"The overall impression is more classy than kitsch." So says an AP mash note to Liverpool's Hard Days' Night Hotel, a Beatles-themed palace which actually seems like a remarkably bland commercial sellout. The hotel opened Friday, though no customer or media reviews are yet available. See the Times' contrarian preview, which describes the place as a predictable Beatles version of Hard Rock Hotel tepidity. So where did the homage-ridden hotel steer wrong?
In 2008, as any one who has ever met a Liverpuddlian knows, Liverpool will be designated the Cultural Capital of Europe. In the interminable ramp up to this useless designation, the National Museums of Liverpool have even created an online exhibit been admonishing their citizenry to take pictures of anything vaguely resembling 08. Naturally, someone took a shot of a puddle. They've even concocted a Google Map for those too lazy to wade through the Flickr pool, a lassitude by all means understandable.
[Photo: New Folder/Flickr]
Previously: Malmaison Makes the Jump to Liverpool, Liverpool: Least Sexiest City in the World?, Summer of Loverpool, Greenlighting the Red Light
Featuring PR speak almost as inane as the early Beatles (She loves you, yeah yeah yeah), the boutique achingly hip Malmaison hotel opened today in Liverpool. "She" in this case is the new property, the tenth for the company. Hoping to lure visitors to its awaiting rooms, Malmaison is offering rooms for a paltry 99 quid. As with most, if not all Malmaison properties, the 100 rooms in Liverpool come fully kitted out with free wifi. When we called to confirm some of the details, it was a chaotic madhouse (as opposed to a well-ordered one) as we were passed around from harried clerk to bedraggled bellman, none of whom knew how many rooms the hotel has. Hopefully, though, time will mellow the Malmaison out and who knows, maybe in a couple of years, it'll abandon its horrid tag line: That's Mal Life!!
[Photo: Globorati]
Previously: Least Sexiest City: Liverpool v. Salt Lake City, Easyjet Expands Orange Revolution, Summer of Loverpool, Greenlighting the Red Light
In this phase of the Gridskipper -iest City Contest, we'll be pitching the two top contenders for each title into a heated death match. For Least Sexiest City, only one will survive to be called, "World's Least Sexiest City." Today, Liverpool who gained 10.4% of the vote takes on Salt Lake City who gained a whopping 68.1%. Will the little town outugly the Mormon citadel? We'll see.
Liverpool The Case for the Least Sexiest City
People in Liverpool are called Liverpudlians or "scousers."
The Guardian calls Liverpool "the ugly sister to its wealthier neighbour Manchester."
The name Liverpool, if you think about it, is gross. A pool of liver.
It's in England.
"In the 1840s, Liverpool had a population of about 40,000 living in cellars, with an average of 5 or 6 persons in each cellar."
The Liverpool dating scene is ghastly depressing.
On the other hand, the Beatles. Liverpool is home to many clubs and pubs with drunken women inside them.
Salt Lake City The Case for the Least Sexiest City
About 50% of Salt Lake City's current residents are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"We hold that sexual sin is second only to the shedding of innocent blood in the category of personal crimes." Prophet Joseph F. Smith
Mormon underwear (shown above)
On the other hand, polygamy, a bar called the Tavernacle, Mormons are a good lookin' bunch.
Polls close Tuesday September 26th.
Europe's inexorable organization continues: low-fare airline easyJet will be expanding its intra-European coverage this spring with the addition of 14 new routes. The new capacity comes as the airline acquires nine new Airbus A319s, allowing them to shuffle the fleet around a bit. New daily routes include Lisbon to London, Lisbon to Milan, Lisbon to Paris, Liverpool to Faro, and Malaga to Berlin. Other new routes operating several times per week flights from Milan, other routes from Liverpool, and a handful more. Fares begin at £25.99 one way.
easyJet welcomes the New Year with massive expansion [easyJet]
Previously: Inflight Hangover Cures, Madhu’s, Kayak Buzz Destination Mapper, Anyone Seen Mike Rotch?, Your Papers Are Not in Order, Mr. Denton
The Roundup Roundup collects recent "roundup" articles or general material about cities and city travel worldwide.
Antwerp
Refinery29 Goes on Location [Refinery 29]
Barcelona
Gaudí designs in Barcelona [Houston Chronicle]
Emergency
Thailand, New Orleans ranked as top vacation spots despite disasters [Houston Chronicle] - Bangkok, Chiang Mai, New Orleans, Phuket.
Helsinki
Holiday In Helsinki [AskMen]
Hotels
Top 10: Hotels To Spot Celebs [AskMen]
Less Style, More Substance [NYT]
Indianapolis
36 Hours: Indianapolis [NYT]
Johannesburg
Boom town [Observer]
Las Vegas
Lights of Broadway shine on Vegas Strip [Houston Chronicle]
Liverpool
Living It Up In Liverpool [AskMen]
London
Poundstretcher [Daily Candy]
The smart guide to London, for every budget [Sunday Times]
Diana's legacy lives on in London [Chicago Tribune]
Madrid
Madrid's New Hotel Scene [Travel Intelligence]
Miami
Miami: a region recovering from Wilma [Telegraph]
Milwaukee
Something's brewing in Milwaukee [Birmingham News]
Rome
Rome Sweet Rome [Budget Travel]
Saigon
New Vietnam to discover [Washington Times]
Salt Lake City
Going To: Salt Lake City [NYT]
San Francisco
The East Bay’s 101 Most Delicious things to eat [Diablo]
Tel Aviv
From Matzo Balls and Kreplach to Lemongrass-Infused Bouillabaisse [Budget Travel]
Vienna
Songs from the heart of the Ghetto [IHT]
$138+ Round Trip to Dublin: This one is frankly a bit hard to believe, and I'd dearly like to hear of anyone successfully booking the $138 fare (in the comments below or at tips@gridskipper.com). But anyway, Orbitz is pushing these Aer Lingus discounts, and even though I couldn't find the $138 fare, I was able to locate several NY-Dublin round-trip fares during ideal travel times for less than $250, which is still pretty damn good. The cheapest fares are from Boston and New York to Dublin; other departure cities are Chicago and Los Angeles, and other destination cities are Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Manchester, and Shannon. Travel's good January 1 through February 28, 2006. Taxes and fees come to about $150 additional. Even if the $138 fares are already gone, anything on these routes at under $300 will likely sell out close to instantly.
Incredible Fares to Ireland and Beyond [Orbitz]
TravelFinds [SideStep]
The hippies, they just won't die. The Tate Liverpool is running a "Summer of Love" exhibit to chronicle the intersections of tradition, revolution, and repression that produced psychedelic art. Expect lots of trippy light projections and Spirograph paintings. The "Summer of Love" runs through September 25 and costs ?5. After finishing at the Tate, the exhibit will move on to Frankfurt (November 2 to February 12, 2006) and thence to Vienna (May 5, 2006, to September 3, 2006).
Get Out Your Bongs ... The Sixties are Coming Back [Planet Jupiter]
Summer of Love [Tate Liverpool]
Previously: Synaesthesia at the Smithsonian
The idea of a sanctioned "vice zone" (like Baltimore's mythical Hamsterdam in HBO's The Wire this past season) is gaining steam in England. Liverpool officials have backed the proposal of creating an area where prostitutes can do their business legally. Perhaps it's just a Northern dream for now as London mayor "Red Ken" Livingstone is dead set against the idea but leaves open the possibility of decriminalization which would allow prostitutes to work from home. I wonder if they would get to stay in their pajamas all day too.
Red Ken Not Keen On Red Light Zones [Londonist]
Related: Prostitution: Most prevalent in London [World Sex Records]
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