10023 Travel Guide
Hotel Openings / NYLO Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Design / Stonehill and Taylor / Michael Suomi / → All Tags
NYLO's First NYC Hotel is Ready to "Meet Its Maker"
Back in March we got a preview of the upcoming NYLO Hotel on Manhattan's Upper West Side which will open inside the existing On the Ave Hotel. Today, we learn the hotel is nearly finished with a June/July opening on the horizon but there's also a way to stay in one of the NYLO rooms as early as tomorrow night.
We chatted up Michael Suomi of Stonehill + Taylor, the architecture and interior design firm responsible for the NYLO Hotel (and the man behind the awesome Hyatt House chair) to get more detes on just what to expect from NYLO's first-ever New York City hotel.
Suomi and his team at S+T were responsible for doing not just the guestrooms at the hotel but also the public spaces including the new LOCL lobby bar which we've already shown you here. But doing the first NYC hotel for a brand whose name actually means "New York Loft", yet who have only opened hotels in suburban Texas and Rhode Island, meant the design had to be something the brand has never done before. "It's sort of like meeting your maker," Suomi said.
Fantasy Friday / Trump Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Movie Hotels / → All Tags
Fantasy Friday: Trump NYC's $14,000 Great Gatsby Package
Here's the latest happening in the luxury hotel world as told by JustLuxe.com. Got a question about luxury hotels, the travel biz, and where to stay? Send it in and we'll have JustLuxe answer it.
We've already given you a taste of some choice hotels and packages available for The Great Gatsby movie, which opens today. My, it seems everyone's been bitten by the Gatsby bug.
But this is Fantasy Friday and you know we like to dream a little dream, so we bring you a lavish $14,000 package on offer over at the Trump International Hotel & Tower that they've oh so creatively named The Great Gatsby Package.
Fashion Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Met Gala Hotels / Mandarin Oriental / Joseph Altuzarra / → All Tags
Joseph Altuzarra Glammed Up 'Girls' Star at the Mandarin Oriental New York
Designer Joseph Altuzarra enjoys the view from his suite
While Anna Wintour was getting floral-fied at The Mark pre-Met Gala last night, hundreds of designers, celebrities and bold names were donning their duds in other hotel suites around the city.
For example, the Mandarin Oriental was quite the hotspot for the ritual of "getting ready," a day-long process which involves makeup artists, final wardrobe adjustments, PR strategizing and, finally, the departure by limo or towncar for the walk up the Metropolitan Museum of Art's red carpet staircase.
Spotted getting ready at the Mandarin Oriental were designer Joseph Altuzarra and his date, Girls actress Allison Williams (whose dress was later named among the Top 10 Most Daring); the Rodarte sisters dressing the Fanning sisters; Emma Watson; Downton Abbey's Michelle Dockery; and even "Gangnam Style" singer Psy, spotted cavorting with his entourage in the lobby lounge.
Hotel News / NYLO Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Rebrandings / → All Tags
A Preview of NYC's Nifty New NYLO Hotel
We’ve been giving you doses of news about the new NYLO Hotel scheduled to debut on New York’s Upper West Side (77th and Broadway to be exact) this summer. Well today, we’ve been given the chance to show HotelChatter fans a few shots of the rooms.
You can read all about NYLO's back story here, but the fast and furious version is this is the first New York outpost of the chain (the other four hotels are scattered around Texas and Warwick, Rhode Island). It'll replace the existing On The Ave Hotel (which will remain open during renos) and it’s immediate competition will be the Hotel BelleClaire we recently uncovered as an UWS hidden gem.
The hotel’s “Roaring 20’s and Jazz era” theme is being designed by Stonehill & Taylor, the powerhouse firm behind the city’s NoMad, The Ace and Crosby Street hotels--so in short, NYLO is expected to be one nifty property.
Fantasy Friday / Babymoons / Hotel Packages / Trump Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Kate Middleton / Kim Kardashian / → All Tags
Fantasy Friday: Trump NYC's Over-The-Top Babymoon
We knew it would happen. The “Babymoons” of yesteryear would return as a trend. And you know who’s to blame? We’ve got two culprits. Kate Middleton and Kim Kardashian. Since both women announced their pregnancies, we can’t count the amount of baby-centric packages appearing in our inbox. Fine. Expected.
But this is Fantasy Friday, so you know we’re going for the most OTT package we’ve seen, because it’s crazy fun to peep what’s out there for mamas-to-be (oh, and their partners too!).
Today we’re looking at the “Trump Royal Heir Package” from the Central Park stationed Trump International hotel. The property’s Britain-born GM, Suzie Mills developed the special to ladies in their second trimester want to savor the last few weeks of carefree couple time and prenatal pampering.
Look what you'll get for $6,000 (or $6,500 depending on suite choice) after the jump!
Celebrity Scoop / Celebrity Hotels / Robert Pattinson / Mandarin Oriental Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Heartbreak Hotels / → All Tags
RPatz Stews In His Own Grief At The Mandarin Oriental
So many hotels, so many memories...
From Vancouver to Toronto to Charlie Chaplin's old house in Hollywood, Twilight co-stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart managed to cover a lot of ground in their days of hotel-hopping, filming scenes for their movies, and jetting off on romantic weekends together. But now, the trail of trysts is coming back to haunt poor RPatz.
