10001 Travel Guide
Tags: Thanksgiving Hotels / Twitter / Manhattan Hotels / Affinia Hotels / → All Tags
Win Tickets to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (And a Night at The Affinia)
Another day, another Twitter hotel contest. But this is one that could score you major brownie points with the kids. Tomorrow, Affinia Hotels launches a Twitter promotion where the prize is exclusive access to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parde—and an overnight stay at the Affinia Manhattan on Thanksgiving night.
While a free night in a NYC hotel on a holiday is nothing to scoff at, the seating for the parade is the big deal here. Tickets are not available to the general public—seating is restricted to the folks of NBC, corporate sponsors, Macy’s execs, politicians, and charitable organizations. So win these babies and you’ll be hobnobbing it up, away from the riff-raff with their fold-up chairs.
Tags: Hotel Openings / Hotel Hype / Kimpton Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
Kimpton's Next Hotel in NYC Will Be Quite an Eventi
Now that Ink48 is up and running, it’s time for the seemingly unstoppable folks at Kimpton to start focusing on their next New York property: Hotel Eventi in Chelsea. As with some of its other properties (such as Miami’s Epic), the hotel will share space with apartments, in this case rentals. The Eventi will also share its entire-city-block with retail stores and an outdoor plaza with public seating.
Even better, the developers plan to construct a 20-foot wide screen to be used in the plaza for public and private events. The hotel’s restaurant will also have a long dining terrace overlooking the plaza.
Exterior construction has been progressing above Sixth Avenue in recent months, so it must be almost time to send in the interiors designer. Colum McCartan will bring Eventi’s 287 guest rooms to life, while Philip Koether Architects and Syd Mead will work on the multi-level bar and restaurant, which will be operated by China Grill Management, and the residential section of the building. There are no room renderings to peek at just yet but for an idea of McCartan’s work, take a look at his interiors at Le Parker Meridien New York, Hotel Adagio and Hotel Vitale in San Francisco, and Hotel Sax in Chicago.
Tags: Hotel Restaurants / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Brunch / Ace Hotels / → All Tags
We Do Brunch at The Breslin and the Verdict Is: It's Ace
At last! The Breslin restaurant inside the Ace Hotel New York is open, and HotelChatter was there on Saturday to sample the goodness. Either the hotel was well-booked this weekend or just as many New Yorkers have been salivating over this opening as much as we have, because the Breslin was jumpin’. We started at the bar, which is always a nice way to pass the time while waiting for a table, but in this case it was not the best introduction to a delicious meal served with just the right amount of attention.
The first sign that the staff are still finding their groove was the wait itself. We needed a table for two—and could see a smattering of them in the dining room—but we were still told the wait would be about 10 minutes. (The Breslin doesn’t take reservations so that was not a factor.)
Settling in at a rickety bar table, we decided to order a Bloody Mary (yes, they are serving booze, despite complaints from the mosque across the street), but just getting the bartender’s attention took 10 minutes itself. Even though there were two other people behind the bar with him, busying themselves with unknown tasks.
Waiting in this brand new but decked out to look old space is not a chore, at least this early in the game, but we hope the staff get into the swing of things soon.
Tags: Hotel Restaurants / Manhattan Hotels / Ace Hotels / → All Tags
The Breslin in a Battle Over Booze; Now Opening Tomorrow
Meat lovers, rejoice! The Breslin, the long-awaited restaurant inside the Ace Hotel New York, finally opens this week. It was meant to be Tuesday, and then today, but an Ace clerk told us this morning that the opening was postponed until tomorrow. They’re just serving breakfast and lunch for the time being, but with all the hype surrounding the place, this should keep our traps shut and bellies full for a couple more weeks when they start doing dinner.
The Ken Friedman joint had a trial run recently, for “FergusStock” (a pig-eating fest led by British chef Fergus Henderson), and early reports were rapturous. New York magazine’s Grub Street blog said the space was similar to New York cult restaurant Freemans, “with just the right touches of modern sheen and ballroom grandiosity.” More importantly, the preview of the food was also met with applause. Dishes we can expect from April Bloomfield in the kitchen include a half-size pig’s head, a lamb burger with feta cheese, a beef burger with bacon and Cheddar, and (fingers crossed) a mac-and-cheese.
Tags: 2009 World Series Hotels / Baseball Hotels / Hotel Indigo / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
We Don't Think Many Phillies Fans Are Going To Book The Hotel Indigo Chelsea
See that bubbly on the bed? That could be yours if you're a Phillies fan. Or not.
Tomorrow is the first game in the 2009 World Series Championships with the Yankees facing off against The Phillies in the Bronx. We've told you about some of your options for booking a hotel room but here's a deal especially for Phillies fans from The Hotel Indigo NYC Chelsea, which just opened the other week. But it's not quite a "nice" deal.
Called "Drown Your Sorrows", the package offers Phillies guests a bottle of Perrier-Jouet champagne if their team loses--"As expected", says the hotel. Oh smack! You must show your game ticket and a valid ID showing your address in the city of Philadelphia as well as that you're over 21 in order to get the loser's bubbly. Our question is: Would you actually accept this bottle of champagne from the hotel if your team lost? If so, then we think the hotel better put in some clause about vandalizing the room with champagne.
Tags: Late Night Hotels / Affinia Hotels / Hotel Deals / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
Who You Gonna Call When You Need a Late Night Room? Affinia Manhattan
Have you ever landed at JFK at midnight coming in from the West Coast and needed a place in the city for the night before you make your way out to the burbs to visit the family? We have, several of times and we're always thinking in the back of our minds, "God this is an awful lot of money for a hotel room for less than 24 hours." No matter how much we snoop around Hotwire and Priceline, we still have to pay upwards of $200 a night for a decent hotel room in the city.
