MTV is sponsoring a contest to promote the action film Max Payne starring Mark Wahlberg. So what do you get if you win? "Two-nights accommodation at the luxurious Hotel Pennsylvania." Next thing you know they're going to throw in dinner at the classy Hawaiian Tropic Zone! [NYO]

Looking to reserve a spot for your New Year's Eve party? The Renaissance Hotel in Times Square is planning to auction off its third-floor restaurant, which formerly housed the much-maligned Chop Suey, with the bidding starting at $150,000. Spending that kind of money on a lousy restaurant located within a lousy hotel might seem a little strange. (Hey, for the same amount, you could hold a party for five straight nights in the most expensive suite room in town.) But we're guessing the hotel's general manager realizes this, too, since he says he expects "someone from overseas"—someone who's never actually been to the hotel, we're presuming—to ring in with the highest bid.

So what are the biggest differences between Stay, Vikram Chatwal's newly-opened hotel in Times Square, and the old Quality Inn it replaced? Not many, apparently! Early reviews for Chatwal's new property aren't all that positive, which may be because Chatwal's renovations of the old Quality Inn stopped on the first floor. Only the lobby and the restaurant were thoroughly renovated, while the rooms just got a quick change of decor, like new "curtains and stuff," according to a front desk clerk. That's certainly one way to save costs in this economy.

It doesn't strike us as an ideal time to be launching a splashy new hotel in Midtown, but turbaned hotelier/playboy Vikram Chatwal's latest property opened today on West 47th Street. Chatwal gave the property the gimmicky name Stay. But it might just work out to his advantage: In this economy, you can interpret it as Chatwal's personal request that you stay at his hotel and stay there for a very long time. [StayHotelNY.com, HotelChatter]

Sarah Palin will be departing the city shortly, assuming her motorcade hasn't already made a beeline for the airport. The candidate for VP spent yesterday, of course, sneaking peeks at the fold-out world map in her pocket as she tried to discuss weighty issues with various world leaders at the U.N. Her husband and strangely-named kids, in the meantime, paid a visit to the Central Park Carousel and FAO Schwarz. The Palins met up in the evening at the Millennium UN Plaza Hotel, where a throng of reporters and fringe Palin supporters were waiting for them at the entrance. Let it be known, however, that the folks at HotelChatter most definitely do not approve of Palin's hotel selection: "If laying low is what you're looking to do, may we gently chime in to let you know that staying at the Millenium Broadway smack in the middle of midtown during your NYC visit is not the way to go about it? It's tourist central over there." Agreed, although it is a considerable step up from the hotels she's accustomed to.

According to folks at The London NYC, they now have the highest hotel suite in town: The penthouse duplex is located on the building's 53rd and 54th floors and will run you $15,000 a night. [Luxist]

The folks at HotelChatter spent a night at The Jane, the new, cheapo West Village hotel by Eric Goode and Sean MacPherson, the duo who brought you the Maritime and Bowery hotels and who are partners in the Waverly Inn with Graydon Carter. What do you get for a mere $99 a night? No scented candles, apparently. "What does lurk in the hallway is a smell like that of men who only bathe every 4 days. It's a baked-in aroma, probably as much a part of the building as its vintage elevator." But it's not all bad! There's free wi-fi, the location is superb, and the bathrooms—which are shared—are decent. And at those prices, even your friends who have been downsized should be able to afford a room.

That tall building rising on Ludlow Street? That would be the Hotel Ludlow, which will be opening in early 2009 with 170 rooms, a restaurant, spa, and "exclusive rooftop lounge." Let the LES hotel wars begin! [Curbed]

Jason Pomeranc is heading East. His Thompson Hotels is planning its first property outside of North America, a 100-room boutique property in Seoul that will be designed by Ilan Waisbrod of Studio Gaia. The hotel will be equipped with a "golf area," which should not be confused with a "golf course." Jason's iteration features a driving range, putting green, and some sort of simulated golf set-up, but it will still cost $100,000 in initiation fees to become a member if you're not a hotel guest. If it's anything like his previous projects, you can expect it to be "done" in about three weeks, but actually open to the public in September 2014, with the pool under construction until February of 2015. [HotelChatter, HD Mag]

A bit more news today about yet another (over)hyped boutique hotel expected to land in New York in the near future. Ace Hotels, the West Coast-based chain of hotels for "urban nomads," will be opening a NYC outpost on 29th and Broadway (the former home of the Hotel Breslin and an SRO) in February 2009. The hotel will feature a restaurant by Ken Friedman and a Stumptown coffee shop. No photos of anything just yet; pretty sketches will have to suffice for now. [Curbed, HC]

The Olympics are officially over. So what will happen to all those fancy buildings in Beijing that were built specifically for the event? Chinese officials won't be letting them go to waste: A series of massive renovation projects are planned. The swimming venue will be transformed into a water theme park, the basketball gymnasium will morph into a shopping mall/ice skating rink, and as for the Bird's Nest stadium, which was designed by Herzog & de Meuron and took nearly 5 years to build, it will be used for soccer games and concerts and will also be turned into a hotel. Now there's an idea for the baseball fans and preservationists who have been mourning the fact that Yankee stadium is set to be demolished at the end of this season. Maybe some developer could, say, turn the stadium into the lobby of a giant Ramada? The people who want to save the stadium just need to convince a developer that out-of-towners would be happy to stay in the south Bronx.

