10023 Travel Guide
Tags: Gossip Girls Hotels / Hotel Cocktails / Hotel Restaurants / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
The Empire Hotel Celebrates Chuck Bass With Gossip Girl Cocktails
If you've been paying attention in the slightest to this most recent season of Gossip Girl, then you'll have noticed how New York's Empire Hotel has become one of the characters, after it was bought by Chuck Bass. Now that the hotel is making appearances on TV, the real life property believes it should embrace the connection by debuting "Gossip Girl cocktails."
Concocted by the Empire's cocktail consultant Somer Perez, there are drinks for each Gossip Girl main character (even the dudes!). You can find them being served in the hotel's Lobby Bar, and each cocktail is $15. There's even an "XOXO" cocktail, with secret ingredients they'll never tell.
After the jump, the rest of the character cocktails...
Tags: Hotel Renovations / Trump Hotels / Celebrity Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
Trump International Will Stay Open During 2010 Renovations
With all the breathless anticipation over the February opening of the Trump SoHo, we almost forgot that the Don and the kids had other properties. (Almost but not quite—after all, how can you miss those towers cutting off your access to the sun?) But you don't expect the Trumps to let their flagship baby languish while the cool kid downtown gets all the attention, do you? Of course not!
So it will come as no surprise, then, that the Trump International Hotel & Tower New York (that big sucker at the bottom of Central Park) is getting a multimillion-dollar spit and polish come January.
While the Forbes (formerly Mobil) Five-Star Hotel has always been stately and posh, the renovations will, according to Donald J. Trump Jr, put it in step with the "elegant, classic-contemporary feel of the other Trump Hotel Collection properties." It was Don Jr. himself who approved the model room displaying the proposed renos. So, what can all those tween stars expect when their tours bring them back to NYC in 2010?
Tags: Political Hotels / Barack Obama / Mandarin Oriental Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
POTUS Dresses Down Wall Street at Mandarin Oriental
The Mandarin Oriental in New York is popular with celebrities: in the past, we've seen Bruce Willis and Natalie Portman there. But approaching the hotel close to 5 p.m. yesterday, we encountered way too much security for there to just be someone from Hollywood in the building. The street itself was blocked off and a mix of NYPD officers, generic security dudes, serious-looking men in suits—aha! Secret Service!—and excited New Yorkers waiting by the barricades gave it all away: President Barack Obama was in town. And about to arrive any second.
We got a bit of a thrill to learn this, too, along with a hint of dread that we may not get into the hotel for our business meeting after all. We did not have photo ID on us, and there was no official invite for our small meeting meant to take place at the MO Bar. We watched as one security guy turned away a woman who lived on the same block ("go around the other way,"), and refused to let an Equinox instructor into the building unless he had a gym membership card. Hotel guests were asked to present their room keys.
Tags: Movie Set Hotels / Sex and The City / Manhattan Hotels / Celebrity Scoop / → All Tags
'Sex and The City' Gals Take Over Chuck Bass' Place, The Empire Hotel
As if Chuck Bass buying the place wasn't enough glitz and glamour for The Empire Hotel, the Sex and The City crew were filming in the hotel lobby (pictured above) all day Monday and a spy sent us some scoop on what was going on.
Someone saw a movie poster of Smith’s new film. It looks like an epic war film shot in the desert where he’s carrying a small boy to safety.
There were about 200 extras and Samantha was wearing a short, silver body hugging number with a cream wrap. SJP was in a floor length, black dress with a egg-shell colored wrap.
Ok, so it's not that much but it looks like Smith is in some big action movie and the gals attend the movie premiere party at the hotel. Also, we heard Chris Noth aka Mr. Big was on set too. And there is now word that Penelope Cruz will be in this scene as well.
We have to say these are all major improvements at the hotel from the Kardashians.
Tags: NYT Reviews / Fashion Week Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags
The NYT Checks In to a 'Different Kind of Fashion Week Blowout'
The NYT shook things up a bit this weekend with their Check In, Check Out column. Rather than checking in to a new trendy hotel, the Gray Lady took another look at one of Manhattan’s oldest hotels, the Empire, which underwent a renovation last year that the NYT says “transformed it into a modern refuge.” (Don’t worry, its 1920s neon sign still glows.)
We suppose it’s a topical move, given this week being New York Fashion Week and the plans for next year’s event to move from Bryant Park to Lincoln Center — the Empire’s stomping grounds. Or maybe it was the hotel's recent addition of City Running Tours that piqued the Times' interest. See how the hotel fared after the jump.
Tags: City Running Tours / New York Hotels / Hotel Fitness / → All Tags
Sweating It Out on the Empire Hotel City Running Tour
Last week we told you about the Empire Hotel introducing City Running Tours, and this week we actually tied on a pair of sneakers and tagged along on one.
We were a little nervous about not being fit enough to run the 5-mile route through Central Park and the Upper West Side, however, as they promise on their website, the City Running Tours team are laidback and accommodating. Not crazy, wired, running freaks at all! After signing our waiver form in the lobby of the busy Empire Hotel (it was the eve of Fashion Week), we set off with our guide. It was 7 p.m. so the streets around the hotel were pretty busy with people leaving work and others heading to dinner, so we walked to the Columbus Circle entrance of Central Park, where we did our stretches. And away we went.
