Need a Last-Minute Holiday Gift? These NYC Hotel Shops Want to Help

As hotels have edged into endeavors that have nothing to do with lodging – art galleries! screening rooms! bingo nights! – retail scores high as a splashy extracurricular effort.  With Barneys edging out Walgreens as a role model, it can be easier to find a one-of-a-kind necklace than a newspaper – remember those? – in the shop adjacent to the lobby.

This can be a good thing as the holidays move into full swing. We set out on an informal shopping spree, camera in hand, and came up with a sampling of items that would look good under a tree, from stocking stuffers to big ticket.

Behold, the first annual Overnight New York holiday gift guide.

 

These dogs are the only kind allowed at the Standard Grill, the restaurant at the Standard hotel. And they only come out at breakfast. Available in selected breeds, including daschunds, bull dogs and poodles, their snouts contain small magnets to keep them in sync. $25 a pair at the Standard shop.

At first glance this looks like a Cleopatra collar. But look again. It’s made from gilded bobby pins, each punctuated by a pearl. A classic chain, the kind used in countless hop-scotch games, links it all together in the back. $420 at Opening Ceremony at Ace.

 

 

For fans of North by Northwest and other film classics shot at the Plaza, this set of ceramic coasters is a sweet nostalgia trip — and a reminder of what a beauty the place can be. $20 at the Plaza gift shop.

 

Knitting kits from Wool and the Gang, not Cool and the Gang, contain everything you need to warm up your winter with a fetching infinity scarf or hat. $95 at the Standard shop.

 

These classic specs that channel your inner hipster, or nerd, come in several colors, but really, how do you beat black? Half the fun is buying them. They’re nestled in Hudson hotel’s Semi-Automatic vending machine, which lets you watch as a metal arm plucks your object, protected by a white bag, and sends it down a shoot. $255 at the Hudson hotel.

 

We love these laminated city maps from Horch, the German company known for decades for detailed maps and atlases. Ideal when you’re on the ground in Istanbul or St. Petersburg — or just dreaming of being there. $7.95 at Opening Ceremony at Ace.

 

The perfect gift for someone who’s switched from print to an electronic reader but misses the tactile quality of books. Assouline’s Book Candle aims to distill the atmosphere of a library — leather-bound, no doubt — and sent it wafting into the air with a lighted candle. $49, Assouline Books at the Plaza.

 

We love this ballerina-flat riff on that classic holiday gift, slippers.  Choose from sequins (above) or flowers (top) at Betsey Johnson’s holiday pop-up shop at the Plaza. $30 a pair, available in small, medium and large, complete with lipstick kisses on the soles.

 

The ultimate gift for hotel geeks — original Plaza hardware culled from the hotel’s renovation several years ago. From $350.

 

 

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