With neighborhood businesses enforcing a boycott of the Hotel Gansevoort guests (thanks to the hotel's eyesore of a billboard), owner Michael Achenbaum was forced to apologize.
Page Six reports that Achenbaum sent out an email to neighbors which apologized for installing the billboards.
"It was a business decision made without fully envisioning the sheer size of the signage and without understanding the emotional impact it would trigger," Achenbaum wrote. But the signs aren't moving. "As I am bound to a long-term lease to allow these legally designed and constructed signs, I have come to the table with local community members to suggest ways to minimize the aesthetic impact."
So the billboards are here to stay but Achenbaum is willing to make some changes like installing art on the back of the billboards of the signs. He says this could be a new way for local artists to display their work and since money always talks, he's willing to throw $5,000 at each artist as a commission as well as host community charity events at the hotel.
Will this work? Who knows but we still say book your own reservations for neighborhood restaurants if you are staying at the Gansevoort.
While the controversial billboard that has gone up near the Hotel Gansevoort is not blocking the view from its hotel rooms, (as shown above) it is causing quite a stink amongst the neighborhood businesses.
Gawker reports that Bowery Hotel owner Sean MacPherson who is also behind the Waverly Inn restaurant, has joined forces with other nearby restaurants to boycott the Gansevoort and its patrons. All of which has seriously pissed off Gansevoort owner William Achenbaum who is being reported to have said:
"You're fucking with my livelihood, are you sure you want to do this? I will take it to the grave"
Achenbaum also reportedly claimed to have "done more for the community than anyone" which made the group of boycotters laugh.
So guests headed to the Gansevoort, we suggest directly booking a reservation at nearby restaurants yourself. Preferably in person. And then make sure they don't see you walking back towards the Gansevoort. Maybe even take a subway just to throw them off a little more.
Yesterday we heard from a TripAdvisor commenter, via Gawker, that Hotel Gansevoort had erected a view blocking billboard.
We asked you to send in photographic evidence of the blockage, and guess what? Hotel Gansevoort rep's emailed us saying the TripAdivisor commenter was way off base.
We posed the same challenge to the Gansevoort rep--get us pictures, and she came through.
You can see from these that the billboard is no where near as tall as the hotel and that views are not ruined or majorly obstructed in any way. There are no windows at all on the South side of the building so you can only see the billboard at an angle if you crane your head to the right from the 0,1,2 and 3 lines of rooms facing east. The billboard is not visible when looking at the skyline from the rooftop bar; only if you were to look straight down if you were standing where I was in the photo marked "rooftop 2".
Photos don't usually lie. So unless someone can produce photos of this billboard actually blocking views, which we highly doubt will ever arrive in our inbox, this round clearly goes to the Gansevoort.
Hmm, it is also interesting to note that TripAdvisor appears to have completely erased the comment we originally quoted from, save the first sentence. Really odd.
We can tell you the original comment came from user bwayjoey.
Update Here: It appears that the commenter quoted below is completely inaccurate. Can hotel guests be so nutty that the completely make stuff up sometimes--signs point to yes. Maybe we are wrong, but take a look at the photos taken this morning and you be the judge. Don't worry, we will bust these whack job commenters whenever we find their web litter.
Just when guest reviews and tipster thoughts were trending positive, Hotel Gansevoort decided to block the all important guest room view with a giant billboard a couple weeks back:
If you are planning a stay at the Gansevoort, be forewarned: the hotel has erected an 8-story (yes, eight stories, the height of the entire hotel) double billboard perpendicular to the building which is what every guest facing east (that's half the guests) will see out of their windows, instead of the beautiful city. (Those facing west get to see New Jersey. Enjoy.) It is giant, it is ugly, and you will think you are in Times Square. Oh, and you also get to see it (and have the view blocked) from both the rooftop bar and the outdoor bar on the street level. IT'S THAT BIG. See photo.
Perfect. Of course, if you send in a view from your Gansevoort room there is a 99% chance it will make the Anti-View section.
Hotel Maven carlottavalez wants you to know staying in the Meatpacking District doesn't have to suck. Er, or at least you don't absolutely have to stay at at the Dennis Rodman of hotels. Here is her alternative. Enjoy.
Okay so I'm not sure any celebrities have actually ever stayed at Incentra Village House, a modestly priced Meatpacking hotel (for New York, $175 per night for a double), but it certainly has starred in an endless number of Greenwich Village exterior shoots and it is a damn fine alternative to the Gansevoort--for what it is worth.
2006 seems to be the year Internet companies battle for aerial map superiority, and for us, it always comes back to hotels.
While Google definitely has the clearest and most expansive set of satellite photos going, a quick glance down 9th Avenue reveals that Google Earth doesn't appear to be aware that the SoHo House rooftop pool scene, nor the Gansevoort Hotel, exists.
Ask.com on the other hand, fills in the missing pieces and gives us a good look at the dueling hotel rooftop pools in the Meatpacking district.
Looks like Ask.com wins this round, at least from our sick and twisted hotel perspective. However, maybe there is some merit to Google's Back to the Future like approach to the Meatpacking district satellite photos--there are definitely some folks that wouldn't mind seeing these two spots disappear from Manhattan's landscape.