Fortunately, one hotel has recognized our dilemma--The Affinia Manhattan, located on 7th Avenue near Penn Station. The hotel has just announced their Midnight Rates special.
Patrons who book a room after 10:00 pm, will receive a $100 off the standard, available rate for the same-day, one night stay.
Tags: Fashion Hotels / Hotel Neighborhoods / Wyndham Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
New York's Fashion 26 to Offer Prime Tyra and Martha-Spotting
Often with hotels, location is everything. And in New York, the hottest areas for hotels right now are SoHo—The Crosby Street Hotel just opened there, and a Trump and Mondrian will open next year—and Midtown West, which has The Distrikt and The Strand opening soon. A little further south of those Midtown hotels is Fashion 26: A Wyndham Hotel, which promises to open this winter. Like most hotels, Fashion 26 lists nearby attractions on its website: the Museum of Sex, Madison Square Park, and Macy’s Herald Square. It also takes a big cue from its neighbor, the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Tags: Hotel Opening Rates / Hotel Openings / Hotel News / Hotel Indigo / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
Break Out Your Dolla' Bills: Hotel Indigo Opens in Chelsea for $349 a Night
Update: The $249 promo rate is now working on the Hotel Indigo's website.
Wow, what a dark horse hotel we have here. The Hotel Indigo Chelsea has officially soft-opened today on West 28th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, making it the first Hotel Indigo in New York. And it even opened ahead of schedule by a few months.
The rooms at the hotel (aside from being brand-spanking new) have 32-inch flat screen TVs, hardwood floors, Aveda toiletries, custom-designed furniture and best of all, free WiFi. Onsite there is also Blu, the hotel's restaurant which serves American-bistro fare and the Glass Bar, a rooftop lounge with views of the city.
Rates are going for $349 a night tonight for a nonsmoking room with a king bed but the hotel's website promises special opening rates of $249 a night. We couldn't find that rate when we punched in few dates so you may want to call in person to see what dates you can actually get them. The hotel's Twitter feed also says IHG Priority Club members can earn 5,000 points.
Since we really liked what Hotel Indigo was doing in San Diego, we can't wait to see what their New York hotel is like, provided we can get the $249 rate.
Tags: Hotel Restaurants / Ace Hotels / Hotel News / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
The Ace Hotel’s Breslin Should Open In a Couple of Weeks
We know, we know, we shouldn’t get our hopes up when hotels give us opening dates, or even ETAs, for their exciting new restaurants and bars (not to mention the hotels themselves). But we can’t help it. Not only are there a slew of hot new hotels opening up in New York in the coming months, but lots of new hotel restaurants as well. One we hoped we’d be sitting at chowing down in by now—The Breslin at The Ace Hotel—was sorta maybe going to open on October 8. But that was last Thursday, friends, and we still don’t see no food in that funky looking pub.
Tags: Digital Nomad Hotels / Hotel WiFi / Hotel Lobbies / Viva Vegas / → All Tags
So What? The Ace Hotel is Still a Rock Star (For Digital Nomads)
There has been a lot of talk recently about the lifestyle of digital nomads -- folks who work from wherever they might roam. HotelChatter has been covering hotel wifi since the beginning, but as we cited in our 2009 annual hotel WiFi report times they are a changin'.
The biggest change on the tech side is the growing popularity of the usb broadband card. As more and more people buy into these cards (and more and more GMs pray to the hotel gods they do) there are a growing number of digital nomads that no longer tap into a hotel WiFi network.
Instead, these nomads are in search of killer hotel lobbies to comfortably work in. That's right, digital nomads have no problem coming in, kicking back on hotel lobby couches and doing an hours worth of work. So once again hotels have a choice -- welcome these folks, pay no mind to them, or actively try to kick them out.
With this in mind, we figured it was time for us to start rating hotel lobbies on their digital nomad quotient. In our latest edition, the The Ace Hotel New York.
Tags: NYT Reviews / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel News / Ace Hotels / → All Tags
The Ace Hotel is Too Grungy for the Fancy New York Times
When we stayed at New York’s Ace Hotel this past spring, we deemed its quirky décor akin to “your cool grandpa's basement apartment.” The New York Times, who finally got around to checking in to the new spot, describes it as “a bit too redolent of the past, with grungy (albeit deliberately grungy) furniture and shoddy detailing that make the rooms feel insubstantial.”
Here’s something we all agree on, though: The location is weird. Enough said.
Highlights: The bathroom has a whimsical touch: a faux-Victorian mirror that reads “Love is Meant to Make us Glad.” The writer also seemed to like the soap-on-a-rope over the sink as a way to combat “slimy bar syndrome.” Wi-Fi is free with iMacs available in hallway niches.
Tags: Hotel Restaurants / Manhattan Hotels / Ace Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
Sipping Appropriately Pretentious Coffee at The Ace NY's Stumptown
Did you guys hear the crazy news yet? That The Ace Hotel NYC's Stumptown Coffee opened yesterday, when they said it would? That's insane—something opening on time in New York, especially where The Ace is involved.
Anyways, we swung by on Labor Day for a sip of the stuff, made famous by Stumptown's attention and connection to everything from the coffee growers to the consumers. This is the first location outside of the west coast for the Portland company, who only boast of a handful of locations in Portland and Seattle. Therefore, it's a big deal to coffee connoisseurs on this end of the country.
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