Could the Thompson LES actually pull it off? We're less than six weeks from a reported July 15 open, and East Village Podcasts has the latest report from downtown:
The constructionaires at Thompson LES finally covered most of the insulation on the north side of the new hotel. Are $450 hotel rooms nearly available?
Maybe! And at a discount, too. We've mentioned Quikbook as a way to score good deals on Thompson Hotels, but this time it's the hotel itself offering 'em up.
A search for July 15 turns up a standard room for $299 plus taxes, while a "King Studio" goes for $339+. That's better than Quikbook's offer of $359. Though who knows if the hotel will, you know, actually be open when you arrive.
You know the scene. You open the door to your brand new hotel room, run over to the window, open the blinds and bam, you are hit with the anti-view. Maybe you are looking down a dirty alley, witnessing a drug deal, staring at an air shaft in the face, or seeing a brick wall. Whatever you are viewing it is not extremely pleasurable. Help out your fellow hotel mavens by uploading your anti-views to the HotelChatter/Flickr photo pool, or by sending the photo along to us. Remember to tell us the name of the hotel and the room number with the not-so-easy-on-the-eyes view.
We've been thinking warm glowing thoughts about the Le Parker Meridien in New York since we heard about their Wii workout facilities, but that was until we got this tip-off from L Mermaid. She took her mother for a Mother's Day break to the Big Apple and they booked a room worth an extra $50 to get an upgrade to a park view room.
But this is the view of the park from their upgraded room. Agreed, we can see just a little bit of park, but clearly the scaffolding and construction is the main feature of this view, and it's probably not worth an extra $50.
To make matters worse, when they checked in (admittedly a little late after bus problems) the front desk clerk didn't even want to give them a park view room--he said they hadn't paid enough. The next day they spoke to someone friendlier and decided to move to a suite with a city view. That sounds like it was a good decision.
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.
Reality shows about hotels definitely don't work, but we have a suspicion that at least one documentary film about a hotel will be good. "Hotel Gramercy Park" has been playing this week at the Tribeca Film Festival, and it has its final screening tonight.
Director Douglas Keeve went inside the downtown landmark as Ian Schrager prepared the hotel for its grand re-opening. Keeve gives previous owners, the Weissberg family, plenty of screen time, and he tells the story of why the hotel has such a prominent place in New York's history.
If you're not gonna make the screening tonight, Jaunted has some ideas for enjoying the hotel and the surrounding neighborhood, including its namesake private park.
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.
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????
The three most important words in real estate: location, location, location. And with people from around the world rushing to visit New York, the Big Apple's hotel industry is sitting quite pretty.
From Grand Central Terminal to the Lincoln Center, Times Square to the Financial District, supply cannot meet the demand. Here in the city that never sleeps, even more hotels are being planned and are under construction. City figures early last year showed that 50 hotel developments were in planning stages all over the city, with more than 8,000 rooms in various states of construction.
Of course, whether they'll actually open is another story, say some of the experts who spoke to the New York Sun about the current investment crunch.
In the financial district of New York City, Gild Hall had a soft opening last December--but our sources told us that the hotel was still mid-construction, bring a whole lot of down sides to staying there.
We thought it was time to check in on some recent reviews to see if the construction work is finally over or not, and what people are thinking of this place now that it's been open a couple of months.
For Gild Hall, the news is pretty good. Yes, construction still rates a few mentions (a mid-February guest didn't much like the temporary lobby), but the staff promise that by the time March is over, construction work will be history. One recent guest complained that the thick (fresh) paint on the walls had a much-too-strong smell, but apart from that, most people said they barely noticed the construction work.
Many recent guests have complimented Gild Hall on the friendly and helpful service, and everyone's satisfied with the furnishings too. The nearby parking is quite expensive if you arrive by car. A lot of people have been able to pick up very cheap stays here (as low as $117) but nobody expects to get these prices once the hotel is fully operational.
Just yesterday, we were saying that the restaurant at Six Columbus sits in the middle of a "culinary wasteland." We should've turned our eyes a little east of Columbus Circle. Two hotels along Central Park South have opened fancy new restaurants, and a third, in The Plaza's Oak Room, will open soon.
The newest spot to open is South Gate at the Jumeirah Essex House. The modern American menu is executed by chef Kerry Heffernan, who cut his teeth with Danny Meyer, one of NYC's leading restaurateurs.
Before South Gate came BLT Market, pictured, at the Ritz-Carlton. An outpost of schmancy chef Laurent Tourondel, it offers up seasonally inspired French-American dishes. We actually stopped in the spot a few months back hoping to score an appetizer and a drink at an off hour.
The maitre d' was having none of it, saying the place was "full meals only" despite it being 4:30 in the afternoon. We hope they've changed their far-from-accomodating attitude since.
As for the Oak Room, we'll have to wait until May to see what chef Joël Antunes brings to the table. Hopefully nothing embalmed!
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by pbb
