And The Oscar Goes To: NYC Hotels with Supporting Roles In the 2014 Academy Awards
No hotel has ever won an Oscar. But that does not mean hotels haven’t had close ties with the Academy Awards over the years. Read more
Up in the Air: Having a Drink at the Tallest Hotel Bar in New York
No sooner do we get a new hotel that sets a height record for New York (and North America), than up pops Bar 54 at the new Hyatt Times Square New York, the tallest hotel bar in town. Is it a coincidence that our new mayor is New York’s tallest ever?
Even in a height-obsessed city a bar on the 54th floor qualifies as up there. Bar 54 crowns this new glass-box hotel like a fedora, its floor-to-ceiling windows bordered by expansive open-air terraces that should be breathtaking if the weather ever warms up. For now the bar, which opened last week, is strictly an indoor affair. Read more
Like “The Lego Movie” — and Legos? Check Out the Lego Wall at Yotel Times Square
Renovations of public areas are as awkward for hotels as their guests. The noise. The inconvenience. The mess.
So rock on Yotel Times Square for hiding the construction of its new lounge with a crowd-sourced Lego Wall stretching across the fourth floor as you exit the elevators.
The DIY wailing wall lets visitors get clever with Legos, building whatever images they want, the ultimate in house-condoned graffiti. Read more
Who’s Afraid of the Dark? Not These Chic New York Hotel Hallways
A bright room number against a dark wall
Hotel hallways are a scene setter, a visual amuse-bouche before you dig into your room. You rarely notice them unless they’re battered or dingy or film noir scary. Usually they’re white or beige, some variant of pale.
But we’re seeing a darkening trend, walls bathed in gray, charcoal or to cut to the chase, black. The Refinery Hotel and NYLO New York are two less-than-a-year-old New York boutique hotels with dark halls. (The 11-year-old Maritime was an early adopter, sporting midnight navy halls as was the Royalton with deep gray.) Read more
Feed Me: New York Restaurant Week Returns for a Three-Week Winter Run
Just when it seems winter can’t get any testier – ice, snow, more snow – Restaurant Week 2014 breezes into town February 17 through March 7 with its offer of agreeably priced prix fixe lunches and dinners. Can spring be far away?
Well, yes. But in the meantime you can feast on $25 lunches and $38 dinners, three-courses each. And that’s sweet. Read more
Where Show Dogs Hang Out Before The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
Best in Show 1924, Champion Barberryhill Bootlegger, Sealyham Terrier.
As if Fashion Week wasn’t enough, the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show scampers into town February 10 and 11 at Madison Square Garden. And for the 16th straight year, Affinia Manhattan is putting on the dog (sorry) with its dedicated dog suite and terrace where dogs can be dogs – and a staff member is on hand to clean up the Astroturf.
The Affinia’s puppy love is no fluke. Though pet friendliness is in its DNA – an oversized pet bed, food and water bowls, waste bags, and maps for dog walks are available year round – the hotel has the good fortune to stand across the street from the Garden and moves into high gear for Westminster. Read more
Fab Fifty: Where to Relive The Beatles’ Historic 1964 Visit to New York
As anyone who hasn’t been in solitary confinement this week knows, February 9 marks the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ first visit to the U.S.
Specifically, it heralds their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, an event watched by 73 million people including the 728 in the studio audience.
Not surprisingly, there are hotel connections. Read more
New York Hotels Where You Can Watch the 2014 Winter Olympics in Comfort and Style
Yellow water? Showers without curtains? Guest room bathrooms with side-by-side toilets? Early reports on hotel accommodations in Sochi sound downright scary.
But New York isn’t a mountain resort constructed from scratch for winter sports’ alternate-leap-year show of shows. Hotels here are places you actually want to visit if you like watching big sports events with a crowd and a rapidly refilled glass. Read more
What’s Doing at NYC Hotels During Fashion Week New York 2014?
Mercedes Benz Fashion Week is back. In other words, dancers from New York City Ballet aren’t the only sylphs swanning around Lincoln Center between February 6 and 13.
Small surprise nearby hotels have once again leapt into action, even though many of this winter’s shows have strayed from the Lincoln Center mother ship. (Sixty-nine designers are still showing in “the tents.”) Here’s what’s doing within walking distance – or a short cab ride – from the main event. Read more