Movie night.

We love seeing movies in hotel screening rooms. Big screen, plushy seats, popcorn, perks – you can’t sip champagne in a flute at the multiplex. So why do most hotels restrict their screening rooms to private parties?

This summer W New York Downtown, the gleaming glass pillar across from Freedom Tower, bucks the trend and presents Grand Classics: “New York in Film” Summer Screenings, two curated movie nights for anyone who buys a ticket.

On June 27, fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi dissected his pick Sweet Charity, (more…)

Warm weather food cart.

On its website The Standard East, the hotel formerly known as the Cooper Square, says that it’s quietly transitioning into the spirit of its new name.

That, of course, is The Standard, the hip hotel straddling the High Line on the opposite side of town.The transition apparently starts on the sidewalk. Parked in front of the hotel this summer is the Standard Ice Cream Cart, a jaunty refrigerated wheelie shaded by a big red umbrella.

Last summer the cart was a fixture at the Standard, where Kaws’ gigantic cartoon sculpture Companion (Passing Through) stood in front of the hotel. This year, no sculpture. And no cart.  An outdoor café – bursting with guests, if this weekend was an indication — eats up the plaza. (more…)

The spruced up Roger.

Roger Williams always seemed an oddball name for a New York City hotel, especially one with a breezy, modern air. We’re not in Rhode Island, after all. And just when I finally discover what’s behind the name, they go and change it.

As I learned this week, the Roger Williams was built atop a plot of land leased from the 150-year-old Madison Avenue Baptist church next door. (more…)

Welcome to the lobby.

A few weeks ago, while the Algonquin was still closed for renovations, we passed by the hotel. The front door was open, so we walked in.

The lobby was a construction site. But looking beyond the drop cloths and ladders we saw what we’d always seen – dark wood-paneled walls, stoic wood columns and hand-painted sconces straight out of the Edwardian era.  As we scampered out, a workman yelling that we didn’t belong there, we smiled.  It was clear the Algonquin hadn’t gone minimal or modern or been reimagined by Philippe Starck. Maybe they’d even keep the cat.

The hotel reopened in late May – renovations will wrap by June 30 – and this week we returned to see the almost-finished product. (more…)

 Designer James Rixner’s sitting area adjoins a kitchen.

If you love plucking decorating ideas from hotel rooms  – and the cleverest properties serve up plenty – you probably love show houses. The Kips Bay Decorator Show House, the design world’s big kahuna, celebrates its 40^th anniversary this year – no mean feat for anything, let alone a moveable interior design feast. (more…)

Zero-proof raspberry lemonade.

Yuzu-Raspberry Thyme Sparkling Lemonade is this weekend’s drink. It’s a sweet/tart mash-up that’s tasty and alcohol-free, but first an explainer.

Not so long ago an intriguing zero-proof drink was as likely to be served at a hotel bar as a hot fudge sundae. We know. We drank a lot of Shirley Temples when we were pregnant.

But increasingly alcohol-free drinks have leapt past snoozey staples like ginger ale and club soda with lime and muscled onto the cocktail menu brandishing A-list ingredients, stylish glassware and, no surprise, champagne prices (hold the champagne).

Not everyone wants to drink alcohol at a bar or with a meal, especially lunch, says Joe Jackson, corporate director food and beverage at Hyatt. “We try to have at least three zero-proof drinks each season.”

(more…)

Rendered in Nespresso capsules.

Pop-up shops open – and close – almost daily around New York City. But pop-up hotels?

Manhattan is about to get its first. During NYC Pride Week, June 18 through June 24, the Hotel on Rivington will temporarily toss aside its Lower East Side persona and reinvent itself in neon pink as Lords New York, an outpost of Lords South Beach, Miami’s year-and-a-half-old gay boutique hotel.

“Pop up – it sounds easy and quick,” says Brian Gorman, the founder of Lords South Beach, and native New Yorker, who came up with the idea over brunch with a friend. The friend happened to be director of sales and marketing at the Rivington, and there you have it. (more…)

Once again we’re back with two of our favorite top-10 lists – the Hollywood movies most watched by guests in hotel rooms in New York City and across the nation.

During May the lists were similar with one big difference: John Carter, the interplanetary sci-fi extravaganza that was more box office bust than blockbuster, scored a spot on the national list but not in New York. And Wanderlust, the Jennifer Anniston/Paul Rudd comedy about a couple trading big city life for a commune, was a hit, of sorts, with hotel guests in this big city but not beyond.  Go figure. (more…)