Hotels

If you thought getting clobbered by Chris Brown was the low point of Rihanna’s 2009 woes, think again. Turns out Rihanna has been helping guests with their luggage in New York’s Bryant Park Hotel.

Rihanna & Bryant Park Hotel, NYC

Back in September, when she walked out of the Hotel de Rome in Berlin wearing a bellhop hat, it was assumed to be a fashion statement. But now it looks like there’s more to it.

Rihanna was spotted with some pals in the Bryant Park Hotel’s lobby, trying to help them move their bags. They wouldn’t let her, so she tries to grab the bags out of their hands. It ended up looking like a friendly game of tug of war.

We’re not experts on Bellhop etiquette, but Rihanna’s expertise in luggage-handling suggests that a brilliant career in hospitality awaits.

That doesn’t look likely to happen anytime soon, though. Her latest album – Rated R, is doing quite well, and the Barbados singing sensation is being paid an astonishing $500,000 by the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi for a New Year’s Eve performance.   

John Lickrish, managing director of Flash Entertainment, which organized the concert, says that “The response from the public has been fantastic since we announced Rihanna would be performing in Abu Dhabi.”

In between gigs now - bellhopping at the Bryant Park Hotel and the NYE concert at the Emirates Palace hotel – Rihanna is kicking back at a beach back home in Barbados, enjoying some R&R.

If Abu Dhabi is too far for you, here’s a primer for some more New Year’s Eve hotel parties with star-billing, and here’s the top 5 destinations people are traveling to for the New Year celebrations.

Rihanna photo by O.M. Gee; Bryant Park Hotel photo by Tone Walker

Want a free tour of New York’s Fashion District? NYC & Company – the Big Apple’s official marketing & tourism organization, has teamed up with The Westin New York at Times Square to offer an exclusive ’Project Runway’ promotion.

The Westin New York at Times Square

As part of the launch promotion for the seventh season of Lifetime Television’s “Project Runway” premiering on January 14, Westin guests in New York will receive a complimentary customized two-hour CitySights “Project Runway” bus tour with their reserved room on select dates between December 29 and January 18.

The tour will run on Saturdays January 2, 9, 16, and Sunday, January 10, visiting fashion landmarks as well as sites from past Project Runway seasons including Bryant Park, Parsons The New School Fashion Design building, and Mood Designer Fabrics - the supplier store for many of the contestants’ creations.

The hotel itself has been the setting for several past episodes. Gerard Widder, general manager of The Westin New York at Times Square, said that ”We are thrilled to partner with NYC & Company and “Project Runway” for this exclusive tour… Our proximity to the Fashion District adds another synergy that makes this project work so well.”

Use promo code RUNWAY.

The Westin New York at Times Square offers 863 rooms and suites with spectacular views of the New York City skyline, Empire State Building and the Hudson River.

Also a good place to check into if you’re planning a family vacation in New York to celebrate New Year’s Eve in Times Square.

Photo by Joe Shlabotnik

Info: 270 West 43rd Street, at 8th Avenue, New York NY 10036; (212) 201-2700; www.westinny.com/

AFI USA (Africa Israel USA), which owns the former New York Times headquarters in Times Square, has announced redevelopment plans which include a 397 room hotel and 26 condo residencies.

Times Square Building

AFI USA bought the building at 229 West 43rd Street from the New York Times Co. in 2007. Their original plan was to turn it into an office complex.

The recession put those plans on hold, but the new plans now call for an entertainment complex, with the Discovery Times Square Exhibitions, occupying the lower floors, housing traveling exhibitions such as Titanic, the Artifact Exhibition and King Tut.

Bowlmor Lanes will offer bowling, entertainment and seven separate dining/bowling areas on floors three and four.

The hotel will be on seven floors (5 to 11) of the building, totalling 330,000 sq.ft.  The hotel’s sky lobby, with double-height ceilings and arched windows, will be reached from its own entrance and elevator bank.

In addition to the 397 oversized hotel rooms, the plan also calls for a spa, gym with pool, restaurant and other amenities. AFI USA is currently in discussions with several hotel operators to takeover and run the planned hotel. The top floors from 12 to 16 are slotted to house 26 luxury condo residences. 

Photo courtesy AFI USA

The Broadway Hotel & Hostel in New York’s Upper West Side has been shut down by the City for packing in too many people. Hundreds of budget travelers staying at the hotel now have 24 hours to get out and find another place to stay.

Broadway Hotel & Hostel, NYC

The City’s Department of Buildings slapped ‘Vacate: Do Not Enter’ notices on the hotel, which packs in over 400 people in bunk beds and rooms in an building on the corner of Broadway and W. 101st St.

