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The Greenwich Hotel's New Restaurant, Locanda Verde, Will Open Next Week

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 377 Greenwich Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10013

| May 12, 2009 at 5:02 PM | 1 Comment

The NY Times has the breaking news that the restaurant formerly occupied by Ago inside the Greenwich Hotel will now be called Locanda Verde:

Andrew Carmellini is executive chef and co-owner; Karen Demasco is pastry chef. The interior is getting a speedy makeover by Ken Friedman and Meyer Davis, the firm that designed Boqueria and Mas Farmhouse. In an interview in February, Mr. Carmellini set out his goals for the restaurant. ”I want this to be a neighborhood restaurant,” he said. ”I want it to be laid back and casual. I want to have a good time.”

And good food right? The restaurant will open next Tuesday. Hopefully, the Greenwich hotel's website will have removed all their copy about Ago by then.

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Plans for Nobu Hotels Are Being Defrosted, Reheated

Where: 50 Broad St [map], New York, NY, United States, 10004

| April 13, 2009 at 11:21 AM | 1 Comment

Is the world still game for a Nobu Hotel from Robert DeNiro and star chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa? Ever since plans for the first Nobu Hotel in New York's Financial District were announced last May, we've kept our ears wide open for any other tidbits on the topic only to see it disappear quietly into the history of funky hotel rumors.

Now nearly a year later, The Telegraph UK has resurrected the concept of a Nobu Hotel by explaining the delay (issues with a 50 percent sale of the company) and assuring the world that "plans are currently being drawn up." We're assuming then that their plans to commandeer the building at 50 Broad Street are off, since still being "in the planning stages" can't possibly mean there will be any actual Nobu-branded places to lay our heads until at least 2013.

Until then, however, you can still catch some raw fish in one of Nobu's 20 worldwide restaurants, with newest additions in Dubai (in Atlantis Palm Jumeirah) and Cape Town (in the One & Only Resort).

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The Greenwich Hotel Not Super Expensive for Tribeca Film Festival

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 377 Greenwich Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10013

| April 8, 2009 at 5:17 PM | 0 Comments

Considering that Greenwich Hotel owner Bobby DeNiro is also the man behind the Tribeca Film Festival, we expected his hotel to be either sold-out or ridonkulously expensive, like the Kentucky Derby hotels.

To our genuine surprise, we found rooms on April 22nd, the start of the film festival for a mere $475 a night via the hotel's website. That was for a 325-sq.ft. courtyard room, one of the starting room categories. The Greenwich Room (395-sq.ft.) was going for $525. Sure, these aren't recession-friendly prices but they aren't as jacked up as they could be.

Looking for an even cheaper stay at the start of the festival? Over on Quikbook.com, Smyth was just a mere $177 a night from April 22-25. The festival runs through May 3 so you have plenty of dates to consider. Of course, that all depends on which film you want to see.

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De Niro's Greenwich Hotel Feeling the Economic Burn

| February 12, 2009 at 5:28 PM | 3 Comments

There's tons of hotel news flying around this week and we don't have time to give each and every story the love and attention it may deserve, so you will have to settle for some news briefs.

· The Top 21 Examples of Stylish Hotel Design: Men.Style.com is just as fond of lists as we are, and their latest is pretty slick; they've compiled their favorite design touches in hotels, which oddly includes "the silence in the lobby at The Bowery Hotel." [Men.Style]

· De Niro's Greenwich Hotel Half-Empty?: A Curbed operative overheard at a community board meeting that The Greenwich Hotel is struggling with a 50% occupancy rate. Trouble in taxi driver paradise! [Curbed]

· A Fourth in Florida for Hotel Indigo: It's not just London they're conquering, but also Florida as the "unpretentious" Hotel Indigo is scheduled to open this year in Miami Lakes, Miami Beach, St. Petersburg, and Ft. Myers. [HNR]

· Dubai's Palazzo Versace Hires a Decorator: You'd think that a design company would be able to outfit their own hotel, but no, as they've hired interior decorators. [Arabian Biz]

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More Media Let Behind the Greenwich Hotel Curtain

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 377 Greenwich Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10013

| August 11, 2008 at 11:18 AM | 0 Comments

Oh, would you look at that: The Greenwich Hotel let a news outlet though its doors that wasn't Vanity Fair! Newsweek this time got to go behind the curtain.

