10018 Travel Guide
Tags: Sneak Peek / Hotel Openings / Manhattan Hotels / Ascend Collection / → All Tags
Rooms at The Distrikt Not As Funky as the Hotel's Name Suggests
One of our favorite milestones when tracking a new hotel opening is the release of photos. Not renderings, not collages, but full color pictures of the guestrooms we’re so eager to check into. Today The Distrikt Hotel reaches that milestone by posting photos on its Facebook page.
We’ve been dying for a glimpse inside the hotel since the funky collages on the website--while arty and cool--left us without a clue as to room design. Now The Distrikt delivers and we’re both relieved and disappointed.
Relieved that the neighborhood theme is not an OTT mish-mash as it could have been, but a little sad that the décor plays it so safe. For all its savvy marketing, The Distrikt looks pretty middle-of-the-road when it comes to design. The rooms look nice in these photos—but "nice" means a place your mom would be comfortable staying. (That is, if she isn’t scared off by the funky name.) And that’s just not what we were expecting here.
Tags: Hotel Openings / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Booking Tips / → All Tags
Quikbook Still The Way To Go For The Strand, Now Opening December 1st
While we had high hopes of seeing one of our hotly anticipated new NYC hotels opening before Thanksgiving— The Strand in the garment district—it now looks like we'll have to wait another couple of weeks. Cross out that November 16th opening date, folks, and pencil in December 1st. That is the first date showing up on both the hotel's online reservation system, and on Quikbook.
As we reported in our last update, Quikbook is definitely the way to go when booking a night at The Strand. Previously it was showing a saving of $40 per night compared to the rates on the hotel's website. Now those savings are $70. A Superior King is going for $329 a night through the hotel, but just $259 on Quikbook. If waiting a bit longer for the doors to open can save us money like this, we might even be content to wait another week or two.
Tags: Insane Hotel Packages / Hotel Promotions / GEM Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
Launch Your Own Hotel Takeover With the GEM Hotel Midtown West
Have you ever dreamed of taking over an entire hotel, just like those kids in Hotel for Dogs or like Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez? Well, now you can do it without having to set up a makeshift animal shelter or get all nationalistic and chummy with the military. That’s because the GEM Hotel Midtown West is “inviting” guests to takeover all of its 39 rooms. The Hotel Takeover offer is available in January and February 2010, which gives you ample time to save the $5,000 you’ll need for one night of playing hotelier. (Or you could just put it on your “Dear Santa” list.)
The five grand is the starting rate (it's based on dates and availability) but that works out to about $128 per room per night, and you also get complimentary high-speed Internet access, bottled water, and Wolfgang Puck coffee. The GEM has a mix of King and Duo-Double rooms to house your friends, but you’ll want to book yourself into the Terrace Room, so you can get some “fresh air” (the hotel is located near 10th Avenue and the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel.)
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The Distrikt Hotel: Where ‘Late Fall’ Means Winter
Get out your Hotel Opening Date Tracking Sheet, friends, because it’s time for a little update on Manhattan’s Distrikt Hotel. We’re dying to see this place: the NYC-neighborhood theme is one of the most interesting we’ve heard of all year, and we can’t wait to see which floors—each named after a different part of the city—will become the most sought after. (It seems apt that the Financial District is on the lowest floor, and Harlem on the highest, no?)
Alas, it looks like we’ll have to wait a few more weeks. While the hotel’s website is still promising an opening in “late fall,” and a press rep for the Distrikt told us the doors would open on November 15th, we’ve since heard that the big day would be pushed back to December 1st.
Tags: Hotel Opening Rates / 10 Hot NYC Hotel Openings / Quikbook / Booking Tips / → All Tags
Book The Strand Hotel For $249 on Quikbook For Stays After November 16th
Last week when we checked in on The Strand Hotel we learned the place was opening either "any day now" or on November 16. But having just received our latest Quikbook.com newsletter advertising rates of $249 for the new hotel, we assumed it was open now. But we must have pulled out our "Jump to Conclusions" mat by accident.
Rooms were not available for tomorrow night on Quikbook.com. However, November 16th was open for $249 a night for a standard king with complimentary breakfast. The hotel's website is also not showing rooms open until November 16th. So we think you can guess what we recommend for booking this hotel--wait until November 16th. But book through Quikbook.com. Their rates are $40 cheaper per night than the hotel's website.
