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The Westin Excelsior in Florence Unveils New Rooftop Terrace With Killer Views

Where: Piazza Ognissanti 3, Florence, Italy, 50123

The Westin Excelsior, Florence used to attract a who's-who of the film industry to its Roof Garden, the top-floor terrace, with such VIPs like Franco Zeffirelli, Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Orson Welles, Leonard Bernstein, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. But it's been a while since some of those folks have stopped by. (Yes, we know a few of them are no longer alive.)

But the hotel is now looking to reclaim its glamorous glory by reopening the rooftop terrace with the (awkward) new moniker SE.STO on Arno in late September.

After a $4 million renovation, the rooftop is reopening as a bar, restaurant and lounge. A curved, upholstered wall marks the entrance to the bar and the restaurant, and a glass-enclosed wine cellar separates the two areas. Outside there are two large terraces; the one adjacent to the restaurant is bordered by a shallow infinity pool that gives the illusion that the water is emptying into the Arno River. The rooftop is supposedly the only in Florence with 360-degree views of the city.

Indeed, the killer view is the major selling point, as the oversized windows overlook the city, the Arno and the surrounding hills.

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Tags: Celebrity Scoop / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Rooftops / Heidi Klum / Orlando Jones / Michael Cera / Rihanna / → All Tags

The Empire Hotel is a Revolving Door of Celebrities

Where: 44 W 63rd St [map], New York, Ny, United States, 10023

If the The Empire Hotel actually had a revolving door, we could say that the hotel is a revolving door of celebrities — literally — but even with a boring set of pull doors, celebrities keep on coming and going from this Midtown West hotel. And some of these recent celebs have actual talent (unlike The Kardashians.)

Orlando Jones is shacking up at the Empire in a $1,500-a-night suite while he does he stint on Broadway, starring in The Wiz. Also, Heidi Klum stayed at the hotel to attend a Victoria's Secret Beauty luncheon on the pooldeck. According to a source, she was "wonderful and smiley" but was a little tired (probably because she's pregnant, AGAIN) and talked about taking a cat nap in her suite.

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Tags: Hotel Rooftops / Hotel Parties / W Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags

W New York Wants To Spend Sunday Nights With You

Where: 541 Lexington Avenue [map], New York, NY, United States, 10022

Rooftop hotel parties in New York are all the rage these days. From uptown to downtown, hotels are finally understanding that their guests want a piece of the pie — that is, the glorious rooftop pie where they can be on top of the world for a little while without having to book the penthouse suite.

In that spirit, The W New York on Lexington Avenue has just announced its own Summer Sundays rooftop parties inside the hotel's Extreme Wow Suites (these are essentially the presidential suites.) Starting June 7 and running through Labor Day, every Sunday from 6pm to 10pm, the terrace of these suites will open and guests can order drinks from a cash bar or through bottle service.

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Tags: Manhattan Hotels / Hotel News / Hotel Parties / Thompson Hotels / Hotel Rooftops / → All Tags

Thompson LES Really, Really Needs to Keep It Down

Where: 190 Allen St [map], New York, NY, United States, 10002

Wow. We waited and waited and waited for the Thompson LES' outdoor pool — yes, the one with Andy Warhol's face at the bottom — to open up. And now that it has, we feel so bad for the hotel's neighbors that we wouldn't be opposed to it being taken away.

A tipster for Vanishing New York, who is a resident of the backside tenements that face the Thompson LES pool, participated in a community meeting that was held to address the "excessive noise" coming out of the hotel:

"People were upset about the pool noise," the tipster reported. The hotel hosted a pool party last week and "it was disgustingly loud."

Uh, yeah. As you can see in this vid that the same tipster send into VNY, loud doesn't even begin to cover it.

At the community meeting, Thompson LES managers offered to "put sound meters in resident's apartments" to me more cognizant of the noise levels — and they promised to email neighboring residents with a schedule of upcoming events. Oy. That will help. Not.

More neighbor complaints about the Thompson LES' nightlife scene are on The Lo-Down; examples include annoying fleets of black SUV's on the streets and drunky-drunks stumbling around on the street.

Thompson LES: keep it down. Thompson LES party guests: uh, keep it together.

[Photo: NY Mag]

Tags: New York Hotels / Hotel Bars / Hotel Rooftop Bars / Hotel Rooftops / Express Checkout / → All Tags

Express Checkout: Rooftop Bars In Manhattan

We were teased with some nice weather last week, but unfortunately as we head into Memorial Day weekend, the weather gods have crapped on us again.

When it turns nice again, here's a bunch of hotels with rooftop bars to enjoy. Remember: Some places require a room key and some don't. And contrary to popular belief the Pod Hotel, pictured, just has a rooftop deck--and it's BYOB.

A60

Pod Hotel

Hotel Gansevoort

The Maritime

Shelburne Murray Hill

GPH

La Quinta Inn