10016 Travel Guide
Tags: Summer Cocktails / Hotel Cocktails / Kimpton Hotels / → All Tags
Silverleaf Gin & Tonic A Bit Special at 70 Park Ave
We've kicked off our Summer Cocktails series where we profile fun new summer drinks that hotels are making. Got one we should know about? Send us the recipe with a photo of the drink. Otherwise, enjoy and @reply us when you're wasted!
Down at 70 Park Avenue they're getting into the swing of our love for summer cocktails with something a bit special: the Silverleaf Gin & Tonic which is a bit unique because it's infused with basil and mint that are grown in the hotel's own rooftop garden. And we think that's pretty neat.
For $16 you can sit back in the Silverleaf Tavern with your exclusive gin and tonic and muse on how the other half live. You could also stay for dinner after, but don't forget they don't serve dinner on Sundays. And we really think it's worth heading to 70 Park Ave for this cocktail because making it yourself with all that infusing business will take half the day.
Tags: Sneak Peek / Desires Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
Inside the MAve Hotel
All of you nailed yesterday's Guess the Hotel (and here we thought we'd made it too difficult): the hotel we checked out yesterday was indeed The MAve, the newest property from Desires Hotels, which opened up at 27th and Madison in NYC this month.
We weren't really sure what to expect. See, the first thing we ever heard about this hotel — way back when — was that it was going to be called The Wolf. And then came that weird voting-on-the-hotel's-name thing, followed by an admittedly-hilarious Curbed feature that poked fun at the building's former identity as budget hotel, The Madison. And then we got our hands on the first shots of the public spaces of the hotel, which brought many words to mind — among them: "fame," "iPod," and "huh?"
So we finally made our way over to the property and got a tour of the place; checked out the lobby and saw a couple rooms.
Tags: Snapshot / Manhattan Hotels / Desires Hotels / → All Tags
The MAve Lobby: A HotelChatter Word-Association Exercise
Since it's Friday, we're going to play a little game that we're sticking in the Fun HC Arsenal of Enjoyable Internet Activities (it goes on the shelf right next to Guess the Hotel, FYI); this one's called Word Association, and this round we're going to be working with The MAve Hotel.
Just a reminder: the MAve is Desires Hotels' newest property, and it opened up just last week rather quietly at 27th and Madison Avenue in Manhattan. We haven't had a chance to pop over there to check the place out for ourselves just yet, but we did get our hands on these shots of some (well, some slivers of) the public spaces of the hotel.
Tags: Sneak Peek / Snapshot / Hotel Openings / Desires Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
Sneak Peek at The MAve, Opening July 2nd
Glory be: it seems a Manhattan hotel is opening on schedule. Or, rather, they're at least sticking to the opening date they've been promising for a while.
Desires Hotels' newest, The MAve (that's for Madison Ave — which is the name people chose and voted on) will be opening its doors on Thursday, July 2nd. Opening rates for the rooms there will be cheapo by Manhattan standards: $169 for a basic room, with a 3-for-2 sale running when it opens — that is, pay for two nights and get your third night free. Rooms are still available this weekend, too.
We got our hot little hands on this sneak photo of one of the rooms; it's got H2O Aquatics bath & spa products, free WiFi, velour bathrobes, and 32" LCD TV's. And some trippy-ass art. Yeah.
Tags: Hotel Opening Rates / Manhattan Hotels / Affinia Hotels / Hotel Packages / → All Tags
Affinia Shelburne Arrives in Murray Hill for $189 a Night
Yeah, yeah, we know, NYC snobs: Murray Hill is a neighborhood at which some folks turn up their noses. The post-college bars and the post-college living (and when we say "post-college," we of course mean "immediately post-college") — but hey, it's close to stuff. Mostly, it's close to Grand Central. So no need to be snobby about the 'hood when you're just staying in NYC for a night or two.
And that's why you should seriously take a look at the just-opened Affinia Shelburne, which was born earlier this month as the new identity of the former Shelburne Murray Hill after a $25 million renovation.
The 268-room property features all the Affinia goodies you're used to: the My Affinia amenities program, a pillow menu, the signature Affinia bed — and right now, you can get your Affinia on with the Shelburne Grand Opening Package, which includes an upgrade to a suite, two signature “New Yorker” burgers from the hotel’s restaurant, two martinis at the hotel's rooftop bar (it's called "Rare View," FYI), a "Neighborhood Access Pass" with cool discounts for the 'hood, and a gift from designer K-Studio. The packaged is offered from June 1 to September 30 and start at just $189; use booking code LIVE.
Tags: Hotel Opening Rates / Hotel Openings / Desires Hotels / Hotel News / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
The MAve Opens This Summer With Rooms at $169
Ooooh. Remember The MAve? That new Desires hotel that actually had people vote to choose its name back when it was being completed? Formerly known as The Wolf? Yes, well: the people had spoken and they'd chosen The MAve (for Madison Avenue, obvs) and now the place is close to opening — it looks like we can make reservations for July 26th and beyond.
The hotel also launched its funky-fresh website, along with spilling the news that rooms will be cheap, cheap, cheap: $189 $169 is gonna be the going price for a basic room, it looks like, and the hotel will have a 3-for-2 sale running when it opens — that is, pay for two nights and get your third night free. This averages out to be around $126 per night; really not bad for NYC.
Each room is set to have H2O Aquatics bath & spa products, free WiFi, velour bathrobes, and 32" LCD TV's. Oh, and this is in walking distance to Madison Square Park — two words: Shake Shack.
