I can’t say I’ve ever been tempted to sleep outdoors in New York City. Remember the scene in Rear Window where the couple snoozing on the fire escape gets doused in a downpour? Read more
I’m a fan of decorator show houses for the same reasons I love hotels. The best create rooms with a heady atmosphere where you can step into another world and try on a different life.
And like a cleverly designed hotel, a good show house is jam-packed with decorating ideas ripe for picking.
This year’s Kips Bay Decorator Show House, the big kahuna of New York’s show house scene, serves up an added bonbon for hotel enthusiasts. It’s at a hotel, the silky New York Palace. Read more
It’s a lot easier than it once was to get a good cup of coffee in New York. And that goes for coffee at hotels.
Flavorful house blends and premium brands like Illy are typical at large hotels (and former coffee wastelands) from the New York Hilton-Midtown to ONE UN New York.
Newcomers are embracing intriguing local brews. Is it coincidence that the restaurants at the Viceroy and the Quin – two chic new hotels on West 57th Street – proudly serve Joe Coffee a succulent brew made from the direct source, sustainable beans found at Joe Coffee shops dotting Manhattan? Read more
Dark libations like bourbon and rye don’t wind up in cocktails nearly as often as the clear stuff, like vodka and gin. But they get mixed with something other than water a lot more than scotch.
Purists might say the reason is obvious. Or as my husband puts it, why ruin a great single malt?
That, of course, makes scotch the Everest of cocktail ingredients, a liquid gauntlet thrown down to adventurous bartenders. The mixing team at The Pierre’s Two-e Bar couldn’t resist temptation. Read more
Midtown Manhattan isn’t known for its residential ambience. So cheers to Affinia 50, fresh from a $19 million renovation, for offering a taste of apartment living this side of Airbnb.
To be fair, hominess is in the Affinia’s DNA. The 250-room building started out in 1959 as a residential hotel. There’s no restaurant, but two enormous lounges eat up the second floor. And all 100 suites, from studios to one-bedrooms, come with kitchenettes. Read more