Terry Trucco

Coming Soon to a Hotel Near You: Our Top Picks from the 2017 Hotel Trade Fairs

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What new designs and creature comforts can you expect to see when you visit a hotel in the near future?

For a hotel products preview, I attended the industry’s real life take on a crystal ball, the two annual trade shows — HX: the Hotel Experience and BD Boutique and Design Fair — that eat up a chunk of New York’s cavernous Javits Center for several days each November.

From the thousands of offerings on view, including those only a hotel manager could love —  advanced waste handling systems, anyone? — I zeroed in on the little guys, small companies often run by an entrepreneurial inventor with something fresh to show. Here’s what caught my eye. 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

The Fabled Plaza Hotel Is For Sale — Again

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More over Conrad Hilton. And you, too, Donald Trump. It appears that a new member may be joining the growing coterie of individuals and consortiums who have called themselves owners of New York’s 1907 landmark, The Plaza Hotel.

Sahara Group, the India-based conglomerate that bought a majority stake in the hotel in 2012, has hired a broker to sell their share in the showpiece Fifth Avenue property, The Wall Street Journal reports.
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Terry Trucco

Catch the Big Eclipse of 2017 at a New York Hotel

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It’s Eclipse Day 2017. Here in New York, we’ve been promised a 75 percent partial that will start at 1:23 p.m., hit its stride at 2:44 p.m. and wrap at 4 p.m., according to authorities at the American Museum of Natural History. We won’t get a total eclipse, but the moon covering three quarters of the sun qualifies as a big deal.

These hotels with roof bars, pools and sky rooms are so stoked they’re throwing eclipse parties. Drop by and watch the big show in the sky with a crowd.
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Terry Trucco

Backdrops Count: The NYC Hotels Where Trump and Clinton Addressed the Faithful After Election 2016

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Election night 2016 was full of surprises, but not from the standpoint of anyone familiar with New York City hotels. Donald Trump’s post-election festivities unfurled in a ballroom of the New York Hilton Midtown, a go-to venue for big-ticket political events  (the 53-year-old hotel boasts that it’s hosted every U.S. president since JFK).
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Terry Trucco

Why the Sheraton New York Times Square Came Up Big on New York Primary Night

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As you may have noticed if you followed the coverage of last night’s New York Primary, Hillary Clinton and 1,500 of her closest friends and supporters were stomping at Sheraton New York Times Square for her victory soiree. Read more

Terry Trucco

Is TripAdvisor’s 2016 Best U.S. Hotel for You? A Look at The Sherry-Netherland

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No matter how you may feel about TripAdvisor and the reliability of its crowd-sourced reviews, it’s impossible to ignore “the world’s largest travel site.” And this year we wouldn’t dream of ignoring it: for the first time TripAdvisor users voted a New York City property the #1 hotel in the U.S.

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Terry Trucco

Six Cool Things You Missed If You Skipped The New York Times Travel Show 2016

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It was a dark, bitter winter weekend in New York. Prime time, in other words, for the New York Times Travel Show to roll into town with the promise of escape. I spent a day at the show, nibbling Vermont cheese, sampling New York maple syrup, listening to app pitches and seeing the world as packaged by the travel industry, ca 2016. Here’s what caught my eye.
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Terry Trucco

View from the Trade Fairs: What You Can Expect to See at Hotels in the Coming Months

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As an ardent trade show enthusiast, I look forward to the annual arrival of New York’s two big hotel shows — HX: The Hotel Experience and BD Boutique and Design Fair, aka Coming Soon to a Hotel Near You.

Like anything at the fathomless, soulless Jacob Javits Center, the shows demands energy, resilience and comfortable shoes. Check, check and check. I set out early on the first day and didn’t see daylight for hours. But I saw the future, or a semblance of what you might expect to see when you next check into a hotel. Read more

Terry Trucco

Why Pope Francis Won’t Be Checking Into A Hotel When He Comes To New York City

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It’s safe to say any number of New York City hotels would be thrilled to roll out the white carpet when Pope Francis breezes into town for a much anticipated 40-hour touch down.

But following a custom begun in 1979 with Pope John Paul, home base for the Argentinian pontiff on his first visit to New York will be a five-story townhouse on the Upper East Side. Read more