We’re in the early stages of summer roof bar season, but no one would call most of New York’s recent nights balmy or sweet. So this week we offer a weather haven, a hotel bar where you can order a drink with a dash of glam and forget the gloom swirling around outdoors. Read more
Don’t tip the Yotel robot
That much-discussed Yobot robotic arm that grabs and stores your luggage at the soon-to-open Yotel Times Square got us thinking about other nifty labor saving devices – as in the saving of the hotel staff’s labor – around town.
We visited three hotels with clever do-it-yourself amenities, read the instructions and pushed the appropriate buttons. How did we fare?
A Cosmo? In 2011?
I’m in the Lobby Lounge on the 35th floor at the Mandarin Oriental. The city sprawls below on a gorgeous spring night. Read more
High tea and texting don’t mix. That, at least, is how I felt on a recent weekday afternoon as I sipped Lapsang Souchong and nibbled miniature sandwiches in the Gotham Lounge at The Peninsula hotel.
Afternoon tea at a hotel is something of an anachronism, a last link to a “What is the weekend?” world. It’s the anti-fast food, offering a civilized setting for a business meeting, a cozy chat or a vacation from the 21st-century for an hour or two.
Its charms depend on getting the mix of old and new just right, a balancing act that’s oddly tricky. Too much tradition and high tea feels fusty. Not enough and it’s not High Tea. Read more
At the moment Kate Middleton and Prince William say “I Do” next Friday, early bird guests at a cluster of Manhattan hotels will raise their champagne glasses. How did London’s royal wedding turn into a hotel event in New York? Here’s our play-by-play of the race to see which hotel will catch the bouquet. Read more
A Paramount fan since its cheap-chic Philippe Starck/Ian Schrager days, I mourned the hotel’s fall into disrepair in the 2000s and cheered its renovation in 2009. But I disagreed with some design decisions. Apparently I wasn’t alone. The renovated Paramount keeps getting tweaked – and better. Read more
The Cooper Square, the chilly-chic East Village hotel that looks like it belongs in Dubai, is less than three years old, but already its restaurant is in the try, try again stage. Read more
Every publication under the sun has written about the upcoming April 29 nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton. And now it’s Overnight New York’s turn. Read more
What to do with that leftover turkey, gravy and cranberry sauce sitting in the ‘fridge? If you run an Italian restaurant, there’s an obvious solution: make pizza. Read more
Cocktails as health drinks? In our dreams.
Still, every day, it seems, another hotel bar announces an ingredients purge. Out with processed juices, prefab mixes and high fructose corn syrups. In with fresh squeezed juice, mint leaves and sliced fruit. Read more