Did the Northeast's surprising, pre-Halloween snowfall get you thinking about Caribbean beaches a little earlier than normal this year?

Starwood is counting on it.

That's why the parent of Westin, Sheraton and W sped up the roll-out of its Caribbean hotel sale.

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HOTEL BUZZ:  Homeland Security airs TV spots in chain hotels

HOTEL BUZZ:  Michael Jordan Steakhouse a hit for Chicago hotel

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Hey Check-in readers, I wanted to tell you about an important change coming to our commenting system:

Beginning Wednesday, Nov. 9, the Travel section will replace our current system with commenting from Facebook (the rest of USATODAY.com will switch Nov. 28). Once the change takes effect, you will need an active Facebook account to submit comments on the site. We believe this change will simplify the process and enhance the conversation.

When visiting the site and logged into Facebook, you can easily comment on, and share, stories and blog posts. You'll also be able to include your friends in the conversation and get instant notification when someone responds to your comments.

Once you log into your Facebook account and start commenting, there will be no need to maintain a separate login on USATODAY.com. And if you have an existing USA TODAY login, it will continue to work after this change; you just won't need it for commenting. To see how the Facebook commenting procedure will work, go to our new romance-novel blog, Happy Ever After. If you don't have a Facebook account to continue commenting on our stories and posts, you can sign up at facebook.com.

I'm on Facebook at facebook.com/barbara.delollis, and look forward to joining the conversation with you.

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Seems the InterContinental Hotel in Chicago has a hit on its hands with the Michael Jordan Steakhouse.

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HOTEL BUZZ:  Homeland Security taps hotels for TV ads

HOTEL SALE:  Starwood's Caribbean sale: Free night, resort credits

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Tampa hoteliers are pushing back as organizers of the August 2012 Republican National Convention continue efforts to renege on their year-old contracts, the St. Petersburg Times and Tampa Bay Business Journal tell us.

The largest hotel in the county, for one, isn't budging.

HOTEL CHECK-IN:  Quick link to USA TODAY's hotels blog

HOMELAND SECURITY:  DHS to air TV public-service ads in hotel rooms

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Sonesta International Hotels has agreed to be purchased for $174 million by a real estate investment trust, the Boston Globe reports.

When the deal closes early next year, Sonesta's new owner will be Newton, Mass.-based Hospitality Properties Trust.

Travelers may not see much change, at least initially.

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HOTEL CHECK-IN:  More headlines from USA TODAY's hotels blog

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The Las Vegas Strip's shuttered Sahara resort will not be renovated instead of demolished, according to local reports by the Las Vegas Sun and other outlets.

The owners of the Rat-Pack-era hotel on Wednesday told the Clark County Commission that they'll renovate the casino floor and 1,622 hotel rooms in three towers.

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Daniel Boulud will open a Toronto outpost of Café Boulud at Four Seasons' soon-to-open hotel, making him the third superstar chef to open a restaurant in the city, TheStar.com reports.

The Toronto-based luxury hotel chain will open its new hotel next summer. Its existing hotel on Avenue Road will close early next year, the Star notes.

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HOTEL BUZZ:  Homeland Security targets travelers via hotel TV ads

BLACK FRIDAY:  IHG kicks off holiday season with $100 offer

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A woman who was stabbed in an elevator at a Hyatt Regency hotel near the Pittsburghs airport is suing Hyatt, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Melissa Ryan and Ryan O'Rourke, of East Pittsburgh, filed the complaint, claiming negligence over her Jan. 31 stabbing at the Hyatt-owned hotel.

The suit charges that hotel owner Hyatt Hotels Corp. eliminated security guards in May 2008, and that the failure to have a security team risked the woman's safety.

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HOTEL TVs:  Homeland Security runs TV spots in hotel rooms

TOP 10:  Roundup of Hotel Check-In's most popul stories

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IHG's the first hotel giant out of the gate with a Black Friday-Cyber Monday promo offering only on Twitter.

The parent company of Holiday Inn, InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Staybridge Suites and other chains has kicked off its "Gotta Get 100" promotion.

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HOTEL RATES:  Will the RNC renege on 2012 hotel contracts?

HOTEL CRIME:  Flight attendant killed in Hilton hotel in Mexico City

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Hard Rock International hopes to build one of its flashy rock-and-roll hotel-casino resorts in the rolling hills of quiet western Massachusetts, the Boston Globe reports.

The company is teaming with a local developer to propose the construction of a large hotel-casino on a 100-acre former country club site off Interstate 91. The land is near Interstate 90, the main highway that leads to Boston, where a Hard Rock Café sits near Faneuil Hall.

The site - about 90 minutes west of Boston - is also near four private colleges and one university: Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Casinos are not yet legal in Massachusetts.

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Justice Department auditors on Friday corrected the record, officially saying that the notorious $16 hotel muffin that sparked "Muffin-gate" - making headlines worldwide - didn't really cost taxpayers $16 after all.

According to the Associated Press, the Justice Department Inspector General on on Friday issued a revised report that addressed the muffin.

The report said the department had paid $16 per person for a continental breakfast that included other items such as coffee, juice and fruit.

CONVENTIONS:  Republic National Convention to renege on hotel contracts

HOTEL FRIGHT:  Packed NYC hotel elevator goes into free fall

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Three of the Top 10 most popular stories on Hotel Check-In for the prior week involved Marriott, with the rest tied to IHG, Sir Richard Branson and politics.

What propelled Marriott to the top of the list for the week ending Oct. 29, 2011? "Joey Quits," the ex-Renaissance hotel chain employee who quit his job with a full marching band and shared the brow raising scene with millions of viewers via YouTube.

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WEEKLY TOP 10:  Top 10 list for week ending Oct. 22, 2011

HOTEL FRIGHT:  Elevator goes into free fall in trendy NYC hotel

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Republican National Convention officials are reneging on hotel contracts signed a year ago for the 2012 Tampa, Fla., gathering, the St. Petersburg Times reports.

A crowd of hotel managers were told that their convention-week rooms would fetch less money during what they'd expected would be a routine update meeting last week, the story says.

"There were a couple hundred folks in the room slightly gasping,'' said Ron Alicandro, general manager of the Westin Tampa Bay. "We've all got signed contracts. None of us can understand it.''

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MORE HOTEL HEADLINES:  On USA TODAY's Hotel Check-In

HOTELS:  Packed NYC hotel elevator goes into free fall

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The family of a US Airways flight attendant found dead in his room at the Hilton Hotel in Mexico City said that a suspect is in custody, the Arizona Republic says.

On Saturday, flight attendant Nick Aaronson of Phoenix was found dead in his hotel room with signs of beating and strangulation.

On Sunday, a note posted on Facebook by the victim's mother, Anita Aaronson, said that the FBI had contacted them and told them about an arrest in the case, the Arizona Republic reports.

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If you have a fear of elevators, you might want to skip this...

A late-night party at Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City for indie film "Janie Jones" last Thursday turned into a horror flick for 14 people - including the movie's star and director, the New York Post, New York magazine and others report.

Party goers had packed into the elevator on the hotel's rooftop terrace and then made one more stop on another floor, when the elevator went into free fall - with the door partially open.

It plunged eight stories before the emergency brakes stopped it, the stories say.

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NYC HOTELS:  Storied Algonquin to close for major reno

PHOTO GALLERY:  Tour Ian Schrager's hip, new Public Chicago hotel

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WASHINGTON D.C. - Why were hotel giants Hilton, Starwood, Marriott and Carlson mentioned on Capitol Hill Thursday during a hearing on global human trafficking?

In a hearing that Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) called to examine findings in this year's Trafficking in Persons report, he noted that "American chain hotels in China as well as in Mexico have been locations of sex trafficking."

Police raided a five-star Hilton in China last year and found prostitution and other criminal activity in the hotel's independently operated bar, which forced Hilton to briefly close the hotel.

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One of New York City's landmark hotels - the Algonquin - will close for three months starting Jan. 1, 2012 for a major renovation, Hotel Check-In has learned.

The upscale hotel, which opened in 1902, is best known as the home to Dorothy Parker's famous Round Table and birthplace of New Yorker magazine.

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When Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler slipped and fell in his Paraguay hotel shower on Tuesday, it highlighted a real concern: Some hotel bathrooms are filled with slippery materials - namely, marble.

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NY HOTEL SCOOP:  Famed Algonquin to close Jan. 1, 2012 for reno

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How would you like to earn loyalty points and perks from the single company that runs your chic hotel, operates the acclaimed Jose Andres restaurant where you dine and opens the red-velvet ropes for you and your friends at a nightclub hidden behind a fast-food joint?

The points have nothing to do with the giant loyalty programs run by Marriott, Hilton or Starwood - or credit-card companies such as American Express.

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HOTEL VIP STATUS:  Are you willing to sleep around for it?

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Ever hear of a "mattress run?"

FlyerTalk.com the other day polled members if they've ever taken a so-called mattress run, which is the equivalent of a "mileage run" for hotel VIP status.

FlyerTalk.com asked: "Have you ever at a hotel for the sole purpose of qualifying for elite status?

NYC HOTEL SCOOP:  Algonquin to close for major reno

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When I checked results on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. EST, 55% of 8,986 members had voted "no," with the rest voting "yes," so I thought I'd pose the question to you.

Readers: Have you ever taken a mattress run to qualify for elite status? If so, tell us if it was for elite status with Marriott Rewards, Hilton HHonors, Priority Club Rewards, Starwood Preferred Guest or another program.

After about more than a year of planning, IHG's officially ready to launch a system-wide makeover of its Crowne Plaza chain, according to news flowing out of IHG's annual convention in Las Vegas.

There are no computer renderings of what a new lobby or guest room will look like yet, because it's too early in the process, an IHG spokeswoman told me.

But the Wall Street Journal has given us some details, such as the fact that the revamp of the 400-location chain will take five years.

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There will soon be one less hotel in Pennsylvania with the name "Hershey."

The Hershey Kiss maker and Radisson Hotels settled a trademark dispute, according to the Central Pennsylvania Business Journal.

Four months ago, Hershey had slapped Radisson Hotels and an individual hotel owner with a federal lawsuit after a Camp Hill, Pa. (near downtown Harrisburg) hotel had added "Hershey" to its name.

The owners of the Penn Harris Hotel in late 2010 had changed the hotel's name to the Radisson Hotel Harrisburg Hershey even though it's not affiliated with Hershey.

Terms of the settlement, the story says, require hotel owner Penn Lodge to stop using the Hershey trademark or any form that would be confused with with the famous chocolate company.

Readers: Comments?

Would you want as many hotel chain choices as you have cereal brands?

Kirk Kinsell, Holiday Inn-parent IHG's new top exec in the Americas, thinks you just might, according to the Wall Street Journal.

InterContinental Hotels Group plans to officially launch yet another mid-priced hotel chain in the USA early next year to cater to a group of frequent travelers, and Kinsell used the cereal analogy to explain why. He told the Journal:

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A Nashville hotel canceled an anti-Shariah conference that it had been set for Nov. 11 after learning about the event's agenda and receiving complaints from the public and clients, the Tennessean.com reports.

Nashville's Hutton Hotel - developed and owned by Amerimar Enterprises - had been scheduled to host the "Preserving Freedom" conference, which was to include, among other things, a workshop on organizing opposition to mosques.

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If housekeepers at the Westin Times Square hotel seem a bit more sprightly lately, check out their feet.

Starwood's wellness-themed hotel chain, for the first time, is rolling out the "wellness" platform that's meant for guests to staffers. Among other things, the program provides Westin housekeepers with a free pair of cushy, slip-resistant New Balance sneakers.

What's Westin's goal?

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Richard Branson's highly anticipated Virgin Hotels brand today will finally announce its first deal - in downtown Chicago.

A year after Virgin Hotels' launch, Virgin has completed the purchase of the landmark, 27-story Dearborn Bank Building at 203 N. Wabash.

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HOTEL NEWS:  Hotel lobby blasts White House's proposed ethics rule

PHOTO GALLERY:  Tour Virgin Atlantic's Heathrow Clubhouse

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A new rule proposed by the Obama Administration would ban federal employees from accepting free admission to events, conferences and other gatherings from lobbyists, the Los Angeles Times tells us this morning.

