New York Travel Guide
Tags: Sneak Peek / Hotel Openings / Manhattan Hotels / Ascend Collection / → All Tags
Rooms at The Distrikt Not As Funky as the Hotel's Name Suggests
One of our favorite milestones when tracking a new hotel opening is the release of photos. Not renderings, not collages, but full color pictures of the guestrooms we’re so eager to check into. Today The Distrikt Hotel reaches that milestone by posting photos on its Facebook page.
We’ve been dying for a glimpse inside the hotel since the funky collages on the website--while arty and cool--left us without a clue as to room design. Now The Distrikt delivers and we’re both relieved and disappointed.
Relieved that the neighborhood theme is not an OTT mish-mash as it could have been, but a little sad that the décor plays it so safe. For all its savvy marketing, The Distrikt looks pretty middle-of-the-road when it comes to design. The rooms look nice in these photos—but "nice" means a place your mom would be comfortable staying. (That is, if she isn’t scared off by the funky name.) And that’s just not what we were expecting here.
Tags: HotelChatter Reviews / Manhattan Hotels / Historic Hotels / Hotel Promotions / → All Tags
Inside The Roosevelt NYC: The Consummate Tourist Hotel
Like we said yesterday, you really can't beat winning a room rate of $19.24 on Twitter for three nights in a historic hotel property in the middle of Manhattan. That said, The Roosevelt has its ups and its downs, but it is most definitely the quintessential New York tourist hotel. Onto our experience, over Halloween weekend:
Check-in:
Although we live in New York, we came straight to The Roosevelt after flying into JFK at the end of a trip, so we were your typical tired, bedraggled guest. Friends who were visiting for the weekend would be staying in the room with us, and as they were arriving earlier, we directed to do the regular thing of asking the hotel front desk to hold the luggage until the person under whose name the reservations is (that'd be us) arrived. But the front desk clerk told us immediately that two others had been looking for us already and that it was a security risk to give out room numbers. Yes, we know this; just hold the luggage and don't act like it's some big scary, unusual service.
Tags: Standard Hotels / Hotel Awards / Andre Balazs / Hotel Architecture / → All Tags
The Standard Hotel is The Best Building of the Aughts, So Says Curbed
Curbed recently put out the first of what will be many lists across the internet universe, saying goodbye to the aughts. But this being Curbed, they focused on the The Best New Buildings of The Decade for New York City. And wouldn't you know it? The Standard Hotel is the #1 best building of the decade.
Yes, The Standard. Since we tracked the opening of this hotel pretty much from its inceptions, we're a little surprised to see it top this list. We say it looks way better from the inside looking out then just on its own. But we guess naked people in the windows helps.
Here are some of our favorite moments of the Standard NYC...through the years.
Tags: Hotel Openings / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Booking Tips / → All Tags
Quikbook Still The Way To Go For The Strand, Now Opening December 1st
While we had high hopes of seeing one of our hotly anticipated new NYC hotels opening before Thanksgiving— The Strand in the garment district—it now looks like we'll have to wait another couple of weeks. Cross out that November 16th opening date, folks, and pencil in December 1st. That is the first date showing up on both the hotel's online reservation system, and on Quikbook.
As we reported in our last update, Quikbook is definitely the way to go when booking a night at The Strand. Previously it was showing a saving of $40 per night compared to the rates on the hotel's website. Now those savings are $70. A Superior King is going for $329 a night through the hotel, but just $259 on Quikbook. If waiting a bit longer for the doors to open can save us money like this, we might even be content to wait another week or two.
Tags: Hotel Video Tours / Manhattan Hotels / Historical Hotels / → All Tags
Sleeping Inside One Of NYC's Historic Hotels: Our Room at The Roosevelt
It's almost impossible to believe that, in the years that we've been around here at HotelChatter, we have not slept in the historical hotel that is The Roosevelt. But then, we do live here, and there have been other hyped new openings to focus on, thus putting The Roosevelt on our back burner. And there it stayed.
...Until recently, when The Roosevelt held a promotion on Twitter to offer stays at the low, low rate of $19.24 a night, for a maximum stay of three nights. The $19.24 honored the year that this grand dame first opened, as part of a trio of hotels next door to Grand Central Station. Of the three—the other two being The Biltmore and The Commodore—The Roosevelt is the only survivor, and she continues to give a neverending flow of tourists a place to lay their heads after a long day of exploring the Big Apple.
Tags: HotelChatter Reader Deals / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Deals / → All Tags
Here's Your Chance to Tell Us What You Think of The Surrey Hotel
When we got our sneak peek of The Surrey Hotel on New York's Upper East Side, we were thrilled by the luxe elegance we found in the room, not to mention the swank neighborhood outside. But then we read a review from Globalista that wasn't quite what we hoped for. Even though the TripAdvisor reviews were generally positive, the seeds of doubt were planted.
Coupled with our disappointment about the hotel's introductory offer, chances were looking slim on taking a chance on The Surrey. Until now.
The Surrey has just sweetened the deal for HotelChatter Readers by offering a complimentary night when you reserve a minimum two-night stay.
