New York revealed its newest fashion accessory today: Wyndham Fashion 26 hotel, a luxury hotel in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood. Following a few months of delays in opening the trendy hotel, Fashion 26 finally greeted guests into the new art-and-style space.
The hotel is located across the street from the famous Fashion Institute of Technology, and set in one of New York’s trendiest districts. The hotel’s own accessories are created from fashion favorites including cutting room tables and camera lights, and the hallways will host a rotating art program, including some pieces from local New Yorkers and students at FIT. According to a press release from Wyndham, the hotel will feature luxury amenities including Frette linens, free wireless Internet and Gilchrist & Soames toiletries.
Fashion comes at a cost, though: rooms are currently priced starting at $299/night.
Meanwhile, Starwood’s W Brand is dropping two of its landmark New York hotels — The Court and The Tuscany. In a statement on Starwood’s website:
W New York – The Court and W New York – The Tuscany will be leaving the Starwood system on April 14, 2010 at 11:59 PM. Reservations for dates on or after April 14, 2010, at 11:59 PM will not be eligible for Starwood Preferred Guest membership benefits, award redemption or accrual.
According to HotelChatter.com, Starwood signed an agreement to sell W New York – The Court and W New York – The Tuscany to the St. Giles Hotel. The hotel’s new owner has agreed to honor all local negotiated rates previously signed by W The Court and W The Tuscany for confirmed reservations. For further information on St. Giles Hotels, please call 1-888-406-8588 or visit www.StGilesNewYork.com.
W Hotels currently has four hotels in New York City and is planning on opening the W New York – Downtown, later this summer.
Like most states, New York is trying to deal with a huge deficit. The latest budget proposed by Gov. David Paterson calls for cuts to practically every state service, from education to welfare to public health. Not surprisingly, people are angry and various interest groups are trying to save their share of the pie.
How is this of interest to travelers? Because the governor proposed closing 41 parks and 14 historic sites, and reducing services at 23 parks and 1 historic site. Proposed closures include such popular destinations as Brookhaven State Park in Long Island, Fort Montgomery Historic Site in the Palisades, and (get this) the Donald J. Trump State Park in Westchester. This would have saved $6.3 million. A huge public outcry made the governor reverse the proposal and restore the funding, but the state government indicated the decision isn’t final.
Now the National Parks Service has weighed in and said such a drastic cut would put the state in non-compliance with the terms by which it accepted $1.9 million from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and was in danger of losing that money and perhaps billions more. The Paterson administration was quick to hit back, saying New York was still in compliance and accusing the NPS of overreacting. The wrangling continues.
So just how big is New York’s deficit? According to the governor’s report it stands at $8.2 billion. The Times Union newspaper says it’s $9.2 billion. Whichever is correct, a lot of people are going to be feeling the pinch, and it’s hard to imagine the parks will not have to make any sacrifices.
The new Intimidator 305 roller coaster has opened at Kings Dominion theme park in Richmond, VA. The coaster, named in honor of the late NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, has ride cars that look like Earnhardt’s famous black Chevy. Earnhardt’s daughter Taylor visited the park last week to open the ride.
The Intimidator 305 screams along at 92 miles per hour, thanks to a 300-foot drop at the start.
Kings Dominion says that makes it part of a new class of giga-coasters – “complete-circuit coasters with a height of 300 feet or taller.” You can now check “add a word to my vocabulary” off today’s to-do list. You’re welcome.
Universal requires 4-night stay for Harry Potter packages (Orlando, FL, USA)
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opens June 18, and if you want to book Universal Orlando Resort’s vacation package to go see the wizard, you will be staying in Orlando until at least June 22.
Universal tells the Orlando Sentinel that the package was designed as a 4-night experience when it was introduced in February, but the minimum stay requirement was just set this week.
The Orlando vacation packages include a hotel stay, Universal Orlando tickets, breakfast at the new Three Broomsticks restaurant and early admission to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.Coney Island Cyclone opens for 83rd season (New York City, NY, USA)
The landmark Cyclone roller coaster has re-opened for its 83rd season on Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York.
