The Standard Hotel introduces their staff … on YouTube

by Annie Scott on


Now this we have not seen before. The Standard Hotel New York, a new André Balazs hotel, has created the above video to introduce their staff.

This is clearly a well-done appeal to a younger, hipper generation. The mod-style, ironically-named Standard Hotels, with their upside-down logos, really are pretty cool. The one in New York offers gorgeous accommodations (with “insane” views) in the Meatpacking District on Washington Street between West 12th and West 13th Streets. The hotel is in previews right now, and has declared itself “Openish.” Because some parts of the hotel are still under construction, rooms are available for $195 – $495 per night, but those prices are expected to rise when the hotel is officially open.

Does the YouTube video make us want to stay there? Frankly, it makes us want to work there. But we already have a job. So, yeah.

Jauntsetter – Travel deals for New Yorkers

by Annie Scott on

New York, New York. You wanna be a part of it … but sometimes you need to get the heck out of it.

Good news! There’s a website called Jauntsetter that has travel deals specifically for New Yorkers. They know we’re too busy to find them ourselves, and that if no one hands us a deal we might just not go anywhere. I mean, we can get any food you can imagine, and there’s always some part of the city to explore. We can convince ourselves that this is all we need.

But it’s not! New York City is not the whole world, and those of us with the means to see the world should do it! It’s important to the international perception of America, important to our appreciation of our own country, and to each and every one of our personal growth. The more America knows about the rest of the world, the stronger America is in so many ways.

So, if you live in New York, check out the weekly updates on Jauntsetter.com. This week, for example, they have great international deals, as well as $200 flights to LA and New Orleans and great Sundance accomodations. Our pick of this week? San Juan, Puerto Rico for just $189!

Bookmarked. Thanks, Brian O’Neal, for the tip!

Galley Gossip: A question about why I’m based in New York when I live in California

by Heather Poole on

Dear Heather,

Reading your comments about being on reserve in New York made me wonder; why don’t you fly out of LAX? I know quite a few people at United who commute west coast to IAD, but that’s primarily because you can’t get the great international flying anywhere else in the system and their seniority goes a lot further.

John in MRY

Dear John,

Good question, John! In fact, it’s a question that my own family and friends have asked often. But first I’d like to address the airport / city codes you mentioned in your question for our readers who are not familiar with airline lingo…

Back in 1995, my classmates and I were offered several base choices prior to graduating from flight attendant training. Because the bases were rewarded by class seniority and class seniority was determined by age, which made me one of the more junior people in the class, I only had three real options – San Francisco, Miami, and New York. My plan was to eventually live at each and every base the airline offered. That’s why I took the job in the first place. To travel. To experience new things. To live in different places.

San Francisco: San Francisco would have been my first choice, except for the fact that the base was (and still is) one of the most senior bases in the system. When it comes to working for an airline seniority is everything. It determines what you fly, when you fly, and days off. Not to mention, the cost of living in California was (and still is) expensive for a flight attendant. A new hire back in 1995 only made a salary of $17,000 the first year. And because only a handful of people from my training class were going to San Francisco, all of whom were from San Francisco, I knew it wouldn’t be easy to find a couple of roommates to share a small place in the short four days the airline allotted before we were all off and flying our very first trip. Though I didn’t go to San Francisco, I knew that one day I would transfer there as soon as I acquired a little more seniority and my pay checks were just a wee bit bigger.

Miami: The majority of the people in my training class wanted to go to Miami, whether they had enough seniority to hold it or not, and most of them did not. The base was (and still is) the second most junior in the system. Of course the weather is always nice, the beaches are beautiful, single life, for me, would have probably been a lot of fun, and the cost of living in 1995 was not bad, not bad at all. I remember seeing an ad in the newspaper for a one bedroom apartment near the beach for $500 a month. It seemed like a dream, a dream that I could actually attain as a flight attendant. Miami was the base for me – but there was just one other place I wanted to go to first.

