The new Hotel
Monaco at 225 N. Wabash in Chicago sure looks scrumptious, what
with its pistachio wallpaper, milk-chocolate pillows and cherry
headboards. But can you eat it? The folks at the hotel seem to
think so. Insider received a fax promoting a free-nights giveaway
at the 192-room hotel, which opened on Nov. 2. Under the program,
for every 10 room nights booked and "consumed" from November to
February, travel agents receive a certificate good for one night
gratis. Take it from Insider: If the hotel's soft goods are too
hard to swallow, a meal at the adjoining, French-inspired Mossant
is sure to please.
Cruising in at 66 to 1
A horse named Taufan's Melody won Australia's Caulfield Cup this
fall. The event is -- a horseracing aficionado friend tells us --
the third most important in Australia. The horse is owned by a
group, or syndicate, five of whose members happen to be crew
members of the QE2. These five had been on a Norwegian sailing,
talking among themselves about the possibility of buying a
greyhound. A horse owner overheard them and offered them a horse.
The syndicate members coughed up $6,500 (very little in that
business) and bought into Taufan's Melody. The horse has gone on to
earn $1.25 million. Most important, the horse won the Caulfield Cup
at 66 to 1. Sadly, the last port of call for the QE2 before the
race was New York, and no one was taking bets on the race there.
The five part-owners were at sea when the race was won; hence the
name they took for their group: the All at Sea Syndicate.
How good's the fishing?
Insider was fortunate enough to take the 90-minute boat
excursion offered by Capt. Ray Accosta, who runs a one-man
operation, Cookies Bayou Tours, out of Bay St. Louis, on the
Mississippi Gulf Coast. When he is not describing the delicate
ecology of the area, Accosta fishes, to help feed his family. For
that purpose, Bay St. Louis is just ideal, he said. "The fishing is
so good, you have to hide behind a tree when you bait your hook,"
he said.
Old St. Wiseguy
A Christmas card arrived
from Mike Leven, president and chief executive officer of U.S.
Franchise Systems. Underneath the image of Santa (pictured above
and, coincidentally, bearing something of a resemblance to Leven
himself), the front of the card reads as follows: "As a child, Mike
Leven told Santa that he wanted to be the president and CEO of at
least 3 successful hotel chains and be admired and loved by many.
Santa then leaned down and quietly whispered into little Mikey's
ear ... " [Inside card:] "I can't help you kid, you're Jewish."
Does Santa ever work the Mountains during the High Holy Days?
Wink-wink
Apparently, something of the U.S. Franchise Systems chief's
sense of humor prevails within the office as well -- or at least on
its Web site.
Open up the home page, and you're met with (in big bold banner
type) "Procreation at its Finest!" In case you missed the message
of growth, scroll down a little farther, and there are images of a
bunch of little bunnies and the announcement "Rabbitly Expanding!"
And while we're on the subject of wink-wink humor ...
Nudge-nudge
Those of us of a certain age cannot help noticing the
ever-younger age at which kids become inured to some of the coarser
entries in our language. For example, last summer, at the Jersey
shore, Insider looked skyward to check out one of those
airplane-banner ads and saw "Bar A -- Fri. Nite -- Dance Your Ass
Off!" Had such a banner adorned the sky, say, 30 years ago, mothers
on the beach would have scurried to cover their children's eyes,
and phone calls to the police could be expected. For our part, all
in all, we prefer the now to the then. The argument can be made
that we Americans are a bit too skittish about the ill effects of
everyday vulgarity.
Still, we were a bit surprised to find, in a press release
from so august an institution as the National Trust for Historic
Preservation, the heading "Get Scrooged at National Trust
Historic Hotels of America." (Italics theirs.) The National Trust
has been funded since 1945 by the Department of the Interior, so
maybe those groups that keep a close eye on the propriety of
National Endowment-funded projects might turn their attention to
the trust. But, no. Three years ago, Congress voted to phase out
funding of the NTHP, and, according to a spokesman for the trust,
it received its final taxpayer dollar in October. So, presumably,
the folks at the NTHP can advertise however they please, bless
their heart.