What You Missed if You Skipped the 2012 Architectural Digest Home Design Show
Donuts — baked not fried.
One reason we like hotels is that the best are laboratories for design, jam-packed with decorating ideas you can try at home. So, of course, we love home design shows, and this is one of our favorites (full disclosure: we moderated the show’s New York Times designer seminars, but we’d be fans anyway). Read more
Don’t Feed the Bears — Spanish Artist dEmo’s Bear Forest Checks Into the Roger Smith Hotel
dEmo bear.
It’s as if someone filled a room with Gummy Bears, only these are big enough to eat you instead of the other way around. Read more
In the Pink in the Roaring 20s Lobby of the Intercontinental New York Barclay
Hello, spring.
We know – winter wasn’t a big deal this year, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t ready for spring. So bring it on.
These big bouquets of lilies and blossoms come courtesy of the Barclay, or to be formal about it the Intercontinental New York Barclay, a hotel that can always be depended upon for fresh flowers in the lobby. The message? Spring’s here – we’re in the pink!
Now Playing at Andaz 5th Avenue: Hyatt’s New High-Tech TVs
After smartphones, can smart TVs be far behind? Hyatt thinks so.
This week the company announced plans to install new televisions with internet capability in the guest rooms of its full-service hotels in the US, Canada and the Caribbean over the next two years. Compared to standard flatpanel TVs, Hyatt’s new televisions are downright brainy. Read more
A Cameo Appearance by The Plaza in Amor Towles’ New Bestseller “Rules of Civility”
We love it when a New York hotel makes a cameo appearance in a novel we like. So imagine our glee upon opening Rules of Civility, Amor Towles’ exquisitely layered portrait of strivers and high society in late 1930s Manhattan, and following the characters into not one but three hotels, all beauties. Read more
What You Missed if You Skipped the 2012 New York Times Travel Show
We’re with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on this one – Jacob K. Javits Convention Center is a big, soulless barn. But once a year The New York Times Travel Show moves in for a weekend along with a big chunk of the world, and the place lights up.
With representatives from more than 70 countries and 14 states – and that’s not counting cruise ships, hotel chains and tour operators – you could travel the world without a passport this past weekend. Here’s a small sampling of what we saw. Read more
Celebrating Z-z-z — and National Sleep Awareness Week — at The Benjamin
Why is the front desk manager at The Benjamin wearing a nightcap and terrycloth bathrobe?
He’s observing National Sleep Awareness Week, a yearly educational campaign promoting the importance of sleep. The week culminates in the worst day of the year, Sunday March 11, when Daylight Savings Time begins and we spring forward, losing a precious hour of shut-eye. Read more
Pass the Popcorn: February 2012’s Most Popular Hotel Room Movies
Welcome to our newest feature. Each month we’ll post the 10 top Hollywood films watched by hotel guests in New York and across the US as compiled by LodgeNet, the country’s leading provider of in-room entertainment.
Here’s how guests voted with their TV remotes (and iPod apps) in February. Note to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: The Descendants cleaned up big with hotel guests. Read more
A First Look at TRYP New York Times Square South, Stylish, Comfy and New
First, a word about the name. Even with “south” tacked on, associating a hotel on West 35th Street with Times Square is a stretch, especially a hotel situated between 8th and 9th avenues. But once you accept that TRYP is a lot closer to Madison Square Garden and Macy’s than to where the New Year’s Eve ball drops, things get interesting. Read more