Since we've never seen the place, we can't say whether we agree that the hotel offers a "mix of Mediterranean touches with Asian inspiration" in its public spaces, or that rooms' "French doors, Oriental rugs and fragrant reclaimed wood floors lend a homey feel, while the elaborately tiled bathrooms add an exotic Moroccan aesthetic."

However, the lone review over at TripAdvisor backs up those points, singling out the "beautifully appointed" room and "stunning and luxurious" bathroom as highlights of the visit.

The only place the reviews differ is with the restaurant Ago, which Newsweek says offers an "innovative take on Italian country cuisine," but came across as "barely adequate" to the guest, a stance previously proclaimed by The New York Times food critic Frank Bruni.

That's gotta hurt DeNiro--an Italian restaurant in his hotel in Tribeca is "barely adequate." This might be the only instance where we would ever suggest focusing on the restaurant a little more than the rooms.

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Hotel News Briefs :: More Animals Seeking Respite in Hotels

| June 17, 2008 at 6:04 PM | 5 Comments

There's tons of hotel news flying around this week and we don't have time to give each and every story the love and attention it may deserve, so you will have to settle for some news briefs.

· New Boutique Hotel for Philly: The City of Brotherly Love continues its hotel boom with the opening of the Independent Hotel on June 20th. Interestingly, the hotel only has 24 rooms, making it like a mini-boutique hotel.

· DeNiro's "Labor of Love": Robert DeNiro is defending the illegal penthouse at his Greenwich Hotel today in front of the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission. The commission may order him to tear it down and start over.

· Sushi by the Sea: The Delano Hotel in Miami Beach has just announced its "Sushi by the Sea" dinners. Sushi is served by the pool Thursday through Saturday from 8pm to 1am.

· The Summer of Hotel Animals: It's officially the Summer of Hotel Animals. This time a raccoon is hanging out in the garage of the Park Inn in Berlin. The staff has nicknamed him Alex. Alex doesn't like the hotel food. He likes the trash bins outside the Burger King next door. Hah!

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Ago at DeNiro's Greenwich Hotel Gets Zero Stars from Frank Bruni

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 377 Greenwich Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10013

| June 11, 2008 at 10:44 AM | 3 Comments

We actually feel sort of bad for Robert DeNiro today. The Ago restaurant inside his Greenwich Hotel (from chef Agostino Sciandri) suffered a humiliating beating from NY Times food critic Frank Bruni--receiving zero stars and a "Poor" rating.

This restaurant isn't in the hospitality business. It's in the attitude business, projecting an aloofness that permeated all of my meals there, nights of wine and poses for swingers on the make, cougars on the prowl and anyone else who values a sort of facile fabulousness over competent service or a breaded veal Milanese with any discernible meat.

Yikes. But despite a terrible review from Bruni, clueless Manhattanites and celeb wannabes must still be hitting up this "hotspot." Bruni recommends making reservations three weeks in advance for prime time seatings.

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The Greenwich Hotel Has an Illegal Penthouse

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 377 Greenwich Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10013

| June 4, 2008 at 10:15 AM | 0 Comments

The NY Daily News is reporting that the still-under-construction penthouse of Robert DeNiro's Greenwich Hotel is of an illegal size and could possibly be torn down.

"We approved the addition of a seventh story in November 2004," says Landmarks spokeswoman Elisabeth de Bourbon. "Yet the structure that was built is steeper and its footprint bigger, making it significantly more visible [from the street] than originally allowed." De Niro has asked the commission - which is tasked with making sure new buildings blend into the neighborhood - to retroactively "legalize" what he's already built.

We're pretty sure that's what will happen when it goes to the NYC Landmarks Commission on June 17. Afterall, this is DeNiro in New York. He's helped make Tribeca what it is today.

Meanwhile Bloomberg News has a nauseating review of the place. However, it was nice to hear that the Greenwich "pretension of the [Gramercy Park Hotel] and the unsteady service" of the newly restored Plaza hotel. Too bad they were a little too elitist to let us have a look.

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The Greenwich Hotel Room Rate Drops to $550 a Night

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 377 Greenwich Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10013

| May 12, 2008 at 9:18 AM | 0 Comments

When Bobby DeNiro's Greenwich Hotel opened last month, the hotel was kind enough to offer an introductory rate of $475, although they weren't kind enough to actually let us stay there.

