Top 10 New York hotels to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

by Melanie Nayer on

The 84th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade takes place at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 25. Where will you be? If your plans take you to New York for the big event, you’d better start planning! The parade is equally about precision as it is the holidays — to know where to sit, stand, and see everything makes all the difference.

HotelsCombined.com compiled a list of the Top 10 hotels along the parade route that offer the best views of giant balloons, one-of-a-kind floats, Broadway musicals and marching bands. And of course, we can’t forget about Santa. The holiday season officially kicks off when the jolly one makes his way to Herald Square. Make your list, check it twice, and head to one of these hotels for the best viewing of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade:

1. Marriott Hotel Marquis New York City — The premier Times Square hotel is currently offering a “Thanksgiving Parade Package” for four which includes a special buffet breakfast and access Minskoff Theater for unparalleled views as the Parade as it makes it way down 7th Avenue.

2. Mandarin Oriental Hotel New York City — The Mandarin Oriental Hotel is currently offering a “I Love a Parade Package” which includes accommodation, a signature Thanksgiving-themed welcome amenity and exclusive access to the Mandarin Ballroom where you’ll have panoramic views of the Parade.

3. Doubletree Guest Suites Times Square New York City — The Doubletree Guest Suites Times Square has a “Thanksgiving Parade View Package 2010” which includes an overnight stay in a parade view suite plus full breakfast for up to four people, parking for one car per day, welcome amenity upon arrival and 15% discount off of the hotel’s Thanksgiving buffet on Thanksgiving Day.4. Wellington Hotel New York City — The Wellington Hotel is offering a “Thanksgiving Package” including accommodation, full American breakfast and shopping and sightseeing discounts.

5. Renaissance Hotel Times Square New York City — Situated at Two Times Squares 714 7th Avenue at West 48th Street, the Renaissance Hotel Times Square is one of the top places to preview the parade.

6. Trump International Hotel New York City — The Trump International Hotel on One Central Park West is a prime location with the Parade passing by the hotel. There is also a Parade party in front of the hotel’s five star restaurant, Jean Georges.

7. Park Central Hotel New York City — The Parade will pass directly in front of the Park Central Hotel on 870 7th Avenue, allowing guests to view the festivities from the comfort of their hotel rooms. Request a room with a parade view and you’ll see the entire event unfold before your eyes.

8. The Manhattan at Times Square Hotel New York City — The Manhattan at Times Square Hotel — formerly Sheraton Manhattan at Times Square — is an ideal base with a view of the parade.

9. The Michelangelo Hotel New York City — Situated on 152 West at 51st Street, guests can appreciate the views of the city from the Michelangelo Hotel as the parade makes it way down 7th Avenue.

10. The Bryant Park Hotel New York City — Located on 40 West at 40th Street, The Bryant Park Hotel faces Bryant Park with a view of 6th Avenue in New York City. Request one of the 50 rooms that have a view of the Parade.

Alleged UFO hovers over Knott’s Berry Farm

by Leigh Caldwell on

A Beverly Hills, California, man visiting Knott’s Berry Farm claims to have captured a UFO in a photograph during the theme park’s Halloween Haunt event.

Ryan Boone sent the photo, which he claims is undoctored, to Los Angeles TV station KNBC. (We’ve added the arrow to the photo at right to point out the alleged unidentified flying object.) You can see the original pic on KNBC’s Web site.

Boone says he shot the photo at about 10 p.m. Tuesday, while waiting in line to ride the Xcelerator roller coaster.

“I’ve never been a believer in UFOs until I took this photo and saw it with my own eyes,” Boone told KNBC.

Commenters on the TV station’s Web site have suggested that the alleged UFO is actually just a reflection off the camera lens, but isn’t that what “they” always say when someone captures a pic of a mysterious object in the sky?

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Zombies with passports: The Walking Dead goes worldwide

by Meg Nesterov on


In order to promote the new show The Walking Dead on AMC, swarms of zombies invaded 26 cities worldwide (including my city of Istanbul, pictured above and filmed here) earlier this week, lurching around major tourist landmarks and generally freaking out passerby. The undead began their sightseeing in Taipei and Hong Kong, then hit European capitols including London, Rome, and Athens. More arose in Buenos Aires, Sao Paolo, and Johannesburg, before going after American brains coast to coast from New York to the show’s premiere in Los Angeles. Check out more photos and video on the show’s blog and Facebook page.

Zombies would make ideal travelers: they can walk through airport security slowly and with no complaints, pack lightly, and don’t need to be fed or entertained on planes. If you can evade the attempts to gnaw on your flesh, they’d make better seatmates than a screaming baby or an armrest hoarder on a long flight. When there’s no more room in coach, we will all walk the earth.

