Your friends and ours at Thompson Hotels (6 Columbus, 60 Thompson, Thompson LES, Gild Hall, Smyth, Hollywood Roosevelt, Thompson Beverly Hills, Hotel Sax, and Donovan House) have launched a new blog called Inn-Sight. Spinning off the Room100 concept of yore, Inn-Sight posts about fashion, art, culture, and of course travel, plus interviews and cool stuff happening in and around the various Thompsons. Plus, it's overseen by our pal Steve Garbarino -- check out his Editor's Letter for the goods on what's going down over there.

Hotels are slashing prices, lowering rates, and making deals. You can profit from their losses and take advantage of all the sweet deals out there right now. First up: The Kimpton Hotels "Sweet Tax Relief" deal. They're offering tax-free rooms and meals at their onsite restaurants. To make the deal a little sweeter, they're throwing in cute candy in the mix, like Sugar Daddies, 100 Grands, and Paydays. The no-tax deal can add up to a sizable savings, especially since some room taxes can be $30 a night. This offer is good at many of the properties, including Hotel Palomar, Sir Francis Drake Hotel, Hotel Triton, The Muse, Topaz Hotel, Helix Hotel, and Hotel George.

Smyth, the latest offering from the Thompson Hotels group (60 Thompson, Gild Hall, 6 Columbus, Thompson LES, Hollywood Roosevelt, Thompson Beverly Hills, Donovan House) is opening early this January. Look for free wifi, absolutely modern decor, Kiehl's bath products, and some naughty surprises in-room. Luckily enough, it's a particularly inauspicious time to be opening anything, much less a boutique hotel, and so deals definitely abound. You can check out this normally high-priced hotel for the incredible bargain-basement prices of $119 a night.

The most famous rule in all of filmmaking: Never work with kids or animals. But hell, I’m a maverick. And I can see Russia from my house.

Welcome to the party, see ya’ around campus…

Except this time, they're kids