Terry Trucco

The Happiest, Merriest Holiday Decorations at New York City Hotels, 2021 Edition

/in /by

Things aren’t quite normal yet, but New York City is back and so are its hotels, dressed to dazzle and lighting the way to a scintillating  holiday season — inside and out (some of the cleverest decorations adorn building exteriors).  Camera in hand, we captured 10 delectably decked halls, walls, even sidewalks at hotels all over Manhattan — and added a special guest property from California because who doesn’t love gingerbread houses?

Happy Holidays! Read more

Terry Trucco

Eight NYC Hotels For Watching the 2021 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

/in , , /by

Pikachu and Eevee, new for 2021

In yet another happy step towards normalcy, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade returns to the streets of New York on November 25 for the 95th time.

It’s not clear how the city plans to designate this year’s outdoor viewing for those hearty souls hoping to take in the battalion of floats, marching bands and  airborne balloons (look for Pikachu and Eevee, Ada Twist, Scientist and Macy’s fetching reindeer Tiptoe leading this year’s crop of newbie inflatables).

As always, hotel rooms with parade views (and room service breakfasts) offer a serene alternative to a sidewalk teeming with humanity. Macy’s is still mapping out this year’s route, according to their website. But if recent years are any indication, the parade will march from Central Park West to Central Park South and down Sixth Avenue, aka Avenue of the Americas, to the Macy’s Herald Square mother ship.

That means eight hotels are situated directly along the parade route — two fewer than in 2019. Closed permanently due to the pandemic are Courtyard Marriott New York Herald Square, located steps from Macy’s, and the Excelsior, whose rooms overlooked the inflating of the balloons on Thanksgiving Eve.

Booking a parade-view room comes with a unique set of rules. Call the hotel directly (don’t even think about reserving online). Expect holiday pricing (the cheapest start at around $500 a night) and a three-night minimum. Another holiday quirk: the parade is meant to be seen from the street, so rooms on lower levels are most desirable. Just because a hotel faces Sixth Avenue doesn’t mean Astronaut Snoopy and Boss Baby will be visible from every window.

Here’s our 2021 list of hotels outfitted with parade-view rooms.  Read more

Terry Trucco

Farewell! Six Memorable NYC Hotels Closed Permanently By The Pandemic

/in , , /by

The last 18 months have been a rough ride for New York City hotels. More than 30 percent of the city’s 705 properties shut down during the pandemic. And while dozens have reopened, it’s still anybody’s guess how many will ultimately return. What we do know is that at least 30 won’t be coming back, according to the Hotel Association of New York.

The hotels that checked out are a mixed bag of properties large and small, independents and chains, places you’ve never heard of and hotels so famous, so entrenched in New York City culture, that they seemed almost immortal. Not every shuttered hotel was a gem. But each provided employment for dozens of workers, paid taxes that supported the city, enlivened the neighborhood and extended hospitality, whether exemplary or less so, to some of the 66 million visitors who descend upon New York in a good year. And that doesn’t include the many locals checking in during a renovation, an altercation, a staycation or just after a long night.

With that, we offer our first batch of NYC hotel obituaries — six Covid casualties we couldn’t let disappear without a few words of appreciation. It won’t be our last. Read more

Terry Trucco

Which Hotel Restaurants Are On Board for NYC Restaurant Week 2021, Summer Edition?

/in , /by

NYC Restaurant Week returns July 19 to August 22. And like the city itself, RW Summer Edition is in far better shape than RWWinter Edition, which saw a sharp drop in participants and was limited to takeout and delivery meals. Read more

Terry Trucco

How Did NYC Hotel Restaurants Rate In the 2021 Michelin Restaurant Guide?

/in , /by

Better than you might expect given how many prominent hotel restaurants closed for lengthy stretches during the pandemic.

Only one previously starred hotel restaurant is missing from this year’s list — the NoMad at the NoMad Hotel, which achieved one-star status in 2019. Read more

Terry Trucco

An Under-The-Radar Supporting Role For The Mark Hotel In “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”

/in , , , /by

OscarHotels don’t win Academy Awards, but that hasn’t kept New York City hotels from landing in movies that get nominated. 

Consider 2013, when NYC hotels had close-ups in three movies chasing Oscars –Best Picture contenders The Great Gatsby and American Hustle which showcased extravagant, if wildly different, interiors at The Plaza, and Blue Jasmine (Best Actress, Cate Blanchett), which features a contentious argument shot near the big clock in front of the erstwhile Tribeca Grand (now the Roxy Hotel Tribeca).

Only one New York City hotel is in the running for reflected glory when the 93rd Academy Awards air on Sunday, April 25, and it’s on screen for less than five minutes. But the scene filmed in a suite at The Mark won instant notoriety when Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Sacha Baron Cohen’s cheeky mockumentary, debuted in October. It wasn’t for the interior design. Read more

Terry Trucco

Get Delivery Or Takeout From A Hotel Restaurant During NYC Restaurant Week 2021

/in , /by

Call it the next best thing to room service.

NYC Restaurant Week, Winter Edition, the annual January blizzard of prix fixe lunches and dinners, has morphed into takeout and delivery meals through February 28, agreeably priced at $20.21. Read more

Terry Trucco

The Merriest New York City Hotel Decorations of 2020 — Holiday Cheer in a Challenging Year

/in , /by

By Terry Trucco

It’s the holiday season, albeit a weird one.

Hotels, we’re happy to say, have kept up their end of the holiday bargain, adorning their lobbies, festooning their walls and lighting up their buildings inside and out. Unfortunately, there are fewer hotel halls — and walls and bannisters and lobbies — to deck this season. Among the super-decorators missing-in-action for Holidays 2020 are The Plaza, Four Seasons New York, St. Regis New York, Loews Regency and Dream Downtown, all closed temporarily due to Covid-19. Read more

Terry Trucco

The Famous Waldorf Astoria Lobby Clock, Now Marking Time At The New-York Historical Society

/in , , /by

On March 1, 2017, the Waldorf Astoria — the fabled “Host to the World” where room service, Eggs Benedict and Waldorf Salad were invented and where every president from Hoover to Obama spent the night — shut its massive doors for a gut renovation that was supposed to take two to three years.

We’re still awaiting the hotel’s reopening — and not holding our breath, because who wants to unveil a billion dollar renovation during a pandemic? 

But for Waldorf aficionados starved for a glimpse of Park Avenue’s Art Deco beauty, the New-York Historical Society offers a tantalizing teaser. Standing just past the check-in desk in an arched alcove is the Waldorf Astoria Lobby Clock, the 19th-century tour-de-force feast of walnut, mahogany, marble and copper that greeted hotel guests for over 85 years and was renowned as a popular interior landmark as in “Meet me by the clock.” Read more

Terry Trucco

The Met Museum Returns With New Shows, A Fresh Look And A Friendly Attitude

/in , /by

I missed the Metropolitan Museum of Art a lot during the nearly six months it was shuttered due to Covid 19. Turns out the Met missed me right back, along with the 7.36 million guests who visit annually.

As I reached the entrance for a preview last week, fresh from my temperature check, I was greeted by Met Director Max Hollein, who was handing out wrapped Water Lilies masks to visitors. The love continued as I entered the Great Hall. “Welcome back!” exclaimed staffers everywhere I looked. “Enjoy your visit!” I heard as I was clicked through. It took every ounce of restraint not to yell Yippee! Read more