Terry Trucco

8 NYC Hotels with Great Views for Watching Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

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Where do you want to be when Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade marches through New York City?

Hotel rooms with parade views (and room service breakfasts) offer a serene (and weatherproof) alternative to a sidewalk teeming with humanity. This year, 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 hotel are ideally situated to serve up rooms with the view you want.

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 floors are the most desirable. Just because a hotel faces Sixth Avenue doesn’t mean Beagle Scout Snoopy and newcomer Minnie Mouse will be visible from every window. Read more

Terry Trucco

The Merriest, Happiest Holiday Decorations at New York City Hotels, 2022 Edition

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If we had choose just one word to describe the 2022 holiday season in New York City, we’d go with normal. And hey, after two years of pandemic craziness, normal sounds downright scintillating.

Lighting the way towards a blissful normalcy are the city’s hotels, dressed to dazzle whether you’re checking in — 6.5 million visitors were expected between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day — or just checking them out, as we do every year. Camera in hand, we captured 11 deliciously decked halls, walls, and even sidewalks at hotels all over Manhattan — and added the city’s showpiece outdoor tree just because.

Happy Holidays! Read more

Terry Trucco

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

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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

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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

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

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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 Happiest, Merriest Holiday Decorations at New York City Hotels, 2019 Edition

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It’s cold outside. Dark, too. But an army of New York City hotels stands at the ready with an instant antidote to the gloom. Lights! Trees! Ornaments! Photo ops!

Whether it’s in response to the drumbeat of turbulent news or just a reflexive urge to be hospitable, the city’s hotels seem especially merry and bright this year. And that’s reason to cheer. So before the year’s up, take a few minutes to admire the choreographed exteriors, then duck into as many lobbies as you can. Or scroll down and drink in what we saw. Read more

Terry Trucco

Holiday Decorations that Look Good Enough to Eat at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills

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We’re partial to holiday decorations displayed at New York City hotels. But this year we couldn’t resist including the edible art on view at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, a spirited creation with an unexpected link to New York City. Read more

Terry Trucco

Where to Watch Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade from a Hotel Room

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Where do you want to be when Astronaut Snoopy, Pikachu and Santa wend their way to Herald Square in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? 

A nice warm hotel room with a room service breakfast and big clean windows overlooking the festivities sounds good to us. 

We found ten hotels with superb locations along the parade route, winding from Central Park West to Central Park South and down Sixth Avenue. Click here to read our post, updated for 2019, on parade hotels, complete with a dab of parade history.

Terry Trucco

The Cheeriest Holiday Decorations at New York City Hotels, 2018 Edition

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What’s the best way to thwart the darkness this winter? Light it up!

New York’s hotels seem especially merry and bright this holiday season. Even construction scaffolding is embellished. Maybe it’s the easy availability of LED lights. Or the primal urge to out-decorate the competition. Or perhaps it’s just a simple desire to drum up some cheer.

Can’t come to New York to see what’s aglow? Here’s a sample of what’s on view at Manhattan hotels Downtown, Uptown and in the middle.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Overnight New York! Read more

Terry Trucco

The Best NYC Hotels for Watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

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On Thanksgiving Day 1924, employees at Macy’s Department Store dressed up in eye-catching costumes and paraded to their storied flagship store in Herald Square surrounded by floats, marching bands, live animals borrowed from Central Park Zoo — and Santa. Thanksgiving has never been the same.

If you’re among the thousands who think there’s nothing better than being in the presence of Pikachu, Sponge Bob and 2019 newcomer Astronaut Snoopy when the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade unfurls,  you have choices. You can hit the pavement (the intrepid rise in the wee hours — or camp out overnight — to claim a spot along the route by at least 6.m.).

Or you can check into a hotel along the parade route and and tuck into a room service breakfast as the world’s largest parade passes by. Read more