Tags: Thanksgiving Hotels / Twitter / Manhattan Hotels / Affinia Hotels / → All Tags
Win Tickets to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (And a Night at The Affinia)
Another day, another Twitter hotel contest. But this is one that could score you major brownie points with the kids. Tomorrow, Affinia Hotels launches a Twitter promotion where the prize is exclusive access to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parde—and an overnight stay at the Affinia Manhattan on Thanksgiving night.
While a free night in a NYC hotel on a holiday is nothing to scoff at, the seating for the parade is the big deal here. Tickets are not available to the general public—seating is restricted to the folks of NBC, corporate sponsors, Macy’s execs, politicians, and charitable organizations. So win these babies and you’ll be hobnobbing it up, away from the riff-raff with their fold-up chairs.
Tags: Hotel Views / Hotel Openings / InterContinental Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
Scoping Out the View From the InterContinental Times Square
Often in New York City hotels, views are non-existent, or they’re of the poor suckers in the apartment building across the street. So when we get a chance to gaze out across the city—or even New Jersey!—we are much happier campers. Which is why we were thrilled to see these photos of the view from the InterContinental Times Square, opening in July 2010.
When we last checked in on the hotel’s progress, there were just renderings of the tower. We’ve got nothing against renderings, but you can't beat seeing a building in living color—or even in muted grays like in these shots taken on an overcast day in Manhattan. The photos come courtesy of InterContinental’s Facebook page—which we applaud. Hotels and chains using Facebook and Twitter to give us sneak peeks at upcoming properties or new promotions is definitely a trend we support.
Tags: HotelChatter / Jaunted / VegasChatter / 92Y Tribeca / Twitter / Facebook / → All Tags
Meet Us in NYC at the 92Y Tribeca as We Talk Hotels, Travel and Social Media
We're assuming you're already following HotelChatter on Twitter and Facebook but if you've ever had the desire to meet us in real life, here's your chance!
On Thursday, December 3, we're talking with a few top travel friends at the 92Y Tribeca. The event, "Travel Gets Social: The New World of Travel Media," brings together Bowen Payson, Virgin America Manager of Online and Digital Marketing, NY Times Frugal Traveler Matt Gross, Adam Wallace, New Media Director for Roger Smith Hotel and others, moderated by the man who started it all: Mark G. Johnson, founder of Jaunted, HotelChatter and VegasChatter.
All the details, after the jump.
Tags: Hotel Renovations / Trump Hotels / Celebrity Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
Trump International Will Stay Open During 2010 Renovations
With all the breathless anticipation over the February opening of the Trump SoHo, we almost forgot that the Don and the kids had other properties. (Almost but not quite—after all, how can you miss those towers cutting off your access to the sun?) But you don't expect the Trumps to let their flagship baby languish while the cool kid downtown gets all the attention, do you? Of course not!
So it will come as no surprise, then, that the Trump International Hotel & Tower New York (that big sucker at the bottom of Central Park) is getting a multimillion-dollar spit and polish come January.
While the Forbes (formerly Mobil) Five-Star Hotel has always been stately and posh, the renovations will, according to Donald J. Trump Jr, put it in step with the "elegant, classic-contemporary feel of the other Trump Hotel Collection properties." It was Don Jr. himself who approved the model room displaying the proposed renos. So, what can all those tween stars expect when their tours bring them back to NYC in 2010?
Tags: Hotel Restaurants / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel News / Hotel Chefs / → All Tags
Ma Peche Restaurant Opens At NY's Chambers Hotel, And We're So There
We've made no secret of the fact that one of our favorite Digital Nomad Lobbies is the mezzanine at NYC's Chambers Hotel, and three days ago while working in our usual nook, we noticed a suspicious lunch menu sitting on the sidetable. But how could we order this lunch when there was no wait staff? Ah ha—we should have known that they were being trained at that very moment for the opening of the hotel's new restaurant, Ma Peche.
Ma Peche is the latest spot from David Chang of the foodie favorite Momofuku megaforce that counts three restaurants in the Lower East Side. This being his first highly anticipated restaurant in Midtown, and hello—it's in a hotel, so it's screaming our name—we said scram to our hot pockets and headed in for the first lunch ever.
The details, after the jump.
Tags: Reality TV Hotels / Hotel Renovations / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Hair Salons / → All Tags
Reality Star Gives Makeovers in Madeover Suites at The Kimberly Hotel
We know what you’re thinking: reality TV stars at hotels—no, thanks. But this tale does not involve Speidi or Omarosa or a certain single father of eight. No, the reality TV dude in question here is Danish hairdresser Rene Fris, who was one of the judges for Bravo’s Shear Genius. Here he is wielding his scissors in a suite at the Kimberly Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.
But before you get too excited, Fris has not started a salon residency in the hotel—he was there to give a few lucky folks a makeover. The hair, make-up, and styling session bestowed upon Fred and Susan Denischuk and their daughter Melanie Jaskiw was a silent auction prize at the Viennese Opera Ball. For the lowly among us, that’s one of the big charity galas on the New York City social calendar, thrown by the U.S.-Austrian Chamber of Commerce. It’s the kind of ball where ladies wear long gowns and men are required to wear "white tie and decorations."
It’s held at the Waldorf-Astoria, but it was the smaller but still luxurious Kimberly Hotel which donated the rooms for the Denischuk family to claim their makeover prize last month.
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