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The Double-breasted Tuxedo Travels from Wall Street to the Staff of the W Downtown

Where: 123 Washington Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10006

Ah, summer in New York City. It's a time for rooftop terraces to open, European tourists to trek up and down the streets of Soho, and hotel cocktail waitresses to shed clothing and strip down to outfits more suitable to hot, hot weather. Usually that means mini-dresses at the trendier hotels, but for the W Downtown, it's a really cute tuxedo shorts set.

The new outfits—designed by Lyn Devon—are inspired by the conservative suits of nearby Wall Street, livened up with a bit of silk satin trim. Somehow they manage to provide more coverage than a skimpy dress, yet look infinitely sexier. We approve! In fact, we wouldn't mind wearing this as an everyday look.

To catch the girls in their double-breasted tuxes, head up to the W Downtown's Living Room Bar on the 5th Floor. We recently spent a nice afternoon there, chilling, but the tuxes weren't yet in season.

[Photo: W Downtown]

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Looks Like Another Budget Hotel Is Coming To Tribeca

New York budget hotel mastermind Sam Chang is back to work on his stalled Tribeca property at 99 Washington Street, the last rumors of which we heard in 2007. Seems work on the 44-story project will finally recommence, at least according to a tipster who sent us a report in The Tribeca Trib, which says that Chang and his partners will present the latest plans at a March 2 community board meeting. The report also says it's slated to become a Holiday Inn.

According to previously disclosed details, the hotel is meant to have 350 rooms. Gene Kaufman Architects, of the Tri-Pack Hotel and Hotel 373 among others, will handle the design. (They're aiming for 400 rooms in the $50 million project.) Along with ground-floor retail, there will be an eight-floor "street wall" before the tower footprint shrinks as it rises, which would open up a potential outdoor terrace. This would all compliment Chang's development nearby at 50 Trinity Place, slated to be a 35-story hotel—but also currently stalled.

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Skating In The Sky Opens At W New York Downtown Tomorrow

Where: 123 Washington St [map], New York, NY, United States, 10006

Skating in NYC is a classic holiday experience, but Wollman Rink in Central Park and the Rockefeller Center Ice Rink can get mighty crowded. If only there was a spot downtown where you could strap on your skates and channel Johnny Weir. Oh, wait! As of tomorrow, there will be--at the W New York Downtown.

Yep, from December 18 through February 14, guests, locals and tourists can all enjoy the hotel's elevated skating rink, which has been installed where the Living Room Terrace usually is on the fifth floor. What a great way to utilize the space when it's too cold for mere sitting and sipping!

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Saving On Rooms at W Downtown Means More Money For A Cocktail

Where: 123 Washington St [map], New York, NY, United States, 10006

Hotel bars are not always cheap, we know. But if you can save on your room rate, you can channel the savings into your drinking budget. Which is what we'd do if we booked that $199 Travelzoo rate for the W New York Downtown.

And the drink we'd spring for, especially right now in prime holiday season, would be the Autumn Spark cocktail, served at the hotel's Living Room bar.

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The W Downtown is Now Only $199 a Night on Travelzoo

Where: 123 Washington Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10006

The only difficulty we had in putting together The 12 Best Hotels in NYC for this holiday season was trying to keep the costs down but if you're still keen on an NYC getaway, there are some lower rates just around the corner.

At the W Downtown, room rates drop to $199 a night on Travelzoo from December 16-26, again from January 2-9 and pretty much all weekends in both January and February. (We found the rate in place for the weekend of January 14.)

The deal is blacked out December 17 and 18 and you must book by November 24 using the code TZOO11. But considering that room rates for next week were averaging about $480 when we last looked, this is a deal you will want to gift for yourself. Don't wait for Santy Claus!

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Bathroom Doors: A Cautionary Tale Starring W Downtown New York

Where: 123 Washington St [map], New York, NY, United States, 10006

Earlier this week, we looked at 10 Annoying Hotel Room Designs but today we'd like to take a closer look at #5 on that list: Sliding Bathroom Doors. Specifically, we want to tell you how we got locked inside the bathroom at the W New York Downtown.

Now, we're not usually claustrophobic, but when we get stuck in a tiny bathroom inside a Financial District hotel on the weekend (where no one can hear you scream!) ... with some peekaboo strips on the frosted glass shower window our only view to the outside world ... we do start to get anxious.

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Drinking At W New York Downtown's Living Room Terrace

Where: 123 Washington St [map], New York, NY, United States, 10006

Now you've seen the rooms (again), it's time to check out the public spaces of the W New York Downtown, including the space-station-like lobby, BLT Bar & Grill, and the Living Room Bar & Terrace.