Every single guest at the hotel is a visitor to New York, since the hotel apparently does not allow New Yorkers to stay.

On the hotel’s website it says they offer more than 400 beds, in newly renovated dormitory-style rooms and private rooms at rates as low as $19. Private rooms with private baths start at $159 a night.

They call themselves a ’Manhattan discount hotel that rivals the best hostels in Europe.’

The Hotel is owned by Hank Freid, who also owns other hotels in New York, including the Ameritania in Midtown, and Marrakech Hotel NYC in the Upper West Side.

Freid is also developing a four-and-a-half-star lifestyle hotel called Sanctuary in Times Square, with 125 rooms and an exclusive duplex penthouse suite with roof access. The Sanctuary was originally slated to open in Fall 2009, but the opening has now been pushed back to Fall 2010.

Photo courtesy Broadway Hotel & Hostel

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Entrance to The Carlyle Hotel

The Carlyle in New York City is much more than just another luxury hotel.  For decades, it’s served as a decadent playground for the rich and famous who value discretion as much as first class accommodations.

Built in 1930, The Carlyle has played hosts to royalty, Presidents and movie stars, sometimes all at once.  Princess Diana stayed at The Carlyle when she visited Manhattan, and it’s rumored to have been the preferred meeting place for John F Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe.  More recently, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes hosted a party for their daughter Suri Cruise at the New York City landmark hotel.  Oh, if those walls could talk!

Of course, the hotel staff isn’t divulging any secrets.  The Carlyle prides itself on offering security and discretion that makes it a safe haven for their A-list clientele.

But you don’t have to be a celebrity to enjoy star treatment.  Even The Carlyle offers package deals and discounts.  Kind of.

Read More »

What’s in a name? A lot, if you win the Roosevelt NYC’s new contest, and end up with a free 2-night stay for two, with your name etched for posterity on a bar stool, where it will face many a posterior.

The Roosevelt is opening a new bar, and they’re running a contest called Name our Bar, where you have to… name their bar. The winner will be a special guest at the grand opening of the new bar and have his/her name permanently etched on one of the bar stools.

According to the hotel, “The name should be creative, catchy, original, bold and fun – most importantly, it needs to fit who we are.” Well, who are we? Here’s a few helpful tid-bits about the hotel and the new bar:-

The Roosevelt Hotel, New York City

1. The Roosevelt Hotel was named after Teddy Roosevelt.
2. Centrally located Midtown Manhattan just blocks away from Grand Central Station.
3. Established in 1924, the Roosevelt Hotel holds 1015 rooms.
4. Located on the corner of 45th and Vanderbilt Street, with a street-level entrance.
5. The bar will be open and fully operational all year long.
6. Primary customer base will be from local, the business community and hotel guests.
7. This bar will take up approximately 2300 sq ft.
8. Big Band great, Guy Lombardo performed at the hotel for over 40 years.
9. The bar will offer everything from beer and wine to mixed drinks with a menu of light fare.

Submit your entry on or before December 14th. All you have to do is fill in the form here.

Photo by Billy Hathorn

Info: 45 East 45th Street, corner of Madison Ave New York, NY 10017; 212-661-9600; www.theroosevelthotel.com/

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Eloise just got herself some shining new diamonds – an early Christmas present from the AAA, which just announced the 2010 AAA Five Diamond Award winners, with 113 hotels on the list – including The Plaza Hotel and The Pierre New York-A Taj Hotel.

Eloise at the Plaza

The Plaza re-opened last year after a massive three year renovation. The Pierre, likewise, re-opened earlier this year after a $100 million renovation. In a funny co-incidence, both iconic New York hotels first opened their doors on Oct 1. The Plaza opened on Oct 1, 1907 and The Pierre on Oct 1 , 1930.

Here’s the AAA’s full list of 2010 Five Diamond Lodgings. The list now also features the Mandarin Oriental in Boston; Encantado - An Auberge Resort in Sante Fe, N.M.; and The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas. Florida and Nevada each scored 3 more properties on the list.

Speaking of Eloise, she now has a second home in the Big Apple – the New York Public Libary. The Library  ‘acquired’ a colored-pencil sketch of the Eloise painting that hangs in The Plaza. They got the sketch as part of a donation which included the personal papers of  novelist E. Annie Proulx and Hilary Knight, who drew Eloise for the Kay Thompson books.

No word yet on whether Eloise will be joined at the Public Library by her nanny, her pug Weenie, and Skipperdee – her turtle.

Photo of Eloise at the Plaza painting by susansimon.

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What’s the deal between the Hilton New York and the Bloomberg Administration? The Mayor is congratulating the hotel personally for being an “innovator in implementing sound environmental practices.”

