In another nail-biting plot twist in the never-ending saga of the Hotel Chelsea, a new character has walked in to stir things up.
Andrew Tilley, an English guy who has worked at the Hyatt Carlton Tower in London and, more recently, the Paramount/Hard Rock Hotel in New York (among other places), has been brought into the Chelsea as the next poor soul to attempt to fill Stanley Bard's shoes as manager.
For those of you who aren't up to speed on the drama, this dude has about as much of a chance of being warmly embraced by the Hotel Chelsea crowd as Drew Carey has with The Price is Right people. One post-Bard manager has already been chased out; hopefully this one will fare a little bit better.
According to the always-accurate and reliably ridiculous reference site UrbanDictionary, a "staycation" is defined as "a vacation that is spent at one's home enjoying all that home and one's home environs have to offer."
So when we take a "staycation," we spend an entire glorious Sunday in bed in the company of our TiVo and perhaps a margarita or three.
Apparently, some people consider traveling to domestic destinations rather than going abroad to be worthy of the "staycation" label as well.
For the latter group, the NYC's Soho Grand is offering the GrandLife Staycation package complete with all kinds of goodies to keep you busy during your "staycation" in the Big Apple.
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.
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.
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.
We've had our suspicions for quite sometime that the Viceroy Hotel brand would be coming to New York City and today we have official word:
Kor Hotel Group, a growing presence in world-class hospitality, is proud to announce its first hotel planned for Manhattan.
Viceroy's first New York City project will offer 168 exquisitely appointed accommodations set within the top 12 newly constructed floors of an office, retail and hotel complex being developed on a full city block at 330 Hudson Street between Charlton and Vandam Streets in New York's Hudson Square neighborhood.
The Hudson Square area is adjacent to both Tribeca and SoHo but the Viceroy's location is actually just steps away from the Holland Tunnel. Yet with MTV Networks relocating across the street from the planned Viceroy site, we're sure the hotel will have no problem getting folks to come down there.
If that doesn't work then the rooftop terrace with an outdoor pool and cabanas will do the trick.
The architecture firm Brennan Beer Gorman and interior designers Yabu Pushelberg will create the Viceroy New York. BBG was the group behind the andarin Oriental Hotels in New York and Washington D.C.; W Union Square; Gramercy Park Hotel and the Peninsula, Bangkok. Toronto-based Yabu Pushelberg has worked for Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts as well as Mandarin Oriental Hotel and Peninsula Hotels.
Right now, the opening date is set as sometime in 2010.
We usually avoid the NY Times Vows section especially since most of the brides and grooms started getting younger and younger. And really, how many Ivy League graduates can we read about in one sitting?
But this weekends Vows section caught our eye particularly the nuptials of Claudine DeMatos and Raphael DeNiro. Yup son of Robert DeNiro and actress Diahnne Abbott-Copeland. And a reasonable age of 31.
Turns out Raphael and his wife both work at the Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate company in New York in a special sales unit called the DeNiro Group. And Raphael is a partner with his father in the soon-to-open Greenwich Hotel in TriBeCa. Here his brief bio:
The DeNiro Group was formed with ideals of the future of real estate brokers at heart. Raphael was sure to bring together real estate agents and brokers who represent similar beliefs as his own, and who bring the same commitment to treating all clients with the honesty, support and integrity one would give a family member, putting their best interests first.
While we doubt father or son will ever be seen walking around the hotel checking out the staff and operations, it's nice to know that the hotel will at least have some family connection. Now about those prices....
The Duane Street Hotel is open, and its restaurant 'beca is now doing breakfast and lunch. A call to the hotel confirms that dinner service at the 40-seat lobby restaurant is still in the works.
In the meantime, the lunch menu is now up on the hotel website, and it looks decent. Some highlights:
Rocket with Fennel & Pomergrantes $10 Kobe Burger with Caramelized Onions, Goat Cheese & Rosemary Fries $16 Skirt Steak with Rocket & Rosemary Fries $17 Chocolate Terrine with Crème Anglaise & Pistachios $10 Smoothies: Mango, Lime & Ginger $6
But here's the thing: It's written for British tourists. No seriously. No one calls arugula "rocket" in the States. And smoothies? Who drinks smoothies for lunch?
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by Jenna
We've had our suspicions for quite sometime that the 
