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The feverish race to the top of the Parisian hotel scene can make the World Cup seem like a game of tiddlywinks. Since 2008, Le Bristol, Le Meurice, and Le Royal Monceau have all unveiled glittering new personalities, while Le Crillon and Le Ritz are currently and expensively under the knife. In the midst of it all, that paragon of swank, the Prince de Galles, has just taken the wraps off its own magnificent makeover to a chorus of oohs and aahs. A virtual landmark of the French art deco style, much care has been taken by ERTIM Architectes SA, in collaboration with Bruno Borrione and that most superstar of designers, Pierre-Yves Rochon, to preserve a genuine sense of its history. To be sure, the salon-like lobby has been made over not with postmodern cheek, but with a swish new collection of furnishings true to the period.

I can count on one hand the times I've taken advantage of a hotel's room service offerings. There was that afternoon we arrived in Philadelphia with just barely enough time to get ready for Justin's wedding, so we ordered a turkey sandwich and a carafe of white wine. And when I went to Las Vegas for that booze event, and had a credit to spend on a room service breakfast - a decent omelet and some coffee. And last summer in Edinburgh, when we realized that there's not one restaurant in the entire city open past 10pm on a Monday night, and ordered a burger-and-chips deal. But I could have survived without any of them, and if that's one service that's disappearing from hotels, I can live with it. 

Finally! After former prisons, nunneries, and army barracks have all been repurposed as designer hotels, at last we have the glorious conversion of a former millinery factory into the new Refinery Hotel. As you might guess, it’s located in the Garment District, which we’re exceedingly tempted to rechristen as Upper NoMad (Well, guess we just did.) And let’s face it, we accessorize with hats and boutique hotels for much the same reason: they make us seem just a little more sexy. But the design by Stonehill & Taylor (who have already left their mark on the Crosby Street Hotel and the NoMad Hotel) defers more to history than to fashion—a reasonable decision, considering the awesome neo-gothic framework of the Colony Arcade building into which the hotel was fitted.

America is losing its world-leading status to the Chinese in many areas, causing no small amount of hand-wringing among the cognoscenti, but there's one superlative we'd be glad to surrender: that of being the source of the world's most obnoxious tourists. As more and more Chinese people gain the discretionary income required for international travel, more and more host nations have complained about the coarse habits they exhibit while traipsing around the globe. According to the reports, Chinese tourists are prone to spit, litter, talk loudly, and allow their kids to pee and poop just about anywhere. But none of this is enough to grab headlines quite like the most recent act of alleged Chinese tourist obnoxiousness: a 15-year-old kid scratched his name into a 3,500-year-old relief in Egypt's Temple of Luxor. "Ding Jinhao was here," reads the poetic words of the Nanjing youth, whose parents have already apologized profusely. Upon reading the news story of the youth's indescretion, a hundred million American tourists heaved a deep sigh of relief and forwarded it to everybody they know. 

Somber news for visitors to New York who hate the hotel experience: Airbnb, a service by which a tenant not using their apartment for a few days can rent it out to another party, has run afoul of the “illegal hotel” law. That’s the one that forbids you to run a rogue bed-and-breakfast out of your closet, or, I guess, in any way profit from the space you are renting for residential purposes.

After introducing “living room” chic to the LA hotel scene with the opening of Palihouse Holloway West Hollywood in 2012, Avi Brosh has headed for sea and sand for the brand’s second opening. In an opulent 1927 Moorish revival building--a designated historic landmark--the new Palihouse Santa Monica has an even cozier feel than its WeHo counterpart (which, by the way, has become a magnet for celebs like Lauren Conrad and Gerard Butler). Lavishly landscaped outside, a charmingly historic atmosphere prevails inside, with beamed ceilings, stuccoed walls, tiled floors and arched doorways.

The Buddha says, "Dwell not in the past, but do concentrate the mind on the present moment." But if the past is a foreign country, it is returning now to home's loving embrace. It was but seventeen years ago (1996, to be precise) that the first Buddha Bar opened on Paris' rue Boissy d'Anglais--and as its journey since has taken it from Dubai to Dakar, Amsterdam to Evian-les-Bains, the circle is now closed, as the George V Eatertainment Group opens the City of Light's first Buddha Bar Hotel. Taking position amongst the swish boutiques along the rue du Faubourg Saint Honore, it arises as a palpable tribute to BB founder and visionary Raymond Visan, who passed on in 2010.

Memorial Day Weekend is just days away. Do you have plans yet? You could do the typically debauched thing, eating, drinking, dancing, and carousing, all for your own pleasure. But if you head out to Ruschmeyer's in Montauk, you could do all of those same things, but for a good cause. Two good causes, actually. On Sunday, May 26, the grown-up summer camp-themed resort is hosting an event called the Rockaway Plate Lunch Truck Yard Party, and it kicks off Ruschmeyer's summer-long series of Reggae Sundays parties. A percentage of the proceeds will go to support two charities, the Rockaway Plate Lunch Truck, which works to "fill plates and build spirits" with a food truck staffed by top New York restaurants, and Waves for Water, which provides clean water for those without access to it. They're both noble causes, and it won't hurt a bit to support them, as this party's hosted by Mike D (of the legendary Beastie Boys) and designer Robert McKinley, while the tunes will be provided by DJ's Mike D, Stretch Armstrong, and Tito Cruz. You like reggae? Good, because you'll get your fill with a irie set by the Easy Skanking Band. And you thought skanking was hard.