Holiday shopping? These hotel gift shops are great finds

Unique holiday shopping: The Ace Hotel New York has interesting gift ideas.

By Mark Chesnut

It’s that time of year. Busy travelers are suddenly realizing that they’ve got tons of shopping left to do, and very little time to do it. But fear not. Road warriors may find an array of unique holiday gift ideas right in the lobby of the next hotel where they check in. Here are some noteworthy examples to help you shorten your holiday list.

Active Los Angeles 
The Shop at The Standard, Downtown LA features unique finds from Retrosuperfuture, Kid Robot, Urbanears, Bumble & Bumble and Yellow Owl.  This year, The Standard has again partnered with Quiksilver to reissue a limited-edition series of original board shorts from the 1970s and 80s, updated with modern fits, fabrics and technology.

Miami Mode
At the Mandarin Oriental Miami, the on-site Shanghai Tang boutique stocks interesting men’s and women’s wear from that Hong Kong-based retailer. Just across the causeway, the Mondrian, A Morgans Hotel in South Beach has repurposed its very cool vending machine, dubbing it Base 24/7. The high-tech, always-open automated shop offers items from designers around the globe—including Miansai jewelry handcrafted in Miami, talking Nixon watches, retro-modern travel gear from Flight 001 and colorful headphones from Urbanears.

Big Apple Shopping
Ace Hotels, the  trendy line of boutique-style hotels, stocks clothing and gifts from a variety of designers and artists. At the Ace Hotel New York, for example, a shop called Opening Ceremony stocks travel essentials and souvenirs like custom robes, pajamas and modern takes on the “I Heart NY” T-shirt.

W Style
Anyone looking to bring home a bit of the comforts of hotel living should consider W Hotels, which sells its own W Bed, throws and signature candles. And the kids won’t be forgotten; among the choices for the younger set are books, apparel and interesting toys like Huggie Bears and wonderfully bizarre stuffed animals from Worrywoo Monsters.

Mark Chesnut is a travel writer, editor and publisher of LatinFlyer.com, which focuses on travel to Latin America. He’s behind on his gift list.

Tagged: California, Florida, Hotels