Hotel Girl

First it was Foxtons, who with their green and yellow tags terrorised the streets of London with their fleet of agressive estate-agent-carrying Minis.

Now it's the hotel industry's turn - with Park Inn having branded the little cars with patchwork primary colours. Are they just an advert for the hotel or are they meant to be of practical use. Presumably they're hoping to corner the Easyjet and Ryan Air passengers who only come with carry-on luggage.

The compact Mini will surely be a bit small for your average family of four making their annual getaway this summer.  

English woman found battered to death in her bathroom of Le Bristol hotel and her boyfriend has not been seen since.

Clearly I'm not going to make light of this tragic story but it did occur to me that it seems only right that this apparent crime of passion happened in a luxury Parisian hotel and the boyfriend allegedly made his getaway in his Porsche.

It just wouldn't be the same in the UK, suspect fleeing Brentford Travelodge by transit van. Nah

Ok we've had the prison hotels - Malmaison Oxford and some random Eastern European joint that semi-kinkily does the whole guard, cell, gruel, punishment experience - and we've had the ice palaces in Iceland, now it's time for animals to get in on the act.

Fancy a night in the zoo anyone? Well Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is thinking of installing a hotel within its park gates.  

It'd give a whole new meaning to waking up with panda eyes and dog breath!

Depressing news from a study by Sheraton today - 88% of working professionals take their Blackberry to bed with them.

Worse than this, two thirds (64%) couldn't resist checking them just before they go to bed and then as soon as they wake up.

Astonishingly, only slightly fewer (62%) sneak a peak during the middle of the night.

But it's not making us happier, the study by Sheraton hotels and resorts also found that 71% of UK professionals surveyed now feel compelled to be connected to work 24/7 resulting in 64% feeling they now work harder than they did five years ago.

Rezidor is set to open its first Hotel Missoni on Monday in Edinburgh.

The hotel is full of the brightly coloured patterns we know from Missoni fashion.

As the Times points out, it seems a dodgy time to be opening such a high end hotel. Rooms start from £180 a night, not including breakfast. That's more expensive than the lovely Tigerlilly, a recently opened boutique hotel which has been getting lots of attention.

It might be ok during the Edinburgh festival, where everyone's scrambling for a room, but how do we think it will do after that?

Living proof you don't have to be a diva to have celebrity-style demands, another cracking list has been compiled of nutty requests from demanding guests and not a s'leb in sight.

Bizarre demands include a arrranging a candlelit dinner in a cave, a craving for a New York cheescake - from New York - while in Portugal, building a replica coffee shop for a proposal and to top it all off a golf course designed on a glacier.

It does make you wonder...

Planning a visit to Layana Resort and Spa on  Koh Lanta Island, Thailand and worried about dodgy weather? Well, no need.

The hotel is offering guests money back for each full day of rain. If it pours non-stop between 10am and 5pm,  the resort will credit THB 1,000  per room per day.

Unfortunately that only works out at £18 -  just about enough to cover your first couple of cocktails.

But who am I to turn down the chance to drool over some gorgeous hotel pics? 

When you walk into your hotel bedroom and spy that  luxurious big hotel bed, what's the first thing you want to do?

Well, for this lot, it's take a long running jump and bounce straight up in the air. Actually not straight up, but in all kinds of weird and wonderful poses.

Bed jumpers upload their pics to the website and other users can give them a rating. So if you have a spare few minutes and there are no Come Dine With Me's on, why not give it a go. Might be better to wait a few hours after eating though..

The United States has agreed to sell its embassy building in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair to Qatari Diar, a real estate investment company.

It hasn't been confirmed, but the group is expected to turn the building into a luxury hotel and apartments.

The building is Grade 2 listed so they will have to keep the facade, which includes the famous 35ft gilded aluminium eagle above the main entrance.

The Times predicts that this quirky look might fit Starwood's W brand or Rezidor's Missoni. The area's already packed with luxury hotels, from Claridges to the Dorchester, so whoever takes this project on will have a lot to live up to..

(pic: The Times)

The new W London Leicester Square doesn't do recruitment the easy way - oh no. The Starwood brand's first London outpost is casting aside online or newspaper ads in favour of an X Factor style audition process.

The hotel is seeking an 'insider' - or concierge to you and me - and is asking potential candidates to apply online at wlondon.co.uk/casting.

The judges, which include America's top model 'star' J Alexander (pictured), have high expectations:

"They go out every-night, they know duchesses and drag queens, they can get a table on Friday at 8pm anywhere, their parties always finish the next day.

"Culturally their references need to be broad, high and low, and they need to be aware of major events internationally. They attend first nights, openings, and visit new restaurants and bars within the first 2 weeks of opening."

If that all sounds a bit much, console yourself with a sneak peek of the new hotel, coming 'early 2011'..

The Cumberland Hotel in London has created a Jimi Hendrix suite to mark 40 years since the guitar hero's death. 

The Marble Arch hotel is the last place Hendrix stayed before he died from an overdose on September 18 1970.

The hotel was a place the star sought sanctuary and  - as one music journalist puts it -where he would go "for the purpose of meeting various young ladies when he wanted to keep away from the various other young ladies that he was seeing".

The new Hendrix suite is somewhere I'm sure he'd love to entertain today.

Opening the door from the simple corridors, the decor hits you between the eyes with rainbow wallpaper, leopard print cushions and fibre-optic lights.

The designers Mary Gannon and Cynthia Garcia have added lots of thoughtful details, such as a retro telephone, framed newspaper articles about Hendrix and wall-mounted guitar.

Guests can really immerse themselves in the era with a DVD of Hendrix's last ever concert at the Isle of Wight on a plasma TV and a tape of his last interview on an iPod. Surely this must be heaven for any Hendrix fan.

A night in the Jimi Hendrix Suite, available from September 20, costs £399. The price is based on two people sharing and includes bed, breakfast, and a bottle of Jack Daniels.

You can see a video of the suite here.