As The NBA Lockout Ends, The Waldorf-Astoria Breathes A Big Sigh Of Relief

December 8, 2011 at 9:30 AM | by ASchechter | Comments (0)

After an almost four-month-long stand-off, some sort of agreement has been reached between the owners and teams of the NBA. Though not without some damage to the morale of a few New York City hotel staffers. According to this NY Times piece yesterday, most of the talks took place inside various conference rooms of hotels, whose lobbies turned into waiting rooms for the reporters covering the proceedings.

While stacking up empty pizza boxes, plugging in countless laptops, and pulling frantic, cookie-bingeing all-nighters, the reporters managed to get a first-hand glimpse of life in the lobbies of the Waldorf-Astoria and the Lowell. And while they weren't technically breaking any rules, we're guessing they won't be getting invited back anytime soon.

According to Beck, who, like many other reporters, followed NBA teams and owners to whichever hotel conference room the negotiations were scheduled for, hotel staffers mostly tolerated the inconvenience. Only once did things actually turn ugly, outside the Lowell:

"Two TV cameramen fought � poorly � after angrily wrestling for position during Stern�s sidewalk press conference. That was the last time the sides used the Lowell."

The rest of the odyssey mostly just allowed them to observe the subtle comforts and delights of each hotel:

"Along the way, I learned that the Cole Porter piano, in the Waldorf lobby, is a major tourist attraction. (We resisted the urge to plank it.) I learned that the Lowell, a boutique hotel on East 63rd Street, makes amazing chocolate-chip cookies. The Lowell also provided my back rest, as I sat on the 63rd Street sidewalk on the night of Oct. 4, and wrote that the N.B.A. had just canceled the first two weeks of the season."

HotelChatter

Select a Destination:

Hotel Woes / Manhattan Hotels / Basketball Hotels / Hotel Lobbies / → All Tags