Luxury Hotels - Professional athletes / luxury travel

funny, funny, funny. i got a kick out of this read since the brady family happens to be close friends with friends of mine. these folks are soooo unpretentious but clearly you must temper everything that comes out of your mouth when you are as visible as tom. not that i know anything about pro athletes nor their travel accommodations but they are often at four seasons when i've traveling. i would expect they are typically staying in 4-5 star hotels.
so if you checkout trip advisor, what choices are there in buffalo?

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/02/travel/tom-brady-buffalo-hotels/index.html?iref=obinsite

funny, funny, funny. i got a kick out of this read since the brady family happens to be close friends with friends of mine. these folks are soooo unpretentious but clearly you must temper everything that comes out of your mouth when you are as visible as tom. not that i know anything about pro athletes nor their travel accommodations but they are often at four seasons when i've traveling. i would expect they are typically staying in 4-5 star hotels.
so if you checkout trip advisor, what choices are there in buffalo?

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/02/travel/tom-brady-buffalo-hotels/index.html?iref=obinsite

I often enjoy watching coverage of a story or an interview of an athlete/celeb taken from a luxury hotel and identifying which hotel it is... :p

Sports teams use all of the big brands and the small & local ones too sometimes (for exmaple, rittenhouse in PHL used as much as FS or RC there IME).

The most interesting are probably the few discreet, celebrity intreviews with reporters at Ritz Carlton Club Levels; Sarah Michelle Geller (sp?) comes to mind at the RC-NYCP and a few in DC with political types at the RC-DC.

More than I can count re: lobby encounters (Larry King was someone who seemed desperate to be recognized as he did laps pf the RC-DC lobby; of course I did not take the bait :D), touring musicians, restaurants and...then there are the events in the function rooms, etc.

The Chicago Bulls used to stay at the Four Seasons Vancouver when Vancouver had a basketball team. The Chicago Blackhawks stayed there during the Stanley Cup playoffs last year.

The Vancouver Canucks and several other hockey teams stay at the Park Hyatt in Toronto -- I bumped into the Canucks as I was checking in and the team was on its way out once.

Phoenix Suns stay at Trump Soho and Ottawa Senators at Westin Times Square.

I don't know if they have it anymore ur to some recent financial difficulties but Dallas Stars plane > http://stars.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=450061

lots of OMNI thoughts, all i can say is thank god for this forum

mansion on delaware seems like it could be ok, although no restaurant

The Mansion IS nice, but a downside is the lack of a restaurant. Last December, I stayed at the Embassy Suites and the Calgary Flames were staying there as well

The Mansion IS nice, but a downside is the lack of a restaurant. Last December, I stayed at the Embassy Suites and the Calgary Flames were staying there as well

The Mansion is too small for the team. Teams, both NHL and NFL, will either stay at the Hyatt or Embassy Suites downtown.

I do remember the scandal in 2010 during the soccer world cup in south africa regarding the price of the accomodations used by all teams, and the disparities between nations. France was criticized for having one of the most expensive housing options, staying at the Pezula Resort ( http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/06/france-world-cup-hotel-flashy) and rack rates were horrendous, especially compared to other national teams who had decided to keep a low profile during tough economic times. Didn't check the rack rates but i think it was something like 800 $ / night at least

I often enjoy watching coverage of a story or an interview of an athlete/celeb taken from a luxury hotel and identifying which hotel it is... :p

and in fiction, especially when "faked"

latest episode of house of lies cuts from exterior shot of (historic) hay adams to interior shot of (contemporary) NOT hay adams, presumably something in LA

On a couple of occasions, I have stayed at the Sheraton Boston while the Yankees were staying there.

In Arizona, I know a few baseball teams who (used to, at least) stay at the Ritz-Carlton.

Over in the Marriott forum, there is a discussion about the 'VIP' rate code, which is meant to be used by professional sports teams and related professions. (Media covering the games, referees, etc.)

I have heard of occasions where sports teams will choose one hotel over another based on whether 24/7 room service is offered.

Back in ~1997 I used to work across the street from FS NY on 58th street. Detroit Pistons and/or Miami Heat were staying there. I think both and vaguely remember the heat there during the playoffs.

Also a ton of celebrities would stay at the FS. It was fun watching them come and go on slow days when there wasn't much to do at work. Every day I would get to work and depending on how many if any paparazzi were camping out by the entrance I'd know if there was someone really famous staying there that day.

I've never seen any athletes in a hotel, probably because I would probably not recognize them. :p
It seems there was a soccer team at RC Moscow when I was there but I do not know from where.

It's easier with celebrities. I saw French previous President Jacques Chirac and his wife twice (Ritz Paris for the brunch & Hotel du Palais in Biarritz), also Mylène Farmer (french singer) in Ritz Paris, Yves Saint-Laurent a few months before he died in the bar of FSGV, Penelope Cruz at MONY and some others but I do not remember.

Federer stays at Park Hyatt Vendome (along with few other players, but no one really cares about those :D) past few years after staying at Crillon.

I actually stayed at PHV during his French Open win in 2009 and it was amazing to watch him win at Roland Garros only to later watch him walk in carrying Coupe des Mousquetaires in his hand. Everyone in the lobby got up and applauded and he proceeded to celebrate his win at PUR.

I used to see baseball teams at the Ritz Carlton Pentagon City pretty regularly. It was fun seeing the big buses lined up out front with all the bat bags, made me feel like a kid.

In Chicago, strangely, most teams stay at the Westing Michigan Ave, which is a mediocre hotel at best.

I stayed at the Venetian Macau in 2008 with the US Basketball team before the Beijing Olympics and had a chance to talk and take pictures with them. Lets just say that a few of them went upstairs with local "ladies"

I shared an elevator recently with members of the Boston Celtics at the Ritz Carlton Cleveland. Being in that small confined space with them greatly exaggerated the height difference between us. I had just returned from a run, and they were fascinated by the Vibram FiveFinger Bikilas (http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/products/Five-Fingers-Bikila-Mens.htm) that I run in!

The inlays stayed at the Wyndham Chelsea Harbour and Arsenal were on their floor, in their lift. Of course, they had no idea who they were. :rolleyes: