By Terry Trucco
We’re deep into the season of bright shiny objects. Some of the prettiest, cleverest, liveliest, happiest, wittiest – you get the idea — hang from the branches of New York City’s hotel trees. For a dose of instant cheer, check out our top trees of 2012.
Big Tree — This towering faux fir looks utterly at home in the lobby of the Four Seasons New York. (more…)
By Terry Trucco
The library at the Library.
January is the slowest of slow seasons in New York. And small wonder. The weather is dreary, days are still dark, and the holiday fizz has gone flat.
In short, it’s the perfect time to come to New York if you’re looking for deals. Tickets to Broadway’s dearest shows, reservations at the city’s hottest restaurants – a snap. And hotels plush and modest roll out their most agreeable rates. If you’re ever longed for a night at the Greenwich, the Crosby Street or the Carlyle without breaking the bank (too much), this is your moment.
Or choose one of the 24 hotels participating in the second annual Hotel Week NYC. Last year Hotel Week launched with eight participants and Nancy J. Friedman, a well-connected Public Relations firm, organizing things. This year Nancy Friedman is back along with most of last year’s hotels (we miss you, Andaz Wall Street and Z Hotel) and lots of new ones. (more…)
By Terry
Hyatt Lex48 lounge.
Come early January, slow season at the city’s hotels, New York’s record-breaking tally of 90,000 hotel rooms may seem more like a glut than a victory lap.
What to do with all those rooms? Take a tip from Macy’s – or New York’s wildly successful Restaurant Week – and orchestrate a sale.
The first ever Hotel Week runs from January 6 through 15 at eight hotels, namely those with ties to the New York public relations firm that dreamed up the idea. (more…)
By Terry
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. (more…)
By Terry
Times Square as seen from R Lounge.
This is what Times Square looks like from a window table at R Lounge, the Renaissance New York’s second-floor restaurant and bar with the flashy address – Two Times Square. Talk about the thick of things.
It’s one of those wow-I’m-in-New York! views, up there with the dining room at Helmsley Park Lane (Central Park), the roof bars at the Kimberly (Chrysler Building), the Bentley (East River), the James (lower Manhattan) and the Gansevoort Meatpacking District (Hudson River) and the revolving roof restaurant at the Marriott Marquis (the entire city).
And miraculously, when we stopped by mid-afternoon this week we had the room all to outselves, save for a woman with a broken leg seated by a window. “Sit anywhere you like,” said the greeter. (more…)