The rule is being proposed by Pres. Obama's Office of Government Ethics as a way to reduce influence peddling.

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ONLINE REVIEWS:  Starwood first hotel giant to publish reviews

TOP 10:  Hotel Check-In's most-read stories last week

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For your reading pleasure, we've compiled the Top 10 list of Hotel Check-In's most-read stories for the week ending Oct. 22.

In a week of fun features (such as Top 10 haunted hotels) and exclusives (such as Starwood.com to publish customer reviews and Marriott's new website for Autograph Collection), one story emerged as the clear winner.

No. 1 on the list: The story about the frustrated Marriott Renaissance hotel worker who became an Internet sensation - by quitting his job accompanied by a full marching band and posting the video on YouTube.com.

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WEEKLY TOP 10:  List for week ending Oct. 29, 2011

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Starwood later today will launch a first-ever online review function - a first-ever move by a U.S. global hotel company that gives its customers a high-profile voice and potential influence with other guests.

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TOP 10:  Hotel Check-In's most-read stories last week

PHOTO GALLERY:  Tour the glitzy, re-opened Hotel Bel-Air

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How'd you like to party in Las Vegas at a super-plush outdoor booth on the very tip of the Bellagio's terrace -right beside the thundering fountains?

PHOTO GALLERY:  Sneak peek at Hyde Lounge Bellagio in Vegas

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Soon, you'll have that option - if, that is, you can grab the table.

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How much do you really care about saving energy (and saving your hotel money) when in hotel rooms?

I'm asking because I read a piece the other day by a hotel energy systems exec aimed at convincing hoteliers to get serious about energy savings. One of the best ways to do it, he writes, is to educate hotel guests.

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It is with much embarrassment that I'm sharing this quintessentially Washington D.C. restaurant experience story with you. Some inside-the-Beltway folks will find the situation familiar, but it was a first for me and it gave Facebook buddies a good laugh...

Yesterday, I went to BLT Steak near the White House to catch up over lunch with Doug Miller, LivingSocial senior vice president who runs the Washington-based company's travel division, and two LivingSocial public-relations reps.

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HOTEL NEWS:  See the latest headlines on Hotel Check-In

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Holiday Inn's young "Club Vacations" brand has added a seventh location in Marco Island, Fla.

Sunset Cove Resort, the newest property, is a 36-unit location on the Rio waterway in the "City Center" activities district. It has a pool with sundeck, a bar and promenade area, boat dock and fitness center.

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VIRAL VIDEO:  Hotel worker quits job with marching band

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For tonight's movie premiere party of Dreamworks' Puss in Boots, stars Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek won't be at a Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton or some other five-star hotel.

They won't even be in New York or Los Angeles.

Instead, Banderas and Hayek will hobnob with VIPs at the Gaylord Texan conference center hotel in suburban Dallas when they kick off what will likely be a blockbuster spin-off of Shrek.

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SHREK and GAYLORD:  Hotel company inks deal with Dreamworks

SHREK PACKAGES:  Gaylord sets prices for character experiences

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Donald Trump's latest luxury hotel will open its doors to customers in Toronto on Jan. 31, 2012, senior Trump Hotel exec Jim Petrus tells Hotel Check-In.

The Trump International Hotel and Tower Toronto is located in a new landmark tower that soars 65 stories, giving guest rooms and the restaurant impressive views and making it the tallest residential tower in Canada.

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LUXURY HOTELS:  Four Seasons to open in Disney World

PHOTO GALLERY:  Tour Top 10 NYC hotels

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Did you hear about the young man who quit his job at a Marriott Renaissance hotel in Providence, R.I., accompanied by - a marching band? Seriously.

If you haven't yet seen what Marriott tells Hotel Check-In is "an unfortunate way for an employee to resign," you will soon.

I'm talking about a YouTube.com video that's well on its way to going viral. Zimbio.com, in fact, says the video received half a million views in less than a week.

The video also has 1,873 comments on it.

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HOTEL BARS:  Bellagio to get hip club near famed fountains

HOTEL WORKER:  Florida hotel fires worker for wearing U.S. flag pin

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With Halloween around the corner, Travelocity compiled this list of Top 10 haunted hotels in the USA.

