Terry Trucco

Renaissance Murals on the Ceiling: The Sherry-Netherland Lobby Gets a New Old Look

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If you last visited the Sherry-Netherland hotel two or three decades ago – or even early last year – expect a jaw-drop moment when you next enter the lobby.

For nearly 40 years, the lobby ceiling – a parade of graceful arches stretching what seems a mile high – was white. Generations passing through assumed it was always so.But history buffs, Art Deco enthusiasts and Sherry aficionados with long memories (and even longer lives) know otherwise. 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

Like “The Lego Movie” — and Legos? Check Out the Lego Wall at Yotel Times Square

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Renovations of public areas are as awkward for hotels as their guests. The noise. The inconvenience. The mess.

So rock on Yotel Times Square for hiding the construction of its new lounge with a crowd-sourced Lego Wall stretching across the fourth floor as you exit the elevators.

The DIY wailing wall lets visitors get clever with Legos, building whatever images they want, the ultimate in house-condoned graffiti. Read more

Terry Trucco

Who’s Afraid of the Dark? Not These Chic New York Hotel Hallways

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A bright room number against a dark wall

A bright room number against a dark wall

Hotel hallways are a scene setter, a visual amuse-bouche before you dig into your room. You rarely notice them unless they’re battered or dingy or film noir scary. Usually they’re white or beige, some variant of pale.

But we’re seeing a darkening trend, walls bathed in gray, charcoal or to cut to the chase, black. The Refinery Hotel and NYLO New York are two less-than-a-year-old New York boutique hotels with dark halls. (The 11-year-old Maritime was an early adopter, sporting midnight navy halls as was the Royalton with deep gray.) Read more

Terry Trucco

Tuscany Meets Audrey Hepburn: A First Look at the Refurbished Tuscany New York Hotel

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When a hotel closes its doors to renovate, you expect to see something dramatic on the other end. So what went on during the year that the St Giles Tuscany New York was shuttered?

Lots, but a bit of background before we proceed. Read more

Terry Trucco

A Great Place to Watch the New Year’s Eve Ball Drop Without the Crowds

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Terrace in the air.

Terrace in the air.

Not that you’ll be alone. My guess is the new outdoor terrace at the freshly refurbished Novotel New York Times Square will be jam-packed when 2014 is ushered in.

Still, the handsome outdoor expanse – a dazzling 5,700 square feet – that semi-circles the seventh floor of the Novotel’s glass tower is sufficiently spacious to pack ‘em in, from cocktail sippers enjoying an autumn moment to year-end revelers who want to be outdoors but above it all, literally. Read more

Terry Trucco

The Affinia Manhattan’s Roaring 20s Lobby Lightens Up — And Looks Great

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In with the new: wall sofas and mirrors.

In with the new: wall sofas and mirrors.

What did the management of the Affinia Manhattan request when they hired Rottet Studio to redesign the lobby of their 1929 midtown hotel?

Lighten up was my verdict the first time I saw the smartly renovated lobby.
The walls and ceiling are the color of whipped cream. Enormous mirrors paned in black offer a clever take on industrial loft windows — and double the space, visually at least. And the rectangular chandelier hugging the ceiling looks like it was formed from crystal icicles. Read more

Terry Trucco

Why Is The Plaza All Wrapped Up To Look Like The Plaza?

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Seems it wasn’t that long ago – 2005, to be precise – that The Plaza closed for major refurbishments inside and out. The spruced up property reopened with a flourish in 2008 housing hotel rooms, condominiums and a high-end shopping mall that has since morphed into the wildly – and deservedly – popular Plaza Food Hall and Todd English Food.

So why is this 1907 landmark swaddled in a pale white scrim, the kind that signals heavy-duty construction work instead of an artwork by Christo? Read more

Terry Trucco

An Impromptu Grab ‘n Go at The New York Palace

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Grab 'n go at the Palace.

Grab ‘n go at the Palace.

Here’s a picture you won’t be able to take at the New York Palace come September. “Well, hopefully not,” as a staff member put it.

If all goes as planned, the end of summer will herald the end of the hotel’s $100 million renovation. Read more

Terry Trucco

The Paramount Lobby Gets a New Look — Again

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I can’t think of any New York City hotel lobby that’s had more redesigns in recent years than the Paramount, the 1920s French Renaissance pile in the Theater District. Read more