out from, what he thought were, the mundane hotels owned by the large hotel chains. He described other hotels as “department store” hotels and his own as a “boutique hotel” to show the distinctive difference – thus the phrase entered the English language for the first time.

Interesting Boutique Hotels in the United Kingdom

42 The Calls (hotel) in Leeds claims to be one of the first to appear in the UK. The Calls was a hotel built in the carcass of an old corn mill and used that as the overall theme. The hotel is well known for featuring superb, and extremely comfortable, hand crafted beds in each room and, interestingly, it also has some of the old corn mills original machinery.

The Blake’s Hotel in South Kensington, London, is often quoted as being one of the first boutique hotels in the world but, although this appeared before Morgans in New York, for the reasons outlined above this claim is often dismissed. Over the last few decades there have been a number of boutique hotels appearing across the United Kingdom in such diverse places as the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland but the largest number have opened in London.

If you are planning a trip to, or a vacation in, London and you are considering booking a boutique hotel you may wish to check out the listings of boutique hotels in London at http://www.londonhotelhelper.com/

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Tampa Fun in the Sun

All About Boutique Hotels