Blog – Page 16 – Overnight New York

Is Jean-Geoges at Trump International Hotel & Tower the Best Hotel Restaurant in New York City?

October 23, 2014/in Hotel Food and Drink/by Terry Trucco

It is if you’re going by the latest Zagat Guide. The annual exercise in uber-crowd-sourced reviewing unveiled its best lists for 2015 today, and a handful of hotel restaurants landed at the top of the heap.

Jean-Georges also racked up three stars — the equivalent of an A+ — from the Michelin Guide, the only hotel restaurant so anointed as we reported earlier this month. Read more

Cheers! The Savoy’s Stylish Cocktail Menu That Doubles as a Collectible

October 21, 2014/in Hotel Food and Drink, Hotel Shops and Collectibles/by Terry Trucco

When my daughter was little she had a Harry Potter book with pop-up pictures of Hogwarts, Hagrid, Hermione and the gang that, truth to tell, I looked at more than she did. She’s still too young to drink legally, so people like me must be the intended audience for the latest twist in cocktail culture — the pop-up picture cocktail menu. Read more

What Would Conrad Hilton Think of the Waldorf-Astoria’s $1.95 Billion Sale?

October 9, 2014/in Hotels in the News/by Terry Trucco

He famously dubbed the Waldorf-Astoria “the greatest of them all,” and declared it his life’s ambition to add it to his collection. Mission accomplished. In 1949 Conrad Hilton took over management of the Art Deco showpiece and in 1972 he purchased it, five years before his death at a ripe old 91. So how would Hilton feel about this week’s sale of Hilton Worldwide’s crown jewel to a Chinese insurance company for $1.95 billion?

Which New York City Hotel Restaurants Made The Cut In Michelin’s 2015 Guide?

October 5, 2014/in Hotel Food and Drink/by Terry Trucco

October was once a red letter – or, more to the point, red book — month. In years past, Michelin and Zagat published their new crimson-covered guides to New York City eating, often just days apart, in early autumn. No more. This week Michelin deemed 71 restaurants worthy of star quality for 2015. But Zagat is holding back its crowd-sourced results until November, perhaps to shore up all the attention.

How did hotels fare this year with Michelin’s under-the-radar inspectors who visit anonymously and always pay for their meals? Read more

The InterContinental New York Barclay Closes for Renovations

October 1, 2014/in Hotel Openings and Closings/by Terry Trucco

The Barclay is taking a breather.

After the last September guest checked out, the InterContinental New York Barclay, to use its full name, closed for renovations. The storied midtown hotel will reopen in about a year, in time to celebrate its 90th birthday before 2015 checks out.

The move is a smart one for a hotel that housed Ernest Hemingway, Martin Luther King and society hostess Perle Mesta in its heyday but was looking too classic for its own good. Read more

On A Roll: The Four Seasons Food Truck Pulls Into New York

September 26, 2014/in Hotel Food and Drink/by Terry Trucco

Sandwiches are not the first thing that leaps to mind when I think of Four Seasons hotels. Neither are food trucks. But what do I know? Read more

Coming Soon To A Hotel Near You: Local Everything, BYO Tech and Beds That Look Like Sofas

September 24, 2014/in Hotels in the News/by Terry Trucco

What can you expect when you check into the hotel of the future, be it next month, next year or next decade?

Previews were offered at Hotel Innovate New York City 2014, a Friday afternoon conference, bite-size but meaty, that attracted 200-plus hospitality folk — developers, hoteliers, architects, designers, tech experts, even a performance artist — to an airy loft in midtown. Read more

Why You’ll Soon See A Lot More Tip Envelopes in Hotel Rooms

September 16, 2014/in Hotels in the News/by Terry Trucco

You’ve probably come across an occasional tip envelope on your hotel room night stand, dutifully signed by the woman who cleaned the room.

Expect to see a lot more of them.

Yesterday Marriott announced a partnership with The Envelope Please, an initiative begun by Maria Shriver to encourage guests to tip the attendant who cleans their room. The deal puts tip envelopes in more than 160,000 guests rooms at participating Marriotts — Courtyard, Residence Inn, JW Marriott, Ritz Carlton, you get the idea —throughout the U.S. and Canada, beginning this week, which happens to be International Housekeepers Week. Read more

On Their Toes: The Joffrey Ballet Offers Tips on Grace and Poise to Staffers at JW Marriott

September 12, 2014/in Hotels in the News/by Terry Trucco

Hotels and dance. They happen to be two of my favorite interests, but they aren’t obvious partners. So cheers to JW Marriott for looking to the Joffrey Ballet to inspire its ground troops in matters of grace and poise.

Sometime over the summer Chicago’s elite dance company created a series of training videos for JW Marriott staffers. The JW Marriott in Chicago, hometown to the Joffrey and the idea, got first dibs on the videos. Read more

Want to Stage a Fashion Show During New York Fashion Week? Check Into a Hotel

September 10, 2014/in Hotels and Fashion/by Terry Trucco

For two hours late Monday afternoon the ballroom at the Pierre Hotel was transformed into Versailles, or Versailles as dreamed up by designer Stacey Benedet for her alice + olivia Spring 2015 collection.

Models flaunting Benedet’s flirty dresses — Halston-esque halter necklines, chiffon accordion pleats — stood grouped in themed tableaux. Carpets of faux grass — miniature golf, anyone? — blanketed the real carpeting to create a garden room where the Pierre’s fanciful frescoes of Versailles backdropped the models. Read more

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