Feel free to edit the list.

Tell us which hotels you'd add or delete by writing in the comments section below.

Two hotels that I would definitely add are Austin's Driskill Hotel and Oklahoma City's Skirvin Hilton Hotel.

TWITTER:  Marriott worker quits hotel job with marching band

HAUNTED HOTELS:  Ghost stories can be good for business

HAUNTED HOTELS:  Which hotel made this ESPN columnist believe?

Travelocity's list:

10. Pfister Hotel in downtown Milwaukee: Since its opening in 1893, the hotel's founder, Charles Pfister, wanted to make sure that guests enjoyed their stay in his establishment — a task he still performs to this day.

9. Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans' French Quarter: A night at Hotel Monteleone could include visits from child-like spirits, experiences with locked doors that open and shut on their own, and an elevator with a mind of its own.

8. Hotel Galvez in Galveston, Texas: The ghost of a young woman walks the halls of the fifth floor, agonizing over the loss of her seafaring husband.

7. Hotel Jerome in Aspen, Colo.: The most active spirit is known as the "water boy," a 10-year-old boy who drowned in the hotel's swimming pool during a family trip 1936.

6. The Queen Mary in Long Beach, Calif.: This is a hotel in an historic ocean liner that no longer sails. Even so, some of the ship's past guests are reported to still be aboard.

5. Hotel Baker in downtown St. Charles, Ill.: At Hotel Baker, which opened in 1928, some guests report that their bed sheets have been disheveled—even though no one had been in the room.

4. Hawthorne Hotel in Salem, Mass.: Two of the most talked about paranormal activities in this hotel - about 16 miles outside of Boston - are the phantom hands in Room 325 and the spectral woman on the sixth floor.

3. Bourbon Orleans in the French Quarter: Ghost sightings include a Confederate soldier on the sixth and seventh floors, ghost children and women from the building's time as a convent, and the lonely dancer in the famous Orleans Ballroom.

2. Crescent Hotel, Eureka Springs, Ark.: Ghosts have been spotted in Room 202 and Room 424. Doors seemingly slam shut on their own, and guests have been shaken awake at night by unseen phantoms.

1. Stanley Hotel, Estes Park. This historic hotel, one of the most popular haunted hotels in the USA, generates reports of phantom piano players, ghostly guests and thieving spirits.

Readers: Comments?

The former Renaissance Wailea Beach Resort in Maui, which has sat vacant since mid-2007 and was once slated to become a St. Regis, is finally going to be renovated, Maui News reports.

Starting early next year, the resort - on a prime 16-acre beachfront lot - will be partly demolished and rebuilt, says the story.

When it does open, the hotel won't have a Marriott brand name. It will open as one of Hyatt's upscale Andaz locations, the story says.

HOTEL MARKETING:  Marriott launches website for anti-chain crowd

154 COMMENTS:  Hotel fires worker for wearing U.S. flag pin

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USA TODAY's Kitty Bean Yancey provided this report for Hotel Check-In.

BEL-AIR, Calif. --The Hotel Bel-Air , a 65-year-old pink palace in L.A. known as a discreet getaway for Hollywood celebs and VIPs, opened its doors Friday after a two-year, top-to-bottom renovation.

USA TODAY was the first to check in, with staffers leading the way to the redone digs over the bridge by the pond where the hotel's three swans glide.

HOTEL BEL-AIR:  The reno has been all the buzz in LA

HOTEL BEL-AIR:  Hollywood moguls can finally use cell phones here

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Hotel front-desk supervisor Sean May on Thursday was fired from an historic St. Augustine, Fla., hotel for wearing a lapel pin, which breaks the hotel's "personal appearance" rules that bans the wearing badges and pins, Jacksonville TV station News4Jax.com reports.

But May wasn't wearing just any pin: It's an American flag pin, which is why the Casa Monica Hotel's move is sparking controversy in quaint St. Augustine, Fla.

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HAUNTED HOTELS:  Top 10 haunted hotels in the USA

PHOTO GALLERY:  Tour Top 10 pet friendly hotels

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