See any zombies on your commutes or travels this week? Leave a comment below if you escaped unbitten. Want more Halloween dead-eyed fun? Our favorite British bear does his take on the zombie genre with Dawn of the Ted.

[Photo Courtesy of Fox International Channels]

Q & A with travel and fiction writer Hilary Davidson

by Alex Robertson Textor on

I recently chanced upon a copy of Hilary Davidson’s The Damage Done and found myself smitten. Davidson’s story, which centers around a glamorous if complicated travel writer embroiled in a messy family mystery, is a compelling read. It’s also of particular interest to travel media types: Davidson’s protagonist, like Davidson herself, is a travel writer.

Q: Describe your profession.

A: For the past 12 years, I’ve been a freelance travel writer. For the past five years, I’ve been writing fiction, too. Fiction used to be something I snuck in at odd hours, either early in the morning or very late at night, but since I got a two-book deal with Tor/Forge last year, the two have been on a pretty even footing.

Q: In your novel The Damage Done, the protagonist is a travel writer whose main base is New York. You are a travel writer living in New York. The question has to be asked: What are the points of overlap between Hilary Davidson and Lily Moore?

A: We’ve traveled to many of the same places, and we both love film noir and vintage clothes. If we met in a parallel universe, we’d probably raid each other’s closets. But our personal lives couldn’t be more different: when Lily comes home to New York, it’s to identify her sister’s body at the morgue, only to discover that the corpse belongs to a woman who’d stolen her sister’s identity and that her sister is missing. I have to confess, I don’t have a sister. Also, Lily has a complicated on-again, off-again relationship with her former fiancé, who she suspects may have been sexually involved with her sister. I’ve been married for a decade.

Q: As a travel writer, what is your preferred medium? Your beat?

A: I am the world’s most boring travel writer. Most of what I’ve written – including all of my 17 Frommer’s guidebooks – have been about my hometown, Toronto, or my adopted home, New York, where I’ve lived for the past nine years. Writing for magazines has let me be more adventuresome and see places such as Spain and Peru and Easter Island. I also run a website, the Gluten-Free Guidebook, which is about my travels since I was diagnosed with celiac disease almost seven years ago. I realized that I was doing a lot of research before and during every trip, and if I put what I learned online, it could help other people, too.Q: You moved from Toronto to New York in 2001. Is your hometown loyalty to New York or Toronto? Or is it divided?

A: I feel a greater affinity and affection for New York, which may have something to do with moving here a month after 9/11 and watching the city come back from those sad days. New York energizes me and Toronto relaxes me, and I feel lucky that I get to move back and forth between both.

Q: Any NYC or Toronto off-the-beaten path secrets you’d like to share?

A: In New York, I feel like much of the Bronx is an off-the-beaten-path secret. Some of the most interesting spots in the city are there: the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage, Wave Hill, Pelham Bay Park, and Woodlawn Cemetery. Toronto has little gems scattered throughout the city, like the Malcove Collection, an art gallery hidden on the University of Toronto grounds – an amazing collection that runs the gamut from Byzantine artifacts to Russian icons. I also love the Scarborough Bluffs, on the eastern edge of the city; early settlers in the area thought they were like the white cliffs of Dover.

Q: What are some of your favorite places to visit, either for work or relaxation?

A: I love visiting Spain, which may have something to do with why I have Lily living there. Barcelona is one of my favorite cities in the world; I love its quirky architecture and it’s a foodie paradise, especially for gluten-free diets. But the most interesting trips I’ve ever taken have been to Peru and Turkey. My favorite get-away-from-it-all spot is Banff, in the Canadian Rockies, especially in the middle of winter.

TSA’s Secure Flight takes off, new identification rules come into effect

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Rules exist for a reason … and apparently enforcement isn’t one of them. In a move I can only describe as bizarre, the TSA has announced that, next month, it will start enforcing a rule about passenger identification. The rule, according to the TSA blog, “fulfills a key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission by assuming responsibility of watch list matching from individual airlines.” The rule was brought to the table last year, but this critical function came with a one-year grace period.

I find this bizarre, because it’s tantamount to announcing that an important need has gone unaddressed for 12 months.

According to a report on USA Today, the rule calls for passengers to provide their personal identification data when booking their flights, and they have to show “a recognized government ID at the airport that matches the information.” You’ll have to provide “name, date of birth and gender as it appears on your government ID” when you book in order to get a boarding pass.

If you’ve already booked travel for after November 1, 2010 and haven’t provided all the data that will be required, you’ll probably want to contact the airline before you head out to the airport.

[photo by glenmcbethlaw via Flickr]