While promoting his latest film, Cosmopolis, in NYC, the star allegedly checked into the Mandarin Oriental, where he figured five nights in the hotel's depressingly large Presidential Suite would be a great way to reclaim some much-needed 'me' time.
Or wind up crying in the glass-enclosed "shower for two." One of the two.
Hotel Spas / Trump Hotels / Hotel Renovations / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Amenities / Hotel Pools / → All Tags
A New Reason To Show Up, And Loosen Up, At Trump International
Trump likes to do things big. And that's not just something we say to sound cool or to pick a fight—he (Trump) actually told us so back in March when we sat down to talk hotel expansion. That conversation was all about ballrooms in Chicago, the upcoming Doral Resort in Miami, and, of course, hotel WiFi.
But one thing we didn't get around to discussing was the newly-renovated spa that just re-opened inside Trump International Hotel, bumping it up on our list of fun things to do on an off day in Columbus Circle. Right there in between riding sidesaddle through Central Park and stealing samples from the buffet at Whole Foods.
Hotel Music / Mandarin Oriental Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Spas / Hotel Restaurants / → All Tags
We Benefitted From A Little 'Oriental Wisdom' At Asiate, And So Can You
We were snooping around the Mandarin Oriental New York the other week just for kicks and we wandered up to the midtown hotel's sky lobby. Expecting some nice Central Park views (check), some snooty tourists (check) and maybe even a celebrity sighting (disappointment), we were about ready to head out when we stepped into the hotel's restaurant-in-the-sky, Asiate for a quick look.
And there, it hit us: like angels wrapped in silk sheets singing from the heavens, we were completely hypnotized by the soothing music playing overhead. It was like a cross between the kind of flow-y meditation music they play at the end of yoga class and that Bjork song, 'All Is Full Of Love.' We were instantly relaxed. We had to know what it was we were listening to.
Hotel WiFi / Mandarin Oriental Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Technology / → All Tags
Now There's WiFi In Every Room at Mandarin Oriental NY (But You Still Gotta Pay)
Take a quick look at our Annual WiFi Report: Best of 2011, and you know which hotel you won't see on there? Mandarin Oriental New York. That's because, until now, the hotel hasn't really done anything to wow us, even though more and more hotels are gradually making the switch to better, faster, free-er internet.
Well, they still have some work to do on the "free" part (guests must pay a $15/day WiFi fee), but due to "a dramatic shift" in the number of customers using wireless internet, MONY has graciously implemented Ruckus WiFi wall switches in all the guest rooms. So wherever you sit, you'll always manage to find a decent connection because the router is now right there in your room. Plus, the hotel has installed more efficient access points in meeting and conference areas—though, really, who goes to Mandarin Oriental to do work?
Chinese New Year Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Mandarin Oriental Hotels / Hotel Afternoon Tea / Hotel Lobbies / → All Tags
Don't Go Alone To the Tea of Togetherness At Mandarin Oriental New York
Chinese New Year rolls around on Monday, and the Mandarin Oriental is feelin' festive. The hotel's annual Tea of Togetherness is all about good fortune, well-being, and—of course—togetherness, but as major dim sum fans ourselves, we're just stoked to get our snack on.
Everyday starting at 2:30pm, dumplings, rolls, cakes, and scones will all pop up in the hotel's 35th floor Lobby Lounge, where a more traditional Afternoon Tea is normally served during the rest of the year. But instead of Devon clotted cream and marmalade, over the next two weeks you'll find things like Jade Vegetable Dumplings, Pork and Watercress Wontons, Shrimp and Mango Rolls, Dragon Duck Wrap, Chinese tea cakes, and ginger scones.
Trump Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Activities / Hotel Ice Skating / Hotel Deals / Twitter / → All Tags
Wanna Skip The Lines At Trump Wollman Skating Rink? Stay At the Trump
We showed you yesterday how to click your way to an upgraded room view at Trump Soho. Now, here's a way to parlay your stay at Trump New York into a VIP ice skating session at the nearby Trump Wollman Rink in Central Park.
Guests of the hotel who call ahead will get whisked straight to the skate rental counter upon arrival, bypassing endless lines of whiny children, oblivious tourists and uninformed New Yorkers (we can say that because, as New Yorkers, we try to aim for more, um...time-efficient places to go ice skating). This makes a lot of sense to us. As long as it's in their power, why shouldn't Trump New York try to make things easier for parents attempting a family outing in below-freezing temperatures?
What's that, you say? You want the hotel to throw in free skate rentals too? Now, let's not get greedy...
Celebrity Scoop / Celebrity Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Central Park Hotels / Fashion Hotels / Nicki Minaj / WIllow Smith / Will Smith / → All Tags
Willow Smith Brightens Up The Mandarin Oriental
Anyone who happened to be shopping around Columbus Circle on Monday in NYC had a good chance of seeing pop singer Willow Smith. Several paps caught the young star stepping out of her hotel, the Mandarin Oriental, looking cool as ever. Despite rumors about her parents' split, Willow kept up appearances with some leopard print, turquoise fur, and awesome yellow highlights.
It just so happens that today is the debut of Willow's new music video, a collaboration with Nicki Minaj—which might explain her extreme fashion choices. Unlike Nicki, however, Willow has yet to be booted from a hotel. She's only eleven, after all. So many years of celebrity hotel trashing ahead of her!