*Update: a rep for the hotel says rates start at $169, though we couldn't find any rates lower than $189 when we tried to book.
Tags: Hotel Marketing / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
So, About That Carlton Hotel Email Blast...
Alright, so, turns out: The Carlton Hotel wasn't trying to make us sad by promising us gifts and then instead asking for our vote in the CNT Awards. Someone was just having an off week and made a bit of an oopsie boo-boo, and it's been fixed.
A rep for the company who sent out the email blast we called out yesterday reached out to us to let us know yesterday that the email was, in fact, an issue of not matching up a subject line with the copy in the body of the email. The founder of the company who worked with the Carlton for the email blast said:
My company, Digital Alchemy, is 100% responsible for the inaccurate subject line that was sent to some guests after checkout from The Carlton. We changed the content of a post-stay email sent to the guest without changing the subject line to the new copy. This reflected very poorly on us and, unfortunately and more importantly, The Carlton.
We have since sent an email on behalf of The Carlton to all guests who received the erroneous email that includes a significant discount offer. We are embarrassed by our mistake and have taken steps to prevent it from ever happening again. As the largest provider of email marketing services to the hospitality industry, maintaining our reputation in is secondary only to maintaining the reputation or our customers like The Carlton.
Aw. Call us crazy, but this kind of made us happy — it's cool when people take accountability for mistakes and take steps to fix it. Hotels — and other businesses — take note: you can fix your mistakes if you just give it a try.
Tags: Hotel Marketing / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
The Carlton Sends a 'Gift For You' That is Actually a 'Gift For Them'
Today in "misleading and disappointing e-mail subject line" news, we have a sad story that was, for once, not unearthed from the depths of our spam folder (the contents of which have long been promising us magical slimdown solutions and um, other stuff).
Today, a tipster sent over a very special email sent by The Carlton on Madison Avenue, who either made a little mistake with their email blast or took a lesson from our friends in the world of spammers who break promises between the subject lines and bodies of emails.
See, the subject line of this email was, "A Gift For You From The Carlton on Madison Avenue." Natch, everyone who received the email was probably like, "ooh! A gift! A discount? Some free chocolate? A free night?" But no. The body of the email contained none of that.
Tags: Hotel Deals / Baseball Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
70 Park Ave's 'Home Run Rate' Milks Yankees and Mets Rivalry
For anyone who hasn't surfed TV channels lately (or, um, hasn't been outside), it's baseball season — and that means fan rivalries are springing up everywhere from offices to hotels. Take, for instance, the newest deal at Kimpton's 70 Park Avenue, which gives Yankees and Mets fans yet another reason to battle it out on home turf.
Although rates at the 70 Park begin at $229 a night, guests in town for a baseball game can reap a sweet 20% off by using a rate code to match their preferred team: YANK for the Yankees and METS for Mets fans. Also included with your room will be 2 boxes of crackerjacks, just the thing to try and smuggle into the games when you've spent all your money on "I <3 NY" T-shirts and pretzels in Times Square. To book, call the 70 Park at 212.973.2400 and request the "home run rate" or make use of those codes above on their website.
[Photo: 70 Park Hotel]
Tags: Mother's Day Hotels / Hotel Packages / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
Play Up Your Mom's 'Mad' Hotness at The Carlton on Madison Ave
If your mom may be more into an adventurous getaway than a peaceful retreat (or you're not sure which one she may want) for Mother's Day, consider this one: take the lady to New York, and treat her to both adventurous excursion-type activities and indulgent de-stressing pampering sessions.
Try out New York's Carlton on Madison Avenue's Moms on Madison Package, which promises to keep yo momma occupied (and you occupied as well, should you choose to join her). It includes one night at the lovely Carlton — which boasts 42" flatscreens, Molton Brown toiletries and a nice location at 28th-ish and Madison — plus a Swedish massage, a classic facial and continental breakfast for two. Plus, the hotel offers free WiFi (yay!) and round the clock room service. And! Mom can bring the dog, so long as its 25 pounds or less.
The package starts at $500, and is valid through the month of May. Bonus: Macy's is within walking distance. Oh yes. Take her shopping.
Tags: Anti-View / Manhattan Hotels / W Hotels / → All Tags
W's 'Fantastic Suite' View is Not So Fantastic
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.
As we've mentioned before, we spent some time in a room at W New York - The Court and were not so happy with the WiFi charge. We didn't spend the night there — rather, someone we know did (full disclosure: our mother) and she was put up in a Fantastic Suite, a super-spacious, one-bedroom suite with a chaise lounge, pull out sofa, extra floor space and a totally separate bedroom. Plus, we were totally impressed with the entertainment setup: there was a huge flat-screen TV hooked up to big ol' speakers so we didn't miss a single thing Oprah said when we were watching her show one afternoon.
That said, we also didn't miss a single thing Oprah said because we weren't really distracted by the views. Again, this isn't so bad — we've most certainly seen worse — but we guess when we don't get a street view in Manhattan, this is what happens.
It just made us sad because the suite was so spacious and fairly pricey (starting around $429) — the view was a total disappointment. One would think that springing for a suite would earn you a nicer look out the window.
But then again, the people in the apartments this hotel looks into probably have it much, much, much worse. Not only can W guests see into their windows — but they can see into the W's windows, which sounds like it would make for great people-watching but more likely is just kind of gross.
Tags: Hotel WiFi / Snapshot / W Hotels / WiFi Hell / → All Tags
This Post Cost Us $17
One day of WiFi at W - The Court in NYC costs $16.95.
In the words of Twitterer wildedge: that's called Wi-F.U.
That is all.
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