June 29, 2006
Gramercy Park, Holiday Inn among new NY hotels
 As the average room rate for travelers to New York City continues to rise, the tightening of the squeeze could start to slow in coming months as several new hotels are scheduled to open their doors.
The Plaza isn't expected to reopen until "early 2007" and plans were only recently announced to turn The Knickerbocker back into a grand hotel, but several other projects will be ready soon.
The Holiday Inn Express in Brooklyn could be first, but a company spokeswoman this week could only peg the opening date at "mid-July." However, the hotel's web site, which was earlier accepting reservations for July, now offers nothing before August 17. Room rates start at $135.
Next up should be the much fancier Gramercy Park Hotel, which has been shuttered for more than a year while getting an extreme makeover from Ian Schrager. Pitched as an "art hotel" it will feature works from Jean-Michel Basquiat, Cy Twombly, Julian Schnabel and Damien Hirst. Guests will also have access to keys to Gramercy Park, Manhattan's last remaining private park. The hotel's soft opening begins August 8 with room rates from $250, which will rise to $555 beginning September 5.
Its opening could be beat by the Courtyard by Marriott/Upper East Side, now scheduled to open "in July 2006" -- something of a departure of the February date the 210-room hotel was shooting for. The online reservations will accept no booking before August 15. With rates from $189, it will be the first big name-brand hotel in the neighborhood.
The 45-room Loft Hