First, a word about the name. Even with “south” tacked on, associating a hotel on West 35^th Street with Times Square is a stretch, especially a hotel situated between 8^th and 9^th avenues. But once you accept that TRYP is a lot closer to Madison Square Garden and Macy’s than to where the New Year’s Eve ball drops, things get interesting.

TRYP’s lobby.

Billeted in a 14-story yellow brick office building from 1925 the hotel, which opened in early February, has character. (Peek behind the metal TRYP sign, and you’ll spot the words Rose Building carved above the entrance.)

It’s moderately priced. Rooms start at $229 for now, and they’re bigger than closets, which makes up for TRYP’s west-of-the-thick-of-things location on a ho-hum block (warehouses, offices buildings and a police precinct next door).

You’ll also rack up Wyndham points if you stay, thanks to the hotel group’s acquisition of TRYP, a mid-price hotel chain that originated in Barcelona and specializes in urban properties (Madrid, Paris, Lisbon, Frankfurt and Buenos Aires, to name a few). TRYP Times Square is the group’s first US venture. Expect more.

TRYP isn’t one of those fey boutique hotels that makes you hunt down its name. This is a hotel with nothing to hide.  TRYP’s royal blue sign stands out like a beacon. And the entire ground floor – lobby, check-in, restaurant and bar – is on display through a wall of windows. (more…)

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Last week Roomkey.com, a new hotel search engine, went live. But instead of a third-party consolidator like Expedia or Travelocity, Room key is operated by a consortium of big-gun hotel chains whose properties it handles exclusively. (more…)