Terry Trucco

Up for Auction, 52 Hotel Chelsea Doors Opened by the Likes of Bob Dylan, Mark Twain and Janis Joplin

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At the stroke of midnight on July 31, 2011, the Hotel Chelsea, the outrageous, art-filled property that checked in legendary guests like Tennessee Williams, Bob Dylan, Andy Warhol and Madonna, closed its doors for a renovation that was supposed to last one year, an estimate that proved wildly optimistic. Nearly seven years on, the 1885 Queen Anne brick pile remains closed and under construction for its latest transformation — into a luxury hotel with condos, the default for fabled landmarks from the Plaza to the Waldorf Astoria. Read more

Terry Trucco

NYC Hotels Where You Can Watch the 2018 Academy Awards with Drinks and a Crowd

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OscarThis year’s Academy Awards offer an added element of suspense: will they announce the correct Best Picture winner on the first try?

If you want to be with a crowd when that happens — and for all the tears, theatrics, dresses and quips from Jimmy Kimmel unfolding beforehand — these New York City hotels are serving up drinks, big screens and a party atmosphere for Hollywood’s March 4 celebration airing at 8 p.m. Popcorn, too, if you’re lucky. Read more

Terry Trucco

Surprise — The Unheralded Star of the Hit Musical “War Paint” Is the St. Regis Hotel

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Watch a movie set in New York, and there’s a good chance you’ll see a Manhattan hotel, whether in a starring role or an unforgettable cameo (think of the The Plaza’s Oak Bar in North by Northwest).

But Broadway shows? Not so often.

Which brings us to War Paint, the engaging, multilayered new musical about the indefatigable 20th-century beauty entrepreneurs Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubenstein. As you’d expect, the equally indefatigable Christine Ebersole portraying Arden (“Hold fast to youth and beauty”) and Patti LuPone as Rubenstein (“There are no ugly women, only lazy ones”) are terrific.

And the hotel where several pivotal scenes unfold on stage? Read more

Terry Trucco

New York City Hotels With Tony Award Cred

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You didn’t have to watch the Tony Awards to know that Broadway is having a moment. But what you may not know is that some of the 2016 Tony’s biggest names boast ties to New York City hotels. Here’s where to find rooms by a Tony-award winning designer, a bar where we’ve spotted Tony winners after the show and more.

 

Read more

Terry Trucco

Last Chance to Catch ‘The Hirschfeld Century’ at The Algonquin Hotel

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If you find yourself in Algonquin country, ie West 44th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues, between now and March 31, do yourself a favor and stop by the famed hotel. For the second time in two years, more than 30 characters hailing from Hollywood, Broadway and the hotel’s storied Round Table days gaze down from above the wood paneling in the lobby and in the adjoining Blue Bar. Read more

Terry Trucco

Two NYC Hotels Where You Can Watch the Oscars with a Crowd

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Oscar Sunday unfurls this weekend. If you like being surrounded by a crowd when you see if Leonardo breaks his streak or what Cate, Rooney and Jen Law (or their stylists) like for the Red Carpet this time around, these two New York City hotels stand at the ready with big screens and big plans. Read more

Terry Trucco

Hearts and Graffiti: Checking Out Nick Weber’s Rakish Valentine Art At The Quin

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It wasn’t planned as a celebration of Valentine season.

But given the visuals of graffiti artist Nick Walker’s new show in the lobby of The Quin hotel that’s a natural assumption, particularly as we zero in on February 14. Read more

Terry Trucco

How the Berlin Hilton Became a Stealthy Scene Stealer in the Oscar-Nominated “Bridge of Spies”

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As Alfred Hitchcock knew, a movie cameo can make a big impression, even if it’s over in a blink. Consider the brief appearance of the Berlin Hilton in Bridge of Spies, Steven Spielberg’s clear-eyed dramatization of a Cold War spy exchange that’s nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Production Design. Read more

Terry Trucco

New Paintings by Artist Sonya Sklaroff Transform Sofitel New York Into An Art Gallery (Again)

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If you find yourself on West 44th Street, take a stroll through the lobby of the Sofitel New York. It’s a chicly retro space where you can plop on a sofa without brandishing a room key and chat with a friend or check your messages without being strong-armed into ordering a drink.

As a bonus, through October 21 the lobby once again doubles as an art gallery, displaying new paintings by Sonya Sklaroff, an urban landscape artist whose richly colored oils celebrate such iconic, if unexpected, emblems of city life as water towers, neighborhood streets and the muted hues and dueling umbrellas that accompany an impromptu summer shower. Read more