Nevertheless, we've forgiven but not forgotten and moved on with our lives. And since standard room rates of $725 a night were to be in effect from May 5th onward, we had pretty much written off staying at the Greenwich Hotel.

Yet we noticed something interesting yesterday. Room rates have dropped to $550 a night for the superior rooms and these prices are listed not only on the website but on some third-party booking sites as well like Quikbook.

Imagine that, this elitist hotel advertising rooms on Quikbook! And with most hotels going for around $400 a night in Manhattan this week, the Greenwich Hotel isn't even that expensive. Not when you compare it to the $795 the Mandarin Oriental is charging or the $750 the Bowery Hotel is asking for on Quikbook. Even the hostel-inspired Hotel QT is charging $419 a night.

There's no reviews on TripAdvisor so far thus we have no idea of what it's like to stay there. Is anyone even staying there? If you have, let us know.

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Condotels Taking over Downtown Manhattan

| May 8, 2008 at 4:44 PM | 1 Comment

We're giving up our half-hearted ban on Robert De Niro coverage now that he's got the Nobu Hotel in the works.

The Financial District property will be half-hotel, half-condo and include a spa and a Nobu restaurant outpost. (In case you can't make it the less than two miles to the Nobu in Tribeca.)

The NY Post has it that 77 condos will be up top--where they belong--and the floors below will house the 128 hotel rooms. The restaurant will be on level three. Rockwell Group will handle the interiors, while Moed de Armas & Shannon did the glassy facade.

Curbed notes that this is one of many new condotel developments in the FiDi, joining the W Downtown and the Four Seasons on Church Street. We'll remind you that the Andaz on Wall Street is also joining the club soon.

Related Stories:
· Just Say Nobu [NYP]
· DeNiro to Open a Nobu Hotel, Blacklist Probably Still in Effect [HotelChatter]

[Photo: New York Post]

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Hotel News Briefs:: DeNiro to Open a Nobu Hotel, Blacklist Probably Still in Effect

| May 1, 2008 at 5:32 PM | 4 Comments

There's tons of hotel news flying around this week and we don't have time to give each and every story the love and attention it may deserve, so you will have to settle for some news briefs.

Robert DeNiro must be a pretty confident guy. After just opening a hotel which shall not be named last month, he's going to do it again in NYC's financial district. The NY Post reports:

The "Raging Bull" star - who already owns several restaurants and hotels - will open a Japanese-themed condo-hotel complex in Financial District. His Nobu Hotel will offer condos as well as hotel rooms, a spa - and, not surprisingly, a Nobu restaurant.

The hotel on 50 Broad St. will have 140 units, half of which are condos. The hotel minibars will hold green tea and sake will be available from room service. And we assume, we're still blacklisted from this place too.

· Gloria Estefan joins DeNiro in that silly crowd of celebrities turned hoteliers. The Miami Sound Machine frontwoman will be opening the oceanside Coste d'Este Resort in Vero Beach, FL this June.
· The Borgata in Atlantic City has officially gone smoke-free. Tri-state area lungs rejoice!
· Hilton Hotels has partnered with French luxury cosmetics and toiletries company L'Occitane to redesign the hotel company’s full service spas, menu of services and spa product offerings.
· NYLO Hotels have broken ground on their third hotel. Located in Irving, Texas it will be called NYLO Las Colinas. NYLO Warwick in Rhode Island is set to open this July.

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Greenwich Hotel :: T Minus Three Days

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 377 Greenwich Street [map], New York, ny, United States, 10010

| March 28, 2008 at 4:38 PM | 0 Comments

The Greenwich Hotel is set to open in four days and we managed to get some snaps of the place today.

There wasn't a whole lot of activity going on at the place. It looked like almost all of the exterior construction was finished but we gather there is still some work to be done inside.

We peeked in a bit at Ago which occupies the ground floor and there were a couple of dudes in suits milling around.

We also spied some people sitting on a windowsill on the first floor but they were definitely not hotel guests. Ho-hum.

All in all, this "overbaked cookie" looks like it's done to us. We'll find out how the opening goes on Tuesday.

More snaps after the jump.

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