“I’ve always thought it was a ridiculous name for a prison. Sing Sing. I mean, it sounds more like it should be an opera house or something.”   — Holly Golightly

And the Gershwin Hotel? It sounds like there should be music playing or something.  Maybe even opera.

For two nights this week, May 29 and 31, that’s precisely what happens — though it’s strains of George Friedrich Handel’s ALMIRA, Königin von Castilien, not Porgy & Bess, filling the sprawling red and orange lobby of this laid-back, art-filled hotel in the East 20s.

The Gershwin lobby, one of city’s most congenial (slouchy sofas, high drama decor, no one hounding you to buy drinks or be on your way), doubles as a performance space, attracting a clever line-up of new music, early music, jazz, poetry readings and opera.  The latter comes courtesy of operamission, a plucky, three-year-old pick-up company that stages operas new and old and sometimes manages to trump the Met. (more…)

The Eleanor Roosevelt.

Ah, Memorial Day Weekend – the ideal time to kick back with a start-of-summer cocktail, something refreshing and light with a touch of sweetness, like a drink made with . . . scotch?

The Two E Bar at The Pierre, a velvety, windowless lair that is one of our favorite midtown hotel bars, cooks up specialty drinks menus eight times a year. The latest features six cocktails that are named for famous women (the menu debuted on Mothers Day) and promise a preview taste of summer.

The Cleopatra sounds like a garden party — Bacardi, mint & basil sour mix, simple syrup, Campari and Champagne poured into a champagne flute. But leading the list is sterner sounding stuff – the Eleanor Roosevelt blended from Apry Brandy, Figenza Vodka, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup — and Dewars Scotch. Summer in the Western Highlands? Or Hyde Park? (more…)

Roses at Jumeirah Essex House.

“Florals? For spring? Ground breaking.” We hear you, Miranda Priestly. But strolling through a half dozen or so hotel lobbies, we couldn’t resist whipping out a camera and celebrating spring with flowers.

In the early and mid 20^th century a flower shop was a must at large urban hotels. Besides eye-catching blooms for the lobby, weddings and parties on the premises, the shop sent flowers to guest rooms on behalf of friends and associates (guests checked in for longer than a night or two in the years before air travel).  The shop also stocked the boutonnieres and corsages that were the mark of the well dressed.

Such shops are a rarity today, but the custom of dressing the lobby with fresh blooms lives on. (more…)

You read correctly. This blog item is about us. Wandering Educators, the savvy online community where teachers share travel experiences and expertise, interviewed us this week.

If you’ve ever wondered about who we are, how Overnight New York got started or our favorite tip for first time visitors to New York City, click onto the Q & A (and scroll down to the end to learn more about our logo).

And if you’re an educator — or just looking for a blog jam-packed with news, information and tips on global travel — check out Wandering Educators.

Paris on the Hudson.

I’ll get straight to the point – the room was delectable. My favorite hotels are ones where you can open the door and slip into a different life. And the life on offer at The NoMad? I felt like I had walked into a fin de siecle Parisian pied-a-terre with contemporary plumbing and a hint of time travel. (more…)

Healthy and sustainably sourced, too.

Hotels like to advertise that they offer all the comforts of home, only better. So why is it so hard to find healthy items like cage-free eggs, low-fat milk and grass-fed beef in the restaurants of most large full-service hotels?

Hyatt Hotels aims to change that and lots more. This week the company unveiled Food. Thoughtfully Sourced. Carefully Served, a soup to nuts food philosophy that in essence overhauls the entire food and beverage service for all Hyatt full service brands. The triple-tined aim is

to serve food that is locally sourced, harvested from sustainable sources and healthy to boot.

As you know if you’ve visited the restaurants at Hyatt’s New York City properties including the Grand Hyatt, healthy, locally sourced offerings have nibbled their way onto the menus – and into Hyatt culture — for a while. (The Andaz Wall Street even hosts a twice-weekly farmers market during warm months.) (more…)

Carlton’s star turn.

Why is Smash, the hit NBC series about the creation of a Broadway musical, our favorite television show this season? We can’t recall a TV show or movie with scenes shot at more New York City hotels.

Over the course of its short season, the actors were shown sipping drinks at the Bryant Park Hotel‘s Cellar Bar, clicking cocktails at the Royalton, downing drinks at W Times Square and ambling past the pink neon marquee of Times Square’s infamous Hotel Carter (you’ll notice they didn’t go inside that one). (more…)

TRYP lobby — home to LobbyFriend.

Hotel guests fall into two categories – those who want to meet and mingle with other guests and those who can’t think of anything worse.

At first glance, LobbyFriend, a new travel app that lets guests connect with others registered at the hotel, seems aimed squarely at the first group. But LobbyFriend is nimble. Even if you’re in the second camp keep reading. This app could be for you, too.

The app — available on iPhones, Androids, Blackberries (coming in June), the new Nokia Lumia 900 (in the works) and in a web version – made its debut at Manhattan’s new TRYP New York Times Square South and is up and running at some 130 properties around the world. To learn more, we talked with Jason Ayoub, a Canadian chartered accountant with an entrepreneurial streak who co-founded the company. (more…)

New Yorkers like to think they’re different from the rest of the country, but does that go for the movies watched in New York City hotel rooms?

Not in April. Last month’s ten top Hollywood movies – we don’t keep track of the other kind – viewed in hotel rooms throughout the nation were identical to the top ten screened in New York City hotel rooms. (more…)