Tags: Hotel Fitness / New York City Hotels / City Running Tours / → All Tags
The Empire Hotel Introduces City Running Tours
What awaits you at the Jeunesse Spa after your run.
Last year, the Westin Times Square got its guests running by teaming up with City Running Tours, and obviously the Empire Hotel has figured out this was a great idea. Starting from today, guests at the Empire will also be able to get some exercise in during their stay.
Jogging fans who check in to the Empire will be able to take part in an Empire Hotel Five-Mile Running Tour around the scenic and historic sites of the Upper West Side. These will include Strawberry Fields and Bethesda Terrace in Central Park, Lincoln Center, Ansonia Apartments, The Dakota, The Natural History Museum, Hayden Planetarium and the 79th Street Boat Basin in Riverside Park, just to name a few.
Tags: TV Set Hotels / Reality TV Hotels / NYC Prep / Thompson Hotels / → All Tags
PC of 'NYC Prep' Throws a Party at the Six Columbus Penthouse
We totally got suckered into the new Bravo TV reality show, NYC Prep. We have no good reason to explain this except that watching rich teenagers do and say stupid things is hilarious when you're 30 years old and you still drink out of a bottle--a wine bottle that is.
Anyways, every epsiode Bravo likes to have the kids do one of two things--something straight out of Gossip Girl plotline or spend a serious amount of money on stuff that average adults could only dream about. In last night's episode, we had both!
Camille, Kelli and a friend toured Harvard while the guyliner-wearing, 18 going on 30, PC threw a small party in the penthouse of the 6 Columbus, a Thompson Hotel on Columbus Circle.
Tags: Refereeing Hotel Reviews / Manhattan Hotels / TripAdvisor / → All Tags
What Makes This Hotel the 'Number One' Place to Stay in NYC?
Hey, ever heard of the Inn New York City? Neither had we, really. A quickie search through the HC archives (which go back — way, way back) was fruitless, and racking our brains turned up nothing. Why were we searching far and wide for info about this hotel, you ask? Because, according to TripAdvisor, Inn New York City is the very best hotel in all of the Big Apple. Hmm.
We know TripAdvisor is not always the undisputed bastion of accurate and consistent (or even sometimes real) reviews, and we also know that just because we haven't talked about it doesn't mean it's not good — but really, what makes this the supposed best hotel in all of NYC? Let's investigate.
Tags: Celebrity Scoop / Trump Hotels / Manhattan Hotels / Rihanna / Chris Brown / → All Tags
Rihanna and Chris Brown's Trump NYC Stay is Way Shady
So, as we are all well aware by now, the Rihanna/Chris Brown relationship was a little bit tumultuous. And there was that whole February assault scandal, which Brown has since publicly apologized for — and we're not going to offer our opinion on that whole mess because, really, it's not our business.
But this gossip is more our thing: this weekend, the should-be-estranged couple was allegedly spotted coming and going from the same Manhattan hotel. According to PopEater (and the whole celeb gossip circuit, really), Chris is supposedly not allowed to see Rihanna (hello, restraining order) — but the two of them were both staying at the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Manhattan this past Friday. Smells like scandal.
And we say it smells like scandal because, like, really: of all the hotels in NYC, The Trump, you guys? The odds that both of you would pick that place over like, the Ritz-Carlton Central Park or something — kind of shady. The Trump, really?
Reviews at the Trump are so-so, with its biggest perks being the location and its crew of obviously-well-trained-to-deal-with-paps staffers.
Tags: Celebrity Scoop / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Rooftops / Heidi Klum / Orlando Jones / Michael Cera / Rihanna / → All Tags
The Empire Hotel is a Revolving Door of Celebrities
If the The Empire Hotel actually had a revolving door, we could say that the hotel is a revolving door of celebrities — literally — but even with a boring set of pull doors, celebrities keep on coming and going from this Midtown West hotel. And some of these recent celebs have actual talent (unlike The Kardashians.)
Orlando Jones is shacking up at the Empire in a $1,500-a-night suite while he does he stint on Broadway, starring in The Wiz. Also, Heidi Klum stayed at the hotel to attend a Victoria's Secret Beauty luncheon on the pooldeck. According to a source, she was "wonderful and smiley" but was a little tired (probably because she's pregnant, AGAIN) and talked about taking a cat nap in her suite.
Tags: Father's Day Hotels / Hotel Packages / Mandarin Oriental Hotels / → All Tags
Give Your Dapper Dad a Cognac Experience on Father's Day
Yo, kiddies? Father's day is this month. And if your pops is more of the cigar-lounge-and-fireplace than the Disney World vacay type, consider this pop's day gift from the Mandarin Oriental New York. Hint: cognac is involved. Yeah, dapper gentlemen only.
Way up on the 35th floor in the Lobby Lounge, MOBar or restaurant Asiate (yes, with kickass views of Central Park and the skyline), pops can enjoy an evening tasting cognac if you book him the Father’s Day Cognac Package:
The flight consists of three pours, including Delamain XO Pale and Dry, P. Frapin Vintage 1983 and Hine Vintage 1975, and will be accompanied by a selection of chocolate truffles.
How very... classy. It'll cost you, though, so be prepared to shell out $670 per night for the room and cognac tasting — and if you want to join dad on his tour de alcohol, you've gotta pay $75 for an additional flight.
The packages are available all through June; call (212) 805 8800 for rezzies.
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