Now here's an idea for cheap New York hoteliers: The world's first "recycled" hotel opened in Britain this week, a Travelodge that was constructed entirely out of shipping containers. The 120-room property in Uxbridge took less than a month to construct, used 86 steel containers manufactured in Shenzen, China, and cost 10 percent less than a normal hotel. After the jump, video of what New York budget hotelier Sam Chang will probably be doing five years from now.

The most expensive hotel stay in the world. And it's in Abu Dhabi, naturally! [Khaleej Times, via Luxist]

Hope you don't have to travel to Moscow on your own dime! According to a corporate travel firm, Hogg Robinson Group, the average room rate in Moscow has jumped by 93 percent in the last four years, making Moscow's hotel rooms among the most expensive in the world. The Baltschug Kempinski will run you a minimum of $1,600 a night. Rooms at the Ararat Park Hyatt and Ritz-Carlton start at $1,300. And the city-wide average of $540 is more than $150 above the average in New York. (Sounds like Moscow needs Sam Chang.) Fortunately, these rooms are all stocked with expansive mini-bars and many varieties of vodka. So if you are, in fact, paying out of your own pocket, you'll be able to drown your worries easily enough.

Hotelier Jason Pomeranc takes some time to chat with the Observer this week and addresses the issue that always seems to be staring him in the face, namely the delays that have pushed back the opening of his new Thompson LES on several occasions now (not to mention made Pomeranc something of a running joke in the industry). But Pomeranc has good news! Three of the 22 floors will open this week, although if you'd like to use the pool or sample the restaurant on the second floor, you'll have to wait until October 15th when it will probably be too cold to swim anyway. "There are always unforeseen circumstances that cause delays in scheduling," Pomeranc tells Chris Schott. (Not addressed: The rumor that Pomeranc spends more time jetting around the world with his hottie publicist girlfriend Ali Wise, above, than he does at the office.) But if you think the delays and bad press may have humbled Jason just a little bit, well, don't get ahead of yourself.

Hotel moguls Sean MacPherson and Eric Goode will unveil their latest spot, the Jane Hotel (located on—yes, you guessed it—Jane Street) beginning next week. What will the duo behind the Bowery and Maritime be serving up this time? Rooms that resemble ship cabins, are 50-square-feet, have no private baths, and will cost "under $100 a night." And as a part of a special bonus to make the whole experience extra-super-gritty, hotel visitors will get to share the property with "long-term residents" of the former welfare hotel. (Unfortunately, MacPherson and Goode were unsuccessful in their efforts to evict them.) Good news, though, for the grizzled old-timers who have hung around: They'll have free WiFi and a concierge now, plus plenty of naive Danish tourists to squeeze free drinks out of at Socialista downstairs.

The Olafur Eliasson's East River waterfall was switched on this morning. And what did the decidedly midrange Buckingham Hotel do? They announced a silly $75,000 "weekend waterfalls getaway," complete with visits to the (free) waterfalls and a side trip to Niagara Falls. How glam! At least glammer than their $169-a-night leap year promotion a couple of months ago. [NYDN]

Self-professed call girl "Chloe" weighs in with her take on a handful of the chic-est hotels around town: "The wait for food [at the Bowery] is mind-boggling." For someone who sells her bod for a living, the gal's got surprisingly high standards for sauteed duck foie gras! [Gridskipper]

If there's one thing Jason Pomeranc excels at it's swearing up and down that he'll open a hotel by a certain date and then failing to follow through. Now he's promised that his Thompson LES will open on July 15th—and, shockingly, it looks like actually might. There's a first time for everything, even when it comes to overly slick hotel developers. [Hotel Chatter]

Actor-turned-entrepreneur Robert "I call him Bobby" Deniro is planning to open a "Nobu Hotel" in the Financial District. It will be the second one—he already has a Nobu Hotel in Israel (who knew?). The plan is to, you know, make it a nice hotel, and also have a Nobu restaurant in it. Branding a hotel with a restaurant's name, and not vice versa, is an interesting concept. If it becomes popular and widespread, it could help prominent chefs and restaurateurs to have greater leverage in their partnership deals, rather than being treated as ornaments for the hotel centerpiece. The brand drives the business, so it's a bit of a gamble on Nobu's international appeal. One partner says of the hotel, "Instead of a mint on the pillow, you could find a sushi roll." Well, that actually sounds disgusting. [NYP/ pic via Curbed]