Tags: Hotel Openings / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
The Strand Hotel: Either Opening 'Any Day Now' or November 16
Welcome to New York's very own Midtown West Hotel Opening Race. We’ve been tracking the impending openings of a number of New York hotels, including two in the Midtown West ’hood—The Strand and The Distrikt. Both were due to throw open their doors this month, but it now looks like they could be heading for twin openings in mid-November.
Not so long ago, The Strand—the fashiony one with the vintage Conde Nast prints on the walls—had mid-October dates on their online reservation system, but now the first date available is November 16. The official word, however, is that the hotel could open “any day now.”
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The Distrikt Hotel Will Open 'Late Fall'
Fall is here, and the Halloween decorations have sprouted. Which reminds us: Wasn’t the Distrikt Hotel in Hell’s Kitchen meant to be opening on October 28? We thought so, but when we skipped over to the hotel’s website today we noticed they are now saying, “Opening Late Fall 2009.” What counts as “late fall,” we wonder? Mid-November?
Quite possibly. Last time we checked, there were just a couple of rooms at the Distrikt available for October 28—but today, the earliest date we could find using the online reservation system was November 16. The best rate available was $309 a night for a Queen, although we found a $279 a night rate for later dates, including November 22, and November 27.
Tags: Hotel Art / Hotel Openings / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Promotions / → All Tags
Stay at The Strand, Get a Pretty Print
As regular HotelChatter readers know, we’re tracking a healthy handful of new hotels opening in New York this winter, and the race is on to see which of them not only opens first but wows guests in the biggest way. The garment district’s major contender, The Strand, is making its first offensive play in the game with its “Room With a View” grand-opening package.
Tags: Manhattan Hotels / What's On The Block / Hotel Openings / Hotel Neighborhoods / → All Tags
What's On the Block at The Strand Hotel?
In this regular feature on HotelChatter, we choose a hotel and take a look at what other businesses or buildings are on its block. Because what's close by is nearly just as important as what's inside the hotel.
Today we look at one of our 10 Hot New York City Hotel Openings, The Strand Hotel.
This is how they describe their locale:
the 20-floor Strand Hotel is ideally located just around the corner from the Empire State Building, steps from prime NYC shopping, the Theatre District, Madison Square Garden, Bryant Park, Grand Central Station and much more.
And they’re right. This is a fantastic, central location. Lord & Taylor, Macy’s, the New York Public Library, and all those places they mention are all within walking distance. And you will never go hungry or want for touristy tschokes. But here’s the “much more”—what you’ll find on the actual block itself, on W. 37th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
Tags: Manhattan Hotels / What's On The Block / Hotel Construction / Hotel Neighborhoods / → All Tags
What's On The Block at The Distrikt Hotel?
In a new regular feature on HotelChatter, we'll choose a hotel and take a look at what other businesses or buildings are on its block. Because what's close by is nearly just as important as what's inside the hotel.
Today we strolled by one of the hotels listed on our 10 Hot New York City Hotel Openings, The Distrikt Hotel. The hotel describes its location like this: "Located in the heart of Manhattan on West 40th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues in Midtown Manhattan". And "steps away from The New York Times Building and Times Square." Technically, this is true. But there’s a few other things the funky-sounding hotel is not telling you....
Tags: Hotel Openings / Manhattan Hotels / 10 Hot NYC Hotel Openings / → All Tags
The Strand Hotel Taking Reservations for October 1st, We Think
Got your hotel opening date scorecard handy? It’s time to check in one of our 10 Hot New York City Hotel Openings. Today: The Strand Hotel.
When the press release for this property first went out in June, it promised an August debut. Ha. We know better than to fall for the first date thrown into the air. Then, a few weeks back, it looked like the Garment District digs might open on October 1st.
Tags: Hotel Openings / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Opening Rates / → All Tags
The Strand Hotel in New York Could Open October 1st
Another day, yet another Manhattan hotel opening we're hearing about.
Back in July, we scoped out the website for The Strand Hotel on W. 37th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues, right near Bryant Park and the grand New York Public Library. At that time, we couldn't check out the room rates or find an exact opening date but we could learn what was going to be inside--like the tongue-in-cheek restaurant, A Fish Called Avalon, a hotel spa and a rooftop lounge. And now, we have some good news for you today.
When we skipped over to the hotel's website last night, we hunted around for reservations and found that October 1 was the first day the hotel was listed as available! A superior king was available for $289 a night. A superior queen was going for $279 a night. Not great, but nothing too Jeffersonian.
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