Hilton New York

Last week, the Hilton New York was awarded the 2008-2009 Environmental Recognition Program – “Green Street” Award by the Avenue of the Americas Association. Hilton New York received the award in the Energy Efficiency / Sustainability Projects category for “Buildings Over 1M Square Feet” in recognition of its energy fuel cell, which the hotel installed 2 years ago.

Apparently, it takes some time for New York to recognize a breakthrough achievement. Or the patronage of a certain high-ranking NYC elected official. To be fair, the hotel has also recently added some new green initiatives to its toolkit – they’re now dissolving food waste with microorganisms to reduce garbage volume. For real.

But something is surely going on with the Hilton New York and NYC officials. In addition to the awards and kudos over the green stuff, there’s also the Olympic connection. On Nov 4, the U.S. Olympic Committee (with Hilton as it’s sponsor)  will be turning New York’s Rockefeller Center into a winter wonderland as a 100-day countdown for the Vancouver 2010 Olymipics – something about the Making of Team USA.

Lisa Baird, USOC’s Chief Marketing Officer, added to the kudos – “I’d like to extend a special thanks to Hilton Worldwide and our associate sponsors for their support in bringing this 100-day countdown event to historic Rockefeller Center.”

If you’re looking for green hotels in New York, look no more. Head straight for Mayor Bloomberg’s favorite green hotel – located on 1335 Avenue of the Americas.

Photo by mrkathika

The Renaissance Westchester Hotel in White Plains, NY is offering a free hotel room for life – you get 1 night free every year for the rest of your life. So what’s the catch?

Renaissance Westchester, White Plains, NY

Catch is that you need to book an event or a meeting - a group booking - at the hotel, in order to qualify for the free ‘Room for Life.’  This means family vacations with the nanny and the neighbours’ kids don’t count.

Has to be more like a wedding party or a big event. If you do qualify, then you get to come back every year, for the rest of your life – for free.

If you’re the meeting planner for your company, then this is a golden opportunity for you to get yourself a hotel room for life.

The offer is valid for bookings made before December 31, 2010, with stay prior to March 31, 2011. That gives you over a year to cook up an event. If you’re planning on getting married, hold your wedding at the Renaissance Westchester and come back every year for your wedding anniversary.

Like Alan and Rita Holmes, who have been staying in room number 433 at the Hotel Catalonia Ses Estaques in Santa Eulalia, Ibiza for every vacation over the past 20 years, since 1989. The town’s mayor gave them an award for being so loyal.

You’d be getting an award (hopefully) from the Mayor of Harrison – the Renaissance Westchester Hotel being located in West Harrison, just 35 minutes out of New York City.

On top of the near-perfect location and luxurious guest rooms and suites, the hotel also offers 28 meeting rooms, 18,500 sq ft of total meeting space, with the Grand Ballroom maxing out at 5,460 sq ft and a seating capacity of 650.

Plus, the hotel’s acclaimed  Westchester restaurant, 80 West, boasts floor to ceiling windows overlooking the wooded estate, and is home to Marriott’s “Chef of the Year” - Jean-Claude Lanchais.

So promotion or not, the hotel’s resort like setting is a pretty good place to hold weddings and events. But it’s always nice if the hotel is kind enough to offer you a free room for life.

Photo courtesy Renaissance Hotels & Resorts

Info: 80 West Red Oak Lane West Harrison NY 10604; (914) 694-5400; website

The residents of Grand Island, NY are all worked up over a swinger convention that’s about to take place in the Holiday Inn there.

Holiday Inn Grand Island, NY - View from across the Niagara River

The ‘Entice the Falls’ $1000 per couple swingers gathering is taking place Thursday-Sunday at the Grand Island Holiday Inn. The convention organizers have booked the entire 263-room hotel, and there will be no other guests.

The hotel’’s General Manager says nothing illegal is going to take place. Events scheduled include an erotic writing workshop, a hedonistic pool party and other activities which are best left unstated.

According to WIVB, some of the hotel’s employees are refusing to work at the hotel while the swingers are there. Apparently the hotel hasn’t placed any limitations on sex in public areas within the premises, except for the pool and dining areas.

 In addition to the 263 guest rooms and suites, the hotel also offers both indoor and outdoor swimming pools, and also a children’s wading pool. The hotel also has a fitness center, sauna and whirlpool, video arcade and tennis courts.

The Holiday Inn Grand Island Resort and Conference Center is located on the upper banks of the Niagara River, 15 minutes from downtown Buffalo and Niagara Falls, NY and Ontario Canada. And the Seneca Niagara Casino is just a short hop away.

Photo by Jimsflicker 

Info: 100 Whitehaven Rd Grand Island, NY 14072; (877) 863-4780; website