On the waterfront: Wythe Hotel.

The coolest thing about the Wythe Hotel – a place that prides itself on cool – is its sense of place.

Winking at Brooklyn’s manufacturing past, the hotel occupies a red brick building that began life in 1901 as a cooperage making barrels and casks. The boards sported by guest room ceilings and platform beds were harvested from the building. And the front door to each of the 72 rooms boasts a plaque that says Manhattan or Brooklyn – a verbal preview of the only-in-Brooklyn view.

Such touches all but scream Williamsburg, the hipster neighborhood where the Wythe occupies a prime piece of waterside turf.

If The Carlyle channels the Upper East Side and The Standard personifies the Meatpacking District, the Wythe is neo-Williamsburg unfiltered. (more…)

The hotel and its iconic red sign.

It’s a good thing the iconic red neon ESSEX HOUSE sign blazing atop the roof doesn’t mention the hotel’s brand. Following its sale last week to Chicago-based Strategic Hotels & Resorts, the Essex House has a new manager — again.

Sometime between now and early September, the hefty metal Jumeirah marquee over the entry will come down, along with all things redolent of the Dubai-based hotel group that owned and operated the hotel for six years.

In its stead, look for JW Marriott on cocktail napkins, invoices and the marquee. As the JW Marriott Essex House, the 509-room Art Deco tower becomes the first Manhattan outpost of the luxe-infused Marriott brand sandwiched in the company portfolio between the sumptuous Ritz Carlton and the plain vanilla Marriott. With the Ritz Carlton New York Central Park just up the street, Marriott now dominates blue chip hotel real estate on Central Park South, a very nice place to rule. (more…)

Foot treatment from Clarins.

Spa therapists are a lot like craft bartenders – turn them loose with exotic new ingredients and techniques, and they’re happy.

As it happens, we’re big fans of plain vanilla – a basic massage by a skilled therapist makes our senses dance – but mash-ups that blend several treatments into one uber-experience have their charms. This week a slew of spas unveiled their latest creations designed to promote wellness, renewal and repeat visits at the annual International Spa Association event in New York. Five treatments – and a nifty fitness apparatus – grabbed our attention. And yes, we even found a couple of hotel – and New York — connections. (more…)

Rory McIlroy golfing at the Burj al Arab.

It’s hard to grab the US sports world’s attention the same day that a) Team USA wins basketball gold and b) the Olympics closing ceremony unfurls.

But an emphatic 13-under-par 275 at the PGA will do it. And on Sunday, 23-year-old Rory McIlroy, the affable Northern Ireland golfer, did it sporting a white cap emblazoned with the logo of Jumeirah hotels, the Dubai-based chain that includes New York’s Jumeirah Essex House.

This was Jumeirah’s second widely televised win using McIlroy’s head as a billboard (he pocketed the 2011 US Open touting Jumeirah).   (more…)

In glorious black and white — the Americana Hotel, ca 1962

Here’s a snapshot of New York, ca 1962: John F. Kennedy is POTUS.  The Cuban Missile Crisis revs up the Cold War. The first James Bond movie makes a splashy debut. The average annual income is $5,556.

And the Americana Hotel opens in a gleaming 51-story concrete tower designed by Morris Lapidus.

Historic hotels aren’t exactly a rarity in New York, even if oldies like the Algonquin (1902), the Plaza (1907) and the Waldorf=Astoria (1930) grab most of the attention. Still, it’s hard to argue that 1962 was yesterday.

“The hotel was built with the idea it would play a significant role in the New York World’s Fair of 1964,” says Mark Sanders, General Manager of the Sheraton New York Hotel, long-time occupant of the impossible-to-miss building that’s celebrating its 50^th birthday with a special deal September 1 (more on that later). (more…)

A red room at the new Pod 39.

In early 2011 we spent a night at the Pod Hotel on East 51^st Street in one of the tiniest rooms on the planet. But what our little cell lacked in size it made up in style and smarts.

Like a sleek burr puzzle, everything fit meticulously – storage drawers tucked beneath the built-in double bed, a tissue holder perched under the stainless steel sink, a sliding door to afford privacy for the stall shower and toilet. With white walls, honey maple woodwork and splashes of red, the room was upbeat, contemporary and clean.  It looked like a blueprint for a smart budget hotel room.

Turns out it was. This summer a second Pod opened 12 blocks south in the century-old brick

Bunking at the new Pod.

tower that once housed the Allerton, a residential hotel for men.  Rooms are typically 10 by 8 feet (it’s the Pod, not the Pierre). But unlike the original where half the rooms use shared bathrooms down the hall, all Pod 39 rooms have private baths.

Rooms are also color coded, floor by floor, with white-walled rooms accented in red and honey maple “to energize,” according to the press release, blue and darker maple to sooth or teal and walnut for visual warmth.

Who dreamed up this look? And can space-starved apartment-dwellers try this look at home? We caught up with Vanessa Guilford, in-house design director for BD Hotels, who designed both Pods as well as the snug little cabins at The Maritime. (more…)

That’s Hollywood movies, of course, and once again we bring you the monthly Top Ten list as compiled by LodgeNet, supplier of in-room entertainment to 1.6 million hotel rooms in the US and Canada.

First-run movies hit hotel rooms 60 days prior to their release on DVD and 90 days before Netflix lands them. So what spring blockbuster has hit it big in the nation’s hotels? (more…)

Applause for “Amelie.”

It was billed as Cinema under the Stars. Under the clouds was more like it.

But the clouds didn’t dribble. The wind didn’t blow (too much). And with barely a hitch, The Peninsula New York unveiled its first outdoor movie night on the terrace of its roof bar Salon de Ning on Monday night.

Make that plein air cinema. The movie was Amelie, the feather light, Proust-infected rom com that landed Audrey Tautou’s neo-Lousie Brooks haircut in countless magazines, ca 2001.

It was part one in a four-part invention – a quartet of French movies that will be shown on the last Monday of the month from now through October.  Coming soon to a chic midtown terrace near you (if you happen to be in New York) are Chocolat (August 27), A Very Long Engagement (September 24) and The Artist (October 29). (more…)