June 3rd would have been Marilyn Monroe’s 85th birthday. Since film legends never really die, Hollywood photographer Murray Garrett celebrated with a show of seldom seen – and in several cases never before seen – black-and-white images of the 1950’s most celebrated blonde at the Washington Square Hotel. Read more
Talk about savvy product placement.
One of the first sights on screen during the much balleyhooed season finale of “Glee” this week was the lobby of the Intercontinental New York Times Square, the 36-story glass skyscraper that opened last July. Read more
What new book would we choose if we were curating a hotel library? This slim, picture-rich volume compiled by London’s stylish Design Museum bags one of our votes. Read more
New York hotels discovered eons ago that empty walls and fine art go together like poached eggs and Hollandaise. Consider the Audubon and Piranesi prints in The Carlyle guest rooms. Or the contemporary art by one-time residents like Larry Rivers and Susan Olmetti blanketing the Chelsea Hotel lobby. Read more
It isn’t easy to steal a scene from Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. But the Waldorf-Astoria in all its Art Deco glory does precisely that during the early scenes of The Adjustment Bureau, the new sci-fi-tinged thriller that opened this weekend. After all, there’s not a lot, living or inanimate, that can compete with the Waldorf’s vaunted Hall of Mirrors, patterned after the original in Versailles. Read more
As a fan of the Crosby Street Hotel’s Sunday Night Film Club (a club in name only) I perked up when I discovered the hotel’s stylish basement screening room – orange leather chairs, state of the art equipment – had launched a new series. Planned for four Mondays sprinkled throughout 2011, “Under the Influence: Writers on Film” pairs celluloid with lit, featuring a movie chosen by a prominent writer followed by a discussion with said writer and screenwriter Michael Maren. A reception with wine and nibbles wraps things up. Read more
It’s not news when a hotel room serves as a backdrop for a movie or photo shoot. But a play?
Welcome to Room 620 at the Hudson hotel. As noted previously, Green Eyes, a rarely seen one-act by Tennessee Williams, written in 1970 and published in 2008, is performed in this snug little suite through January 23. Fortunately for claustrophobic types, the play is short – just 35 minutes – with just two characters, a warring pair of newlyweds honeymooning in a seedy New Orleans hotel room. Read more
It’s not exactly the comfort of strangers.
Green Eyes, a rarely seen one-act play by Tennessee Williams, dramatizes the nightmarish encounter of the Dunphys, a couple honeymooning in a New Orleans hotel room. Read more
Q. When is a can of tuna more than just a can of tuna?
A. When it’s grouped with more than 4,000 others to create a grand-scale sculpture of New York’s Standard Hotel, aka The Candard Hotel. Read more
Not so long ago, New York hotel bars were almost like supper clubs without the supper, a classic mix of martinis and live music, part Bobby Short, part Fabulous Baker Boys. For the price of a drink or two or three, a pianist, harpist or jazz trio would entertain you before you headed upstairs or back home. Read more