New York: An hour after my silver wings were pinned to my blue lapel, I was whisked away to the airport where I quickly boarded an airplane that flew to New York. At a window seat I sat, and I’ll never forget looking out of that window at all of those twinkling lights down below as we descended into La Guardia Airport. It was a beautiful sight. Nor will I forget freezing my you-know-what off as I stood outside the deserted airport in the middle of December, two large suitcases lying at my feet, with absolutely no idea what to do next. A not so beautiful sight. I chose New York because I just wanted to go to the one base I knew I’d like the least, just to experience it, and then transfer out as soon as possible. Since I knew most of my classmates would get stuck in New York, I figured it’d be fun to experience flying life with all my new friends. As bad as it seemed at the time having to share a small house in Queens with six other full-time flight attendants, two commuters, a Border Collie named Monica, and Boris, a Russian yellow cab driver who lived in the basement, those were some of the best days of my life.

It’s been fourteen years and I’m still based in New York, even though I live in Los Angeles. Here’s why…

Seniority: New York is the most junior base, yet we have, I think, the best flying. Now, fourteen years later, I’m holding pretty good trips, like transcons from New York to the west coast. That’s one long and easy flight. If I were based in LA, a very senior base, I’d be stuck working up and down the west coast, multiple legs a day, and because flight attendants don’t get paid until the aircraft pulls away from the gate, you do not want to spend very much time on the ground, which is exactly what happens when you work multiple legs a day – waiting in the airport between flights, boarding, deplaning, etc. A flight attendant can easily be on duty for twelve hours but only get paid for eight of those hours when working this type of trip. I work a reduced schedule, so I have to make the most of my days at work. That’s why it’s very important I hold good trips in order to be able to drop them.

Reserve: Reserve, to put it quite simply, is hell. There’s is not one flight attendant I know who enjoys being on reserve. When on reserve, except for a few scheduled days off, you are on-call to the company for a month. Because New York is a junior base, my chances of holding off reserve are good. In fact, I’ve actually held off for a year until this month, and now I am just 15 people from holding off again. For me, it’s much easier to commute to work than to be on reserve, and I do hope to be off reserve again soon. Fingers crossed.

Because I love New York – There’s just something about the energy in New York City, an energy I can’t explain, that does not exist anywhere else. The moment I step off the airplane and walk into the JFK terminal, I feel alive, and creative, which is good when you write about what you do for a living. I love New York so much, in fact, that I even enjoy the brief drive through Manhattan in the dark on the way to Newark airport after being called out for a 5 a.m. sign-in on reserve, which has already happened twice this month – two days in a row. Let’s all pray it doesn’t happen again.

And that, John, is why I’m based in New York. Thanks for the question, and if you, or anyone else, have another question feel free to email me at Skydoll123@yahoo.com

Happy Travels,

Heather Poole

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Photos courtesy of (Vintage airline poster) www.allposters.com, (New York City) Morrissey

Smoke and eat in New York – at the same time

by Tom Johansmeyer on

There are two types of attraction in New York. The surface stuff – like a visit to the Empire State Building and a walk through Times Square – show up in just about every guidebook you can imagine. Dig a little deeper, and you’ll find the array of experiences that appeal to both locals and visitors, the destinations and events that often escape notice. The cigar dinners at tobacconist De La Concha fall into the latter category. If you’re a cigar smoker and you find yourself in Manhattan when one of these experiences is being held, make time for the quintessential New York smoking experience.

De La Concha is among the oldest cigar shops in the city, and it is probably the most famous. On any day, you’ll find a broad spectrum of characters, from the regulars, who don’t let a day pass without viewing the world trough the floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall front window, to the first-timers from out of town to the occasional celebrity who stops by for a fix. Former mayor Rudy Giuliani and former presidential candidate Al Sharpton (stop laughing) come by occasionally, and TV and movie stars not only pick up cigars for the road but occasionally sit down to relax … just like the rest of us.

The store’s general manager, Ron Melendi, decided last year to extend the store’s reach. What started as one cigar dinner, to experiment with a new idea, has grown into a quarterly affair, in which he features a specific cigar brand and sometimes a unique, unusual or relatively unknown liquor. Past cigars have included the Davidoff Millennium line, Ashton Virgin Sun Grown series and the creations of Don Pepin Garcia, who rolls De La Concha’s house cigar, the Grand Reserve.

