Terry Trucco

What We Loved at the 2022 Hotel Trade Fairs — And What You May See on Your Next Hotel Visit

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For hotel design enthusiasts, a high point of the year is the annual arrival of BDNY, aka Boutique Design New York, and HX: The Hotel Experience, two big trade shows that camp out for a long, late-autumn weekend at Javits Center.

It’s the ultimate preview of coming attractions for hospitality geeks, a sneak peek at what you can expect to see in hotels before too, too long, from the latest trends in floor coverings, bedding and china to the latest lighting, mini-fridges and bathroom soap dispensers.

After two show-less years (both events were cancelled in 2020, and we missed 2021), we were thrilled to be back, roaming the caverns of Javits with notebook and camera. Here’s what caught our eye. Read more

Terry Trucco

The Merriest New York City Hotel Decorations of 2020 — Holiday Cheer in a Challenging Year

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By Terry Trucco

It’s the holiday season, albeit a weird one.

Hotels, we’re happy to say, have kept up their end of the holiday bargain, adorning their lobbies, festooning their walls and lighting up their buildings inside and out. Unfortunately, there are fewer hotel halls — and walls and bannisters and lobbies — to deck this season. Among the super-decorators missing-in-action for Holidays 2020 are The Plaza, Four Seasons New York, St. Regis New York, Loews Regency and Dream Downtown, all closed temporarily due to Covid-19. Read more

Terry Trucco

Our Top Picks from the 2019 Hotel Trade Fairs — Or What You May See on Your Next Hotel Visit

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We love hotel trade shows.

For one November weekend, we slip into comfortable shoes, charge up our phone and head to Javits Center, where a pair of enormous shows previews the latest gadgets, accoutrements and surprises you’ll soon see in hotels (if you haven’t seen them already).

While it’s fun to ogle industrial size kitchen equipment, be wowed by high tech electronics and hear about advances in bedbug eradication at HX, the Hotel Experience, we gravitate to BDNY (Boutique Design New York) and its eye-catching inventory of wallpapers, countertops, bathroom hardware, floor coverings, artworks, bedding and, yes, surprises like real roses that can last for three years (more on that later). Read more

Terry Trucco

Will a Hotel Stand Next to New York’s Historic Merchant’s House Museum?

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Merchant House Museum’s “call to arms” cartoon

At last count, New York City had more than 630 hotels, according to Smith Travel Research. The vast majority are located in Manhattan. Does the city really need a new hotel on East 4th Street?

We’ll know soon. After more than six years, an answer could come today that will determine the future of an unremarkable looking plot of East Village land currently occupied by a storage garage for food carts. A developer wants to build an eight-story hotel on the lot. But next door stands the historic Merchant’s House Museum, a late-Federal brick townhouse built in 1832 and one of the city’s few buildings with a landmarked interior and exterior. Read more

Terry Trucco

A Look at John Portman’s Signature NYC Creation, the Marriott Marquis

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With the recent death of John Portman, the game-changing architect you can thank — or blame — for hotels with sky-scraping atriums, dizzying glass elevators and revolving rooftop restaurants, I decided to pay a visit to his most famous New York City creation, the Marriott Marquis.

Though it no longer looks like an alien creature plopped in the middle of Times Square, the 33-year-old hotel is impossible to miss. A brutish fortress of glass and concrete, it looms 48 stories over Broadway, stretches the length of a city block and showcases an eight-story digital billboard ablaze with some of the priciest ads in town. Read more

Terry Trucco

Who Knew? Men Are More Finicky About Hotel Room Colors Than Women A New Study Finds

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What appeals to you when you see a hotel room? Your preferences may say as much about your gender and age as your driver’s license, according to a new study from the College of Hospitality and Technology Leadership at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manitee. Read more