You'll have to excuse us for not actually settling in at BLT for a burger or steak—we had dinner plans during our stay and when we saw that a bagel with cream cheese and lox would cost $18 the next morning, we bailed on our plan to have breakfast there. (Also: apart from the music that made us feel like we should be in a South Beach hotel lobby, the restaurant was super quiet.)

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Inside The W New York Downtown

Where: 123 Washington St [map], New York, NY, United States, 10006

We were impressed it opened ahead of schedule, and then chuckled at our hotel spy Myra Ellen’s take on its love for red neon and wordiness. Yes, we’re talking about the W New York Downtown, where we checked in over the weekend for yet another look-see, this time from the non-business-traveler angle.

So, are the tourists going to like it down here? Sure, if they’re the kind of tourists who like drinking with a FiDi crowd, and views of Ground Zero construction ...

Check-In: While the entrance is on the ground level, next door to BLT Bar & Grill, the lobby is on level 5, however there are W doormen to greet you and take you up there, helpfully explaining the lay of the land before you hit the check-in desk.

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W Brings The Munchies to the New York Stock Exchange

Where: 123 Washington Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10006

Starwood Hotels & Resorts' Phil McAveety, Executive Vice President and Chief Brand Officer, with W Brand Ambassadors on the New York Stock Exchange floor.

The W New York Downtown has officially opened and to celebrate, the hotel could have just thrown a big ole party but instead they decided to do something different, like ringing the bell on the New York Stock Exchange.

Starwood Hotels' Vasant Prabhu, Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer, and Phil McAveety, Executive Vice President and Chief Brand Officer, rang The Closing Bell® at the NYSE yesterday and they did it up in W style. A W Hotels light installation was installed to mimic the hotel chain's newest location and hot girls W Brand Ambassadors were handing out W minibar munchies like PopChips and other W New York Downtown-branded gifts on the floor. (Unfortch, we don't think that pulsing lobby, er living room electronica music was allowed to be played.)

Looking to stay at the W New York Downtown this weekend? Rates are currently going for $314 a night for a wonderful room. Just remember, those munchies do cost extra.

Go here to read our Hotel Spy's review of W New York Downtown!

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The Brand-New And Verbose W New York Downtown

Where: 123 Washington Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10006

Our very own hotel Agent Zero returns with yet another review. Her not-real name is Myra Ellen and she's our version of Alex Goran who travels once a week for business, usually along the Eastern seaboard. Every so often, she'll be dropping in with her latest hotel and travel observations. In this episode, she's going all Gordon Gekko on us.

In the time that it will take a Hotelchatterer to read this review, the staff at the new W New York Downtown will still be reciting their W-mandated greeting, that run-on greeting/question filled with queries about your wishes and their ability to do whatever. It is perhaps the single most annoying thing about the hotel.

Here's some advice to the Starwood folks: frequent guests of W Hotels should have a live-action option of "press * to skip this greeting". It would save many from the embarrassment of repeatedly being on either the giving or receiving end of that monologue.

The brand-new 58-story property is located as equidistant to Ground Zero as the political football Park51 project (aka Cordoba House, aka Ground Zero Mosque, aka former Burlington Coat Factory), a fact worth noting if only to highlight that the area is being decidedly developed.

The hotel is also located on a short, hard to find block just south of Ground Zero. Its entrance is actually on a different street (Albany Street) than its listed address (Washington Street). Calling the hotel to clarify the directions takes five times longer than it should, for the reason mentioned in the above paragraph.

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Surprise! W New York Downtown Opens A Week Early

Where: 123 Washington St [map], New York, NY, United States, 10006

Well, well. Here we are in what's meant to be one of the quietest weeks of the year for most businesses—but not for W New York Downtown! The hotel has sneakily opened its doors a week early (Well, technically it's still about eight months late but never mind.) The official opening is still next week—August 16—but the hotel was up and running and taking reservations from last night.

Yes, we're as surprised as you, but perhaps the early opening of BLT Bar & Grill should have been a hint of what was to come?

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Hurrah! BLT Bar & Grill Is Now Open at W New York Downtown

Where: 123 Washington St [map], New York, NY, United States, 10006

Oh, W New York Downtown! Look at you, shaking up the standard hotel-opening routine by opening your restaurant before your guest rooms. Yep, the city's newest W doesn't open until August 16, but BLT Bar & Grill opened its kitchen doors this week. Even better: the restaurant is offering 10% off all food until Labor Day.

Apparently the grand opening on Monday night was a bankers and brokers bonanza, with Zagat Buzz describing the crowd as "money, baby!"

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