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Meals and the bar (both included in the ticket price) are supplied by De La Concha’s neighbor, restaurant Rue 57. Each course is carted down the 6th Avenue sidewalk with deliberate precision, almost as if every step is scripted by the army of waiters that supports the effort. Tables are brought into the store specifically for the dinners, with two-tops scattered across the store, and the lounge’s three fixed tables converted to boardroom seating. For a change, one can smoke a cigar before, during or after eating with impunity.

The events vary in price. A dinner with a full menu will generally cost between $100 and $150, with rarer or more expensive cigars pushing the ticket to the higher end of the range. For those on a budget, De La Concha‘s “cut and light” events skip the meal and offer a few hors d’ouevres and a limited open bar to accompany the featured tobacco. Usually priced at around $40, the cut and light experiences are much more accessible.

Of course, there is no limit at the upper end. In December, De La Concha hosted a dinner for pipe smokers, in partnership with Dunhill. This was the first Dunhill pipe dinner held. Ever. Anywhere in the world. So, the ticket was a bit pricey at $195 … but a bargain when you add up what it covers. The usual Rue 57 dinner and bar was enhanced by a Dunhill pipe and a unique pipe stand (in the shape of a hand) that is unavailable for purchase.

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“We try to make our dinners unique,” Melendi says. The Dunhill pipe dinner’s statue and pipe are at the extreme end, but many dinners have included cigars that either had not been released yet or generally are not allowed to be given away at cigar dinners. “Few stores have been able to hold dinners the way we have,” he continues, “and the fact that we’re the busiest store in the city gives us a bit more leverage to go the extra mile for our guests.”

It was this spirit at work in October, when Melendi held an event at the city’s Grand Havana Room, Manhattan’s exclusive private cigar club. The luxury event, which cost a princely $450 to attend, was catered by the Grand Havana Room, included upscale God of Fire cigars and benefited the Dominican Republic‘s Cigar Family Charitable Foundation. The centerpiece was the auctioning of a bronze Prometheus statue created by artist Julio Aguilera and supported by his patron, Nik Renieris, CEO of coffee equipment manufacturer Soltazza.

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Without a doubt, New York’s cigar culture is vibrant.

As you can see, Melendi sees the need to keep the concept fresh, and this was most evident at the November cigar dinner. Without telling any of his guests, Melendi announced with a smile that the guest of honor, Pepin, was donating five boxes of cigars to the charitable organization Cigars for Soldiers, which sends sticks to military personnel serving overseas. David Wells of NYC Cigar attending the dinner on a whim, quietly agreed to donate five boxes, as well. All in, our troops will benefit from close to 7,500 minutes of uninterrupted bliss, despite the turmoil around them in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.

So, you never know what you’ll find at a De La Concha cigar dinner. The cigars change, and the causes vary. But, the environment stays the same. Step into Manhattan’s cigar oasis, and light up the cigar of your choice (mine happens to be the store’s Grand Reserve). Dig into a steak frites at the dinners, or sit back in the lounge with an espresso in the middle of the day. Forget about smoking bans for a while. “Just join us, and enjoy the good life,” Melendi suggests.

Good news for a lucky bride at 30 Rock

by Tom Johansmeyer on

If you think you can write about true love — your own, specifically — you have a shot at a honeymoon suite high above Manhattan. Brides magazine is looking to make a lucky couple even luckier, with the winners nabbing a night at the Top of the Rock. In 150 words or less, the mere length of a Gadling blog post, all you have to do is rattle off what makes you and your husband special.

A luxurious night in this rare destination not enough for you? Yeah, I figured. So did the folks over at Brides. Greed is rewarded with a trip to the Four Seasons Bora Bora in Tahiti. On a rate-per-word basis, you’ll never find a gig that pays like this!

Compete for the Brides Mile-High Honeymoon Suite, and take a look at what you could win!