Brooklyn Travel Guide
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NYT Retreats to Brooklyn to Check Out the Nu Hotel
We know it’s unflattering to be too smug, but we could have saved the New York Times the hassle of retreating to Brooklyn — if only they had read our coverage of the outer borough’s Nu Hotel.
But alas, such was not the case, and this past weekend the NYT checked in to the downtown Brooklyn boutique hotel, which you might remember opened last August. The experience produced obvious results (well, obvious if you’ve been eyeing the place as closely as we have been): bright, modern rooms; cork floors and hammocks (in three of the rooms); views of the Brooklyn House of Detention across the street; a fantastic location but noisy traffic from Atlantic Avenue.
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Checking In On Brooklyn's Nu Hotel :: Big, Clean, White and Bright
We listed Brooklyn's Nu Hotel as one of the top five hotels in Brooklyn and ever since it opened, we have felt like it could be a place we wouldn't mind stashing our visiting parents, whether we lived in Manhattan or right around the corner.
Since our parents (or friends) haven't had a chance to check it out for themselves -- hammocks in the rooms and all -- we dropped into TripAdvisor to see what reviewers had to say.
Feedback was mostly positive -- a couple "teething problems," but nothing out of the ordinary for any recently-opened hotel. But what really jumped out to us were the number of reviewers who commented on the differences between Manhattan hotels and the Nu: Nu's rooms are apparently bigger, brighter and cheaper than their counterparts over the bridge.
A couple of our fave comments after the jump.
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The Five Best Hotels for Those Not Afraid to Go to Brooklyn
You may not know it, but part of HotelChatter HQ happens to be located in Brooklyn, NY. And if you were, say, heading to NYC for a big-city visit, we'd be quick to recommend our 'hood instead of that busier, slightly more stressful borough over the bridge (don't be scared! Brooklyn kicks ass!) But hey, we'll be the first to break the news to you: hotels are pretty hard to come by 'round these parts.
But we're here for you. You're gonna be tired when you get here (you know, cause "no sleep 'til Brooklyn" and all) so we'll get right to it: after the jump, our five fave Brooklyn hotels.
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Brooklyn Hotel Boom :: Maybe Not So Much
Curbed pointed us to a kinda sorta sad story about the Brooklyn hotel boom turning out to be, uh, notsomuch a hotel boom at all. Those 5000 hotel rooms on the way? Nopers! They summed it up:
A Post report claims that of the 5,000 new hotel rooms planned for Brooklyn, more than half may never see their first check-in. According to an industry expert, of the roughly 25 Brooklyn hotels in the pipeline, many planned for Downtown Brooklyn and Williamsburg, only seven will be completed within the next three years. That's a total of about 2,000 hotel rooms, which would still significantly increase the borough's current tally of 1,200.
Gene Kaufman may be screwed now -- he had a bunch of projects in the works. But maybe we shouldn't be so sympathetic -- a Curbed commenter left a note saying that he's "one of the most talentless and unlikable people [he's] ever had the displeasure of working with." So -- eh!
Tags: New York City Hotels / Brooklyn Hotels / → All Tags
RoomMate Hipster is Way Cheaper Than RoomMate Grace
NYC's RoomMate Grace Hotel (formerly the Hotel QT) had her dorm-sized rooms going for $349 a night on Quikbook last time we checked. Pass.
Luckily, for those of us who happen to be down with the dorm-style hotel thing, we've got another NYC option in that lovely alterna-trendy Williamsburg/Bushwick area of Brooklyn.
And it's $29.99 a night. How do you like that, RoomMate Grace?
Take the L train (natch) down to the New York Loft Hostel on Varet St. where you can live like the kids these days and stake out a bunk bed in a big, shiny room full of cheap hip young things.
RoomMate Hipster (ha! We're so funny) offers three choices: a 14-bed female room, a 20-bed male room, or a 22-bed mixed room. And even though this is technically a hostel, the beds and floors are all as shiny and new as your fellow guests' 3G iPhones. For now.
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Brooklyn Hotels Safe from Weekend Power Outages
Things got unpleasantly steamy in four parts of Brooklyn yesterday - Sunset Park, Bay Ridge, Borough Park and Park Slope - when 4 "big feeders" malfunctioned and knocked out power to 2,000 Brooklyn residents and businesses. And it was hot. Like, really hot.
Con Ed reduced voltage in the area by 8 percent to keep the power failure from spreading, so for those who still had power, "television sets flickered, washing machines halted midcycle and fan blades turned at lower-than-usual speeds all day."
So what about the hotels in the area?
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Brooklyn's "Nu"-est Hotel Gets Thumbs Up From Neighborhood Blog
The Brownstoner blog checked out Brooklyn's newest hotel, The Nu Hotel, and was "positively surprised" by what they saw.