It costs $8 to ride the combination wooden and steel structure that cost $175,000 to build in 1927. Although the thrill ride is on the National Register of Historic Places, it is still listed among coaster enthusiasts as one of the best current roller coasters in the country – both for its great views of the Manahattan skyline and its 60 mph hairpin turns.
Nearby, the new Luna Park is set to open its 19 rides on the Coney Island shore on May 29.
Great Wolf Lodge tries for water-slide world record (USA)
3,651 miles. That’s the distance that bathing-suit clad visitors slid at 11 Great Wolf Lodge indoor water parks last weekend, in an attempt to set a Guinness World Record.
The Great Wolf Lodges each kept one water slide open for 24 hours and asked sliders to donate to the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. The charity event/publicity stunt resulted in 47,660 trips down the designated water slides.
Guinness is still verifying the information before making the world record – which will be in the category longest distance water sliding in 24 hours in multiple venues – official. Oddly enough, there’s no previous record-holder for this very specific, new category in the company’s record books.
SeaWorld’s Aquatic water park opens new water slide (Orlando, FL, USA)
Orlando water park Aquatica has opened its new slide, the Omaka Rocka. The tube slide deposits riders in funnels designed to mimic the sensation that skateboarders feel in the half-pipe.
This is the third year for Aquatica, SeaWorld’s venture into the water park scene. Omaka Rocka is the first addition to the park since it opened.
Future questioned at Freestyle Music Park (Myrtle Beach, SC, USA)
The troubled Freestyle Music Park is facing foreclosure. The Myrtle Beach, S.C., park – which opened as Hard Rock Park in 2008 then underwent a brand change for the 2009 season – missed a debt payment deadline last week.
The Sun News reports that the theme park’s owners have not been able to find new investors and are facing bankruptcy or foreclosure. Owners are saying it is “unlikely” that the park will open for the 2010 season.
Six Flags releases iPhone app (USA)
The Six Flags Fun Finder, a free app, is now available in the App Store. Beyond the usual park maps and event listings, that app integrates with Facebook to help you find the exact location of your friends within any Six Flags theme park. The app is free.
Don’t you just hate it when you order room service, it takes close to an hour to arrive and when it finally gets to your room, the food is cold? Apparently, so does the Hyatt.
In an effort to “reinvent” the concept room service, the Grand Hyatt New York is mixing up the way room service has worked in the past and is putting the power of change into the hands of its guests. Welcome, Market – the Grand Hyatt’s new food and beverage venue in the hotel’s lobby. Market offers a little of New York‘s finest eats and treats from the Roasting Plant, Tisserie, Chickalicious and Macaron Café NYC and serves up breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, beer and wine for hotel guests who need a fast fix to curb their hunger. You simply walk into Market, pick out what you want to eat, charge the food to your room and take your meal with you. In other words, eliminate the service and do-it-yourself.
The hotel will continue to offer traditional room service for those who don’t want to walk downstairs.
There’s a new hotel in Chelsea, and it is fabulous.
Eventi is a brand new property from Kimpton Hotels, which also has The Muse, 70 Park Hotel and Ink 43 in New York City. Hailed as the first luxury hotel in New York’s fashionable Chelsea area, the 54-story glass tower occupies an entire block of Avenue of the Americas (6th Avenue) between 29th and 30th Streets. A look through the gallery will prove to you that they’ve picked up on Chelsea’s uniquely flamboyant vibe to make an attractive, cosmopolitan haven for true Chelsea lovers.
“Eventi will be a place that feels alive, with a heart beat that pulses with creativity and sends energy to every corner of the hotel,” says Thomas Mathes, general manager of Eventi. That includes all 292 rooms, the Barbara Nessim artwork and the comfortable living room with a fireplace where guests can lounge and enjoy a daily wine hour.
The hotel also serves the local community; a 20,000 square foot Food Parc and bar, as well as an indoor-outdoor Basque cuisine restaurant, are scheduled to open in Fall 2010.
If you’re interested in checking out the new Eventi hotel, now is the time; they’re still in Preview Rate mode, and you can get 20 percent off the best available rate for stays through September 5, 2010. Click here to book.
