Terry Trucco

A New Hotel with Great Views of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

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For 364 days of the year the most desirable rooms at the new Courtyard Marriott Manhattan/Herald Square are those with views of the Empire State Building. But that changes on Thanksgiving Day.

The new 167-room hotel has the good fortune to sit on the corner of Sixth Avenue and West 35th Street, a block away from Macy’s Department Store and directly above the street where Snoopy, Hello Kitty and all the other balloons, floats and bands pass by in the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Read more

Terry Trucco

NYC Hotels to Check Out – or Into – for The Fourth of July

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Ka-boom

237 may not be a Big Moment birthday, like a bi- or tri-centennial, but hey, how many people do you know who have reached it?

Countries are another story, but we love July 4 and so, it seems, do these hotels. All offer something, like a spot for taking in the fireworks, viewing the sport of competitive eating or just gazing at Lady Liberty on a red-white-and-blue-letter day.

 

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Terry Trucco

Is This The Biggest Chocolate Easter Egg in New York City?

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Who knows? But consider the jaw-drop vital statistics of the ultimate Easter egg on view at the Peninsula Hotel: three pastry chefs, 48 hours and 45 pounds of chocolate.

The result stands three feet tall and boasts enough hand-made candy flowers and butterflies to fill a small army of Easter baskets. Read more

Terry Trucco

What’s the Opposite of a Wake-Up Call? The Benjamin Introduces an End-of-Day Service

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Work-down call.

Work-down call.

The hotel room telephone has a buggy whip quality to it. When was the last time you used it to check a flight, find out movie times or talk to someone outside the hotel? Read more

Terry Trucco

10 NYC Hotels to Check Out Before the Holidays Check Out

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I finally got around to seeing the year’s top fashion documentary Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel.  In the spirit of her fabled Why Don’t’ You lists that spiced up an earlier iteration of Harper’s Bazaar, I offer Overnight New York’s Why Don’t You: the NYC Hotel holiday version. Here’s what to see and do at New York hotels while the holidays are still humming. Read more

Terry Trucco

Still Shopping? Check Out Overnight New York’s Second Annual Last-Minute Hotel Holiday Gift Guide

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Hotel shops sell a lot more than Band-Aids, bathrobes and bottled water.  Many stock amusing, even unusual items you’d be happy to give – or receive.

And here’s the best part. Many offer online as well as in-hotel shopping. So browse what caught our eye. There’s still time! Read more

Terry Trucco

Are The Peninsula Hotel’s Gigantic Reindeer Really Lollipops?

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Talk about eye candy.  Perched atop a table near the concierge desk at the Peninsula hotel stand a big red sleigh and two bright-eyed reindeer, one with a red nose. Read more

Terry Trucco

Holiday Gingerbread Creations at Le Parker Meridien That Look Too Good To Eat

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Honest Abe, the gingerbread version.

Who needs bricks and mortar – or limestone and chisels – when you’ve got gingerbread? Or to rephrase, ever wondered what the Lincoln Memorial, Kyoto’s Toji Tower or the Sphinx might look like as edible holiday sculptures? Read more

Terry Trucco

Who’s Flying High at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? Meet “Companion,” The New Balloon with a Hotel Connection

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By Terry Trucco

Companion — inflated and airborne

The last time we saw Companion, artist KAWS’s iconic cartoon character with big curly ears, Disney hands and a pair of Xs for eyes, he was a sculpture – a really big one. During the summer of 2011 his seated form, rendered in gray and white in steel, loomed 16-feet tall in front of The Standard hotel, hands over his eyes, the shyest character in town.

A year and change later he’s back in New York. This time he’s even bigger (and weighs a lot less). Look for him up in the air, hands covering eyes, at the 86th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Read more

Terry Trucco

The Best Hotels for Watching Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2012

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Companion — inflated and airborne

Companion, the giant balloon depicting grafitti artist KAWS’ iconic bashful character, isn’t all that’s new at this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 22.

After years of marching down Seventh Avenue, the parade has a new route for 2012 — and probably beyond. And as we reported last year, for guests hoping to watch from a hotel room the choices have changed — and shrunk. Read more