Overnight New York is the independent guide to New York City hotels with honest, unbiased reporting and no ties to the hotels we write about. We visit each hotel anonymously and always pay when we eat and stay. Think of Overnight New York as a best friend who susses out where you want to spend the night — and where you don’t — and tells you what’s new, what’s trending and where to meet for drinks after work, indulge in a romantic dinner or put up the in-laws.
Hotel Cabaret — Complete With a Pianist — Makes a Comeback at The Carlton M Salon
/in Hotels and the Arts/by Terry TruccoHotels and piano bars go together like cocktail shakers and martinis. So why, in the city of Broadway and countless preternaturally talented musicians, has the hotel piano bar become a borderline endangered species? Read more
7 New York Hotel Libraries That Make You Want To Curl Up With A Book
/in Hotels and the Arts/by Terry TruccoI love hotel libraries, book-lined havens – or at the very least, a cozy room with a couple of well-stocked shelves – where you can climb into a big, squishy sofa or club chair. Sure, you can byo, but half the fun is discovery – that obscure novel you missed, a travel or photography book you’ve never seen or a Dutch design magazine you didn’t know existed. Read more
A First Look at Hyatt 48Lex, Midtown’s Newest Hotel Built From the Ground Up
/in Hotel Openings and Closings/by Terry TruccoIs the latest, must-have luxury hotel amenity a dishwasher?
I wondered after a recent tour of the new Hyatt 48Lex, a 116-room glass box with the moniker of a chain hotel and the heart – and size — of a boutique. The first thing you see as you enter is a butler’s pantry outfitted with gleaming versions of the expected (stainless steel sink, microwave, mini fridge). But voila, a pair of surprises. A clever cabinet swings open to display a superbly stocked, mirror-backed bar (full-size bottles instead of minis). And a Fisher-Paykel stainless steel dishwasher drawer nestles under a cupboard. Read more
Fashion Week: New(ish) Designers Check in at the Hudson, W and Roger Smith Hotels
/in Hotels and Fashion/by Terry TruccoWe’ve been noticing an abnormally high percentage of rangy, good-looking people around town. That means one thing – Fashion Week is back. More than 200 designers unveil their creations during the Spring/Summer 2012 shows at the tents in Lincoln Center and a host of private venues through September 15.
What are New York’s fashion-forward hotels doing besides gleefully celebrating their full – or nearly full — houses? Hint: think “emerging designers ” – and fashion by association, that hint of glamour that rubs off on anyone around it.
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Basil and Buzz: A First Look at the Intercontinental New York Barclay’s New Roof Garden
/in Green Hotels, Hotel Food and Drink/by Terry TruccoIn a city known for lavish rooftop amenities, from lounges to pools, the roof of the Intercontinental New York Barclay is neither the tallest nor the chicest. But it’s got buzz. Read more
All You Need To Know About Tipping at NYC Hotels
/in Hotels in the News/by Terry TruccoDon’t tip the Yotel robot
We’ll never know the identity of the enterprising employee who cleared his throat, stared down a guest and was remunerated for carrying a bag. But by the 1820s tipping the porter, like signing the register, was a ritual at hotels in New York and other big American cities.
Blame it on the buildings. Carrying bags wasn’t a problem for guests staying at small, squat colonial inns and taverns. But hotel architecture changed in the 1790s, with the advent of full-fledged hotels with complicated floor plans, writes A.K. Sandoval-Strausz in Hotel, An American History, a fascinating look at the evolution of the hotel. Read more
How NYC Hotels Are Coping with Mean Hurricane Irene
/in Hotels in the News/by Terry TruccoAnd a most unwelcome guest she is.
Flooding concerns in low-lying areas of Manhattan prompted several hotels at the island’s southern tip to close this weekend for city-mandated evacuation, including the Ritz Carlton New York Battery Park, the Andaz Wall Street, the New York Marriott Downtown and the tiny Wall Street Inn. And just like that, more than 1,000 hotel rooms dropped off the city’s radar. Read more
Five Trending Treatments You’ll Soon See at Spas
/in Hotels in the News/by Terry TruccoWhat are the top treatment requests at spas? Forget reflexology and mud wraps. Swedish massages and basic facials, the spa world’s plain vanilla, rule. But that hasn’t stopped spas from dreaming up fresh ways to promote relaxation, wellness and repeat visits.
Five new treatments, three at spas easily reached from New York and none of them cheap, caught my eye during the International Spa Association’s annual visit to New York.
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A Hotel Vending Maching That Dispenses Ouiji Boards and 24-Karat Gold Handcuffs? Meet Hudson Hotel’s Semi-Automatic
/in Hotel Shops and Collectibles, Hotels in the News/by Terry TruccoSemi-automatic? It’s a vending machine, not a weapon, and you can see this big, oddly futuristic contraption in the lobby at the Hudson here in New York as well as at the Mondrian South Beach and the Sanderson in London. Read more
Grace Kelly Slept Here: The Barbizon Hotel for Women Flirts With Landmark Status 30 Years After Its Demise
/in Hotels and the Arts, Hotels in the News, Notable Check-ins/by Terry TruccoNew York boasts no shortage of thriving historic hotels, from the Pierre and the Algonquin to the Waldorf Astoria. But the casualties on the ghost list can be almost as noteworthy, even on occasion, newsworthy. Read more