The next time you’re strolling through the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, keep your eyes peeled for a Jessica Simpson sighting. The saccharine sweet songstress is reportedly one of the first celebs to close on a unit at the newly opened Palms Place Condo Hotel, located next to the Palms proper. Other celebrities rumored to be purchasing units include Eminem and Hulk Hogan (why is everyone buying here a blond?).

In an effort to offer something that no other Vegas property has, the Palms Place has created a Hammam, or Turkish bath, where men and women can mingle in air that’s basically just really hot and wet. Hmm. Why not just go to a Vegas nightclub instead? As much as we are not into the idea of being trapped in a room with a bunch of sweaty randoms in Vegas, the Palms Place is pretty swank. The 30,000-square-foot Drift Spa intrigues us with its private outdoor garden lounges, and the fire pits around the pool aren’t too shabby. Should you want to bunk in at the latest lodging option from the Maloofs, nightly rates start at $179, but expect to pay between $209 and $299 on most nights (you can check the reservations calendar online to see the rate breakdown).

Simpson’s Found Her Place in Vegas

Here’s a great little hotel deal for anyone fancying a midweek getaway to sunny Palm Springs. Relax at the plush Viceroy Palm Springs Resort for 25 percent off - but not just your room. Book the Breathe Easy Package on the hotel’s web site, and you’ll also save 25 percent off spa services, food and drinks. And you’ll receive access to complimentary wellness programs, bicycles and Internet access.

And what a time to head to this famous desert hotel. They’ve recently added the Ice Haus, a D.I.Y., open-air spa treatment room where you can slather yourself with clay mud followed by an ice exfoliation treatment and a spritz in the shower, complete with seaweed scrub bar. The on site spa is also offering evening massages held outdoors under the stars.

I just checked rates for a midweek stay in June and found them starting at $109/night for a king room. A King room with pool view was available for $142/night, while the luxe Sovereign Villa can be had for $389/night.

Traveling techies take note: W Hotels are trying to woo you. Case in point: the W Hotels Wired Package. Through May 30th, the hotel brand is offering a package geared at business travelers willing to pay a premium for hip accommodations paired with some geek-tastic perks:

- Unlimited broadband Internet access

- Unlimited local and toll-free calls

- One-year subscription to Wired magazine

- Trial membership to VONGO, a movie download service, good for 30 days

Rates for the package vary depending the location. The lowest starts at $139/night at the W Atlanta Perimeter. But expect to pay rates starting at $369/night if you book the package at the W New York Union Square.

If you were in any doubt that age takes its toll, behold the latest in celebrity travel news: While bedding down at the InterContinental Sydney Hotel on a stop during his current Aussie tour, rocker Rod Stewart reportedly complained to hotel staff when a neighboring guest’s music kept him from getting his beauty rest (which he clearly needs).

But here’s the funny part: the guest - who happened to be pumping out the jams with music by Italian crooner Eros Ramazotti - refused to turn down the volume. Instead, the guest offered a compromise. Tell Stewart to send one of his own CDs to play instead. But Stewart wasn’t having it and refused. Eventually, the story goes, the guest turned the music down of his own accord, and everyone was able to get to beddie-by on time. Phew!

Aging Rocker Rod Stewart Kept Awake By Noisy Neighbour

The MGM Grand at Foxwoods started accepting reservations yesterday. The new $700 million complex is slated to open May 20th in the sprawling Connecticut gambling mecca, which, as you may or may not know, happens to be the largest casino in the world. Yeah, bigger than any casino in Vegas. Rates are advertised starting at $295/night, but for a Friday night in June, you can expect to pay $350 and up.

The new resort casino will offer 825 rooms, a 4,000-seat theater, outdoor pool, full-service spa, nightclub, meeting space, upscale retail shops and several restaurants. Oh yeah, and gambling. Don’t forget the gambling.

How’s this for bizarre not-quite-celebrity travel news? As TMZ.com reports, the step-brother of social climbing The Hills star and tabloid charmer Heidi Montag died late last week after falling off the roof of the hotel where he worked.

Eric O’Hara was apparently trying to remove snow collecting atop the 4-star Steamboat Grand Resort Hotel Conference Center when he slipped and fell. We’re sure Montag is filled with grief over the incident. We just hope she can refrain from somehow turning it into a photo op with her cheesetastic faux-fiance Spencer.

Pink and soon-to-be-ex-husband Carey Hart may be smiling in this photo, but we suspect the couple is doing more grinning and bearing it these days than flashing their oh-so-pearly whites. The couple recently announced that they will be splitting after a whopping two years of marriage. That’s like, uh, several decades in Hollywood years.

But here’s why we care: just before they announced their pending divorce, songstress Pink and her biker man reportedly were booked for a stay at the Kahala Hotel Resort in Honolulu. And while Pink is said to have canceled the seven-night stay in one of the hotel’s $3,000/night suites (they would have been there as we speak) once she realized that her marriage was doomed, we’re pretty sure a trip like that could help most couples go a long way towards reconciliation. Here are three reasons why:

1. Spa treatments in luxe spa suites that feature infinity-edge soaking tubs and private landscaped courtyards.

2. Dolphin Quest. If that won’t make you happy, nothing will.

3. Views like theses:

Yo, New Yorkers. Need a last minute getaway? There is still a week left to take advantage of the New York State Tourism department’s weekend getaway promotion good at a plethora of the state’s independent inns. Through March 7th, over 160 participating inns are offering travelers a free Sunday night stay when they book Friday and Saturday night accommodations, and many are offering the same deal (stay two nights, get the third night free ) for mid-week stays, as well. You can search for deals at participating inns using the web site’s interactive map.

Book a Winter Getaway and Get 1 Night Free!

If ever a hotel were an icon, the Plaza New York is one. And with tomorrow’s reopening after two years and $400 million in renovations, the famed hotel will once again take a prominent spot on any list of Manhattan’s most luxurious lodging options. Featured in films from Arthur to Almost Famous, the Fifth Avenue landmark has downsized to just 282 hotel rooms from its former 805. Much of the building, which was given a roof-down overhaul, is now devoted to condo hotel units and private residences.

For nightly rates of $795 and up, guests may indulge in luxury perks like private butlers on each floor, bathroom fixtures plated in 24-karat gold and centralized room control panels that do everything from dim the lights to change the television channels.

Luckily, travelers who choose to stay elsewhere can enjoy the hotel’s lavish atmosphere with afternoon tea in the opulent surroundings of the Palm Court. By late spring or early summer, the hotel plans to open a high-end retail shopping area, a Caudalie Spa, a renovated Oak Room and Oak Bar, a Champagne bar and a Warren Tricomi Salon.

Today San Francisco celebrates the opening of its first newly built hotel in three years. With a location next to the Moscone Center, the 550-room InterContinental San Francisco will be prime stomping grounds for the hoards of convention-goers the center attracts each year. Leisure travelers will find themselves near popular SoMA attractions like Yerba Buena Gardens, the SF MoMA and the massive Westfield Centre shopping complex.

The hotel stands out for offering floors with just 22 rooms, floor-to-ceiling windows in every room and an indoor lap pool. Both the hotel’s Luce Restaurant and lobby-level Bar 888 have been getting a lot of hype in all the local foodie and drinkie publications, so we expect both venues to be pretty happening over the next few months.

Several stories I’ve read pegged the hotel’s rates at $200+, but I found a standard king available on a Saturday night in April for $170 with advance payment and $189 for a flexible reservation.