Hotelier Larry Whitten is getting roasted over the policies he put in place at his newest hotel acquisition in Taos, NM. He bought the weathered adobe-style Paragon Inn hotel over the summer and made plans to renovate and reopen, as he has with some 20 other properties around the country. It was business as usual until he made the decree banning the Spanish language from the hotel, since he doesn't speak Spanish. He also requested that his Hispanic employees go by “anglicized” first names, then allegedly gave some of them the boot for noncompliance. These new policies did not go over so well in the liberal town of Taos, which has long celebrated the Spanish language and culture. Whitten is now being accused with discrimination in the workplace and racism by the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). Whitten claims that he is just trying to accommodate his out-of-town guests who most likely do not speak the language or understand Spanish names, and that he's no racist. The city of Taos, however, feels differently, and sent out a press release immediately after the skirmish hit the media.

The Joie de Vivre chain of hotels is really flexing its social media muscles by working the hell out of Twitter, Facebook and cell phones. Take note, hospitality industry. On "Mobile Mondays," you can send out a text to 888999 with the subject "JdV" and bang! you can opt in to sweet offers for the next seven days valid at JdV hotels in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, and Sacramento. You might get a coupon for free cocktails or discounted spa treatments.

Two deals go live today, one in the hotel world and one on the airline front. First up, the Leading Hotels of the World "Quest of a Lifetime" contest. The "Quest of a Lifetime" deal is pretty sweet. If you've spent any time in any one of their hotels in the last two years, you can go ahead and enter the contest. It's open to both Canadians and Americans, and all you've got to do to enter is whip up a little 150-word blurb on your "extraordinary travel experience" when you stayed in one of the Leading Hotels. Entries will be judged on creativity, originality, and how well your story fits the "quest" theme.

● Radisson Blu Royal (Tsvetnoy Boulevard) - Lux hotel slotted within the restored neo-classical Hotel Ukrania -- one of the infamous Stalin-era Seven Sisters skyscrapers.

● Ink48 (Midtown West) - Ink it in for your next Javits or midtown foray.
● Best Western President Hotel at Times Square (Midtown West) - Central Times Square location with Presidential theme, designed to please red and blue staters equally.

Holiday Inn is rolling out the largest relaunch ever -- they've spent over $1 billion to upgrade and refurbish some 3,000-odd hotels around the world, and boy are they pumped about it. To celebrate, they contracted Guinness World Record holder Bryan Berg, who first broke the record for "World's Tallest House of Freestanding Playing Cards" in 1992 when he was just 17. Berg created what might be his finest "house of cards" yet, with the 400 square-foot "Key Card Hotel," made entirely out of key cards, down to the sheets and toilet lids.

The cleverly named hotel book site, Get a Room, is giving discount sites like Hotwire and Priceline a run for their money. The trick to the site, though, is actually picking up the phone and calling the company. How retro! The founders of the site are hotel booking pros -- they started hotels.com back in the internet dark ages of 1991. When you go to their site, you'll see deals of the day, and some internet specials, but those aren't the real deals.

The Sofitel in Washington DC is luring customers to check out its fancy digs with a sparkling deal. It's a cute version of a BOGO -- buy a bottle of Champagne Pommery's Cuvée Louise 1998 Champagne for $299, and you get a night's stay at the Sofitel. The champagne itself usually sells for around $200, and the hotel's rates tend to hover around $350 per night, so this deal is the real thing -- the Sofitel is asserting its French roots to your benefit.

Just in time for the DJ Awards fest in September, we've launched the new BlackBook guide to Ibiza & Formentera. In addition to the monster venue Pacha -- arguably the world capital of DJ excellence -- you'll find a wide assortment of the hottest nightlife, restaurants, shops, and hotels. Check it out now!

We all know that the economy isn't great, and that many a business is struggling with how to attract and retain customers. It's been actually kind of good in the creativity department for the travel industry, with all kinds of bargains to be had and humungous contests to win outrageous prizes. This campaign, though, is a little sad. The Rancho Bernardo Inn in San Diego is offering $19 nights August 16-31. Normally the rooms run about $200 a night. This all sounds cool except that part where you don't get to sleep in a bed -- you'll be paying $19 a night for no air conditioning, breakfast, toilet paper, nor lights, neither.