Terry Trucco

Scotch on the Rocks With A New Twist at The Pierre

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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

Terry Trucco

Freshening Up Affinia 50: A Mid-Century Hotel Goes Mid-Century Mod

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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

Terry Trucco

Hunting Down the Greenest Hotels in New York City

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With a nod to Earth Day, we offer our (second) annual roll call of green New York City hotels.

The greenest of the green are those with LEED certification – third party proof of adherence to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards set by the U.S Green Building Council. Read more

Terry Trucco

Hunting Down the Best Chocolate Easter Eggs at New York City Hotels

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This is shaking up to be the biggest year in memory for good eggs in New York.

First came the Fabrege Big Egg Hunt, which deposited 250 gigantic eggs decorated by artists, designers and bold-face names around town, including at hotels (it ends April 26). And as we zero in on Easter, hotel pastry chefs are proving, once again, that chocolate is a natural companion to the egg.

I always stop by The Peninsula New York when a holiday nears to see what’s new from executive pastry chef Deden Putra, who never lets a red-letter occasion go by without creating something witty, like life-size lollipop reindeer or a gigantic white chocolate snowman. Read more

Terry Trucco

Where the Swells Stayed — A New Pictorial History of the Waldorf Astoria

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Nothing promotes time travel like a grand hotel. Step inside and you’re whisked to another era where you can imagine yourself trading stories with Winston Churchill or Grace Kelly, Cole Porter or the Duchess of Windsor, albeit with locally sourced menus and WiFi.

New York’s Waldorf Astoria is one of these full-throttle time machines. If walking into its soaring Art Deco lobby doesn’t deposit you in 1931 or 1945 or whatever 20th-century moment you crave, Waldorf Astoria, a new book by William Alan Morrison should do the trick (Arcadia Publishing; $21.99). Read more

Terry Trucco

On the Look-out for Eggs During New York’s Big Egg Hunt? Check Out These Three Hotels

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Every year or so we’re treated to a citywide exhibition of large objects decorated by artists, like upright pianos or fiberglass cows. So why not eggs?

The Fabrege Big Egg Hunt, as you’ve no doubt heard, is on, with 250 gigantic egg sculptures adorned by artists, architects and creative types like Bruce Weber, Julian Schnabel, Jeff Koons, Carolina Herrera, Jacques Torres and William Wegman. Read more

Terry Trucco

Meet Courtyard Marriott Chelsea — How Select Service Hotel Brands Won Over Manhattan

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Earlier this month I attended the opening party for the new Courtyard Marriott Manhattan/Chelsea, a 273-room “sliver” hotel built from the ground up in New York’s once-flourishing Fur District. (If you visit, check out the clever stone reliefs of fox heads on a nearby building.) Read more

Terry Trucco

It’s Spring — in These NYC Hotel Lobbies (Even if it Still Feels Like Winter Outdoors)

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I doubt I’m alone in saying I’ve been counting the hours, the minutes, the seconds to the arrival of spring.

By Siberian standards — but New York isn’t Irkutsk. And when you rack up the days that failed to break 30 degrees, couple them with more than 56 inches of snow and throw in a Polar Vortex or two, Winter 2013-14 was brutal.

Even if the snow doesn’t cease on March 20, we’ve crossed the seasonal divide.

To celebrate the official start of spring, I visited several midtown hotels known for their flowers, camera in hand. Looks like yellow is the color of spring this year.

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Terry Trucco

Looking for a Hotel Bargain? Try New York (Yes, New York)

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Since this item posted Stayful, a site that brought Priceline strategies to boutique hotels, has joined the many sites that have fallen (details here). A shame. It was a neat idea.

No joke. The year is young, but so far 2014 New York hotel prices are trending lower than industry observers expected.

“Hotels in New York are not experiencing as high levels of occupancy as last year, at least from what we’re hearing anecdotally,” says Cheryl Rosner, co-founder and CEO of Stayful, a bidding website specializing in boutique hotel deals. “We were forecasting higher rates, but we’re not seeing them.” Read more

Terry Trucco

Who Knew? Men Are More Finicky About Hotel Room Colors Than Women A New Study Finds

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What appeals to you when you see a hotel room? Your preferences may say as much about your gender and age as your driver’s license, according to a new study from the College of Hospitality and Technology Leadership at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manitee. Read more