Terry Trucco

New York’s First Ever Hotel Week Arrives With Rooms Starting at $100 a Night

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Hyatt Lex48 lounge.

Come early January, slow season at the city’s hotels, New York’s record-breaking tally of 90,000 hotel rooms may seem more like a glut than a victory lap.

What to do with all those rooms? Take a tip from Macy’s – or New York’s wildly successful Restaurant Week – and orchestrate a sale.

The first ever Hotel Week runs from January 6 through 15 at eight hotels, namely those with ties to the New York public relations firm that dreamed up the idea. Read more

Terry Trucco

Need a Last-Minute Holiday Gift? These NYC Hotel Shops Want to Help

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As hotels have edged into endeavors that have nothing to do with lodging – art galleries! screening rooms! bingo nights! – retail scores high as a splashy extracurricular effort.  With Barneys edging out Walgreens as a role model, it can be easier to find a one-of-a-kind necklace than a newspaper – remember those? – in the shop adjacent to the lobby.

This can be a good thing as the holidays move into full swing. We set out on an informal shopping spree, camera in hand, and came up with a sampling of items that would look good under a tree, from stocking stuffers to big ticket.

Behold, the first annual Overnight New York holiday gift guide. Read more

Terry Trucco

The Grand Hyatt New York’s Top-to-Bottom Renovation Reaches the Finish Line

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Last year the Grand Hyatt New York, in the throes of a massive renovation, strung holiday lights from the construction scaffolding. This year the scaffolding is history, and a towering Christmas tree constructed from glass balls brings on the cheer.

A $130 million renovation is worth cheering – in part because it’s finished (the work unfolded in phases over three years). But the changes are smart, embracing nearly every inch of this midtown behemoth. “We’ve modernized,” said Mark Pardue, general manager, at a party celebrating the new building.

What they really did was un-Trump the place. Read more

Terry Trucco

The Standard Gets Its Close-up In “Shame,” Michael Fassbender’s Unsparing New Movie

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Ever since The Standard opened in 2009, looming high over the High Line and West Side Highway with its floor to ceiling windows, it’s been waiting for its close-up. At last, the sleekly sexy hotel — and its windows — figure prominently in a new movie, and wouldn’t you know, it’s rated NC-17? Read more

Terry Trucco

Tuning Up Your Toe Loop: The Best NYC Hotels for Ice Skating

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Ice skating at the Standard

Ah, the crisp, chill days of December. They may not be here yet, but they’re coming. And with them our thoughts turn to salchows, toe loops and flips – or more realistically, trying to not to belly flop on the ice.

Each winter outdoor rinks sprout up throughout Manhattan. Never mind that we’re talking frozen concrete instead of frozen ponds; concrete is urban poetry.

The Standard Hotel rink is back along with stalwarts like Bryant Park’s Citi Pond, the Rink at Rockefeller Center and Wollman and Lasker rinks in Central Park.

So liberate your inner Yuzuru Hanyu — or Adam Rippon. Here’s where to check in if you crave skating and the city – or just want a rink-side hotel that will warm you up with hot chocolate, or something stronger, après skate. Read more

Terry Trucco

A Fleet of Gingerbread Houses Salute on the Holidays at Le Parker Meridien

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After Occupy Wall Street could Occupy North Pole be far behind? Hey, elves have issues, too. And they’re writ large in gingerbread, gumdrops, icing and candy canes on a stand-out gingerbread house on view in the third annual show of gingerbread creations – houses and otherwise – at Le Parker Meridien hotel. Read more

Terry Trucco

Where’s Matilda? The Algonquin Cat Disappears After the NYC Health Department Pays a Visit

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She’s the long-time mascot of the Algonquin Hotel, the coolest hotel cat in town. But when we stopped by the hotel yesterday, the only Matilda we saw was this drink – a golden $20 concoction of tangerine vodka, Cointreau, fresh lemon and orange juices and Korbel Brut named for the Algonquin’s fabled feline. Read more

Terry Trucco

All You Need to Know About Pumpkins

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The official bloom of Thanksgiving? The pumpkin, of course. So in honor of this noble gourd, equally agreeable embellishing a tabletop, a soup or a pie, we bring you Overnight New York’s pumpkin fast facts and show how two hotels, the Jumeirah Essex House and New York Hilton, displayed the big orange guys this year. Read more

Terry Trucco

5 NYC Hotels that Cook Thanksgiving Turkey (So You Don’t Have To)

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Haven’t ordered a turkey yet? Loathe the thought of doing dishes on a holiday? There’s still time to book Thanksgiving dinner – and a room for the night — at a hotel restaurant if you a) act fast and b) aren’t too picky about dining early or late (most prime-time spots are taken).

Like rooms, restaurants at New York hotels come in all styles so you can choreograph Thanksgiving as you wish – splashy or quiet, midtown or downtown, turkey or vegetarian. You can even watch your weight (sort of). Here are five tempting options. Read more

Terry Trucco

90,000 and Counting: New York Boasts More Hotel Rooms Than Ever — With More to Come

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Hotel Americano — one of the year’s new hotels.

It isn’t just our imagination that a new hotel opens in New York almost every week. This week Major Michael R. Bloomberg announced that by the time 2011 departs New York City’s hotel room tally will reach 90,000 – a 24 percent increase over 2006. Read more