They didn't try to get too cute with the design, keeping it light and modern, made the room sizes decent (helped by the fact that the building was originally designed as a condo) and priced it right; it's also in the best location of any hotel in the borough that we can think of, with Smith Street at its doorstep.
Speaking of pricing, the introductory room rates are so reasonable, at $199 during the week and $149 on the weekends. Let's just hope this hotel wisely chooses to forgo obnoxious gaming advertecture.
[Photo: Brownstoner]
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The New Nu Hotel Offers a Room With a Hammock and a (Serial) Killer View
Imagine yourself chillin' in your hammock this summer, breathing in the fresh air and checking out the great views around you.
Then imagine that hammock is indoors, and those great views happen to be of the jail. Also? You're in Brooklyn.
Sounds appealing, right?
We know, we know: not so much. But despite the strikes against it, we think Brooklyn's upcoming Nu Hotel sounds kind of cool and can't wait to check it out when it opens, er, "this summer."
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Aloft Brooklyn Keeps On Rising
Ed. Note: Hotel Maven Michael S. Dacko gives on an on-the-ground report of the construction going on at the Aloft Brooklyn property. Enjoy.
Just wanted to catch everyone up with a status update on the Aloft Brooklyn Downtown. It's got about a year left in construction left on it and I can't wait for it to open.
Right now Brooklyn is HURTING for nice hotels, actually ANY hotels at this point. We have a downtown Marriott (that actually just opened up a 24-story tower last year) that seems to be very popular and that's about it right now.
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Baseball Hotels :: Brooklyn's Le Bleu for Cyclones Action
Summertime...hot dogs, apple pie, and...baseball! In New York, there are literally hundreds of hotel choices giving you easy access to the subways and trains to get to Yankee and Shea Stadium.
We've rounded up some good hotels near MLB Stadiums but what about the minor league for a serious taste of the working man's ballgame? You can take the Staten Island Ferry for free to see the Staten Island Yankees, but trust us, you don't want to stay overnight on "Stranded Island."
Then there's the Brooklyn Cyclones, the borough's nod to its Dodgers history, and just as popular (the park reports attendance has already surpassed two million attendees).
Brooklyn has limited hotel crashpads, but the hotel closest to the action is Hotel Le Bleu in Park Slope. This small hotel, with 48 rooms, is as near to the diamond as you can get, and an underhand toss to the local subway that gets you out to Keyspan Park.
Tags: Homewood Suites / Hilton Garden Inns / Brooklyn Hotels / Hotel Hype / → All Tags
Hilton's Homewood Suites and Garden Inn Coming to Brooklyn
Hilton's Homewood Suites is coming to New York City for the first time and it's just five miles from midtown Manhattan! Wait, what?....Yeah, that's what it says on the press release but these peeps are actually talking about Brooklyn. Still, nice try. We're sure someone in Fargo bought that.
Anyways, the 100-suite property at 313 Gold Street, is in Downtown Brooklyn near Manhattan Bridge, likely affording guests some killer views of the city's famed skyline.
The groundbreaking, which will be part of a joint new build with a Hilton Garden Inn, is expected to start this September and be completed a year later. The hotel will sport all of the amenities Homewood Suites is known for, like the Suite Start breakfast, Welcome Home Reception and free Internet.
We're guessing the hotel will appeal to cost-conscious travelers who aren't afraid to navigate New York's subways, because anyone who's attempted to go to Brooklyn from Manhattan via taxi knows how often cab drivers refuse to go there.
One suggestion to Homewood Suites Brooklyn: Don't put an advert for Grand Theft Auto on the side of your building. Or pictures of the Twin Towers on your website for that matter either.
[Photo via Brooklyn Eagle]
Tags: Brooklyn Hotels / New York Hotels / Hotel Gaffes / Hotel Advertecture / → All Tags
The Hotel Le Jolie Is A Very Confused Hotel
It's admittedly kinda trendy to beat up on Brooklyn hotels. (At least the ones not charging by the hour, that is.) But when they make it so easy, it's hard to let 'em slide.
The other week we thought the Hotel Le Jolie might be kind of a cool place to stay.
But now we're not so sure after seeing this giant banner ad for Grand Theft Auto IV on the side of the hotel. Needless to say, it's taking the class level down a few notches. And Curbed can't decide which is better: the video game ad or the abandoned gas station next to the property.
We'll say neither after looking over Le Jolie's newly functional website. Among the "snapshots" of great things to see in NYC is a photo of the Brooklyn Bridge at night. There's no doubt that's a wonderful landmark, but couldn't the hotel find a photo of the bridge without the World Trade Center in the background????
[Original Photo: Curbed]
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