We finally got around to seeing the year’s top fashion documentary Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel.  In the spirit of her fabled Why Don’t’ You lists that spiced up an earlier iteration of Harper’s Bazaar, we offer Overnight New York’s Why Don’t You: the NYC Hotel holiday version. Here’s what to see and do at New York hotels while the holidays are still humming.

Take holiday tea at The Peninsula Forget petite fours. The Peninsula New York serves up a special holiday tea that’s as seasonal as Santa (or midnight champagne).  Brightening the pastry plate are bite-size fruit cake, crescent macarons, peppermint chocolate cupcakes and eggnog pecan tarts. A special children’s tea includes snowman marshmallows, peppermint cupcakes and Christmas cookies.

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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…)

Funny how something that seems so out of place in February or April looks utterly perfect in December and early January. We’re talking trees, of course – Christmas, holiday, whatever you may call them. And they’re lighting up hotels all around town. We found a dozen we love, each with a distinct style. That big tree at Rockefeller Center isn’t the only game in town! (more…)

Trump International's Jean Georges restaurant.

At the moment Kate Middleton and Prince William say “I Do” next Friday, early bird guests at a cluster of Manhattan hotels will raise their champagne glasses. How did London’s royal wedding turn into a hotel event in New York? Here’s our play-by-play of the race to see which hotel will catch the bouquet.

Round 1 – The Trump International Hotel & Tower is first off the mark on January 13, and the race is on. (more…)

The Palace Hotel wedding breakfast.

Every publication under the sun has written about the upcoming April 29 nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton. And now it’s Overnight New York’s turn.

And why not? Weddings are fun. The timing is right. (That movie about William’s great-grandfather cleaned up at the Academy Awards.) And hotels here are getting into the act, even if New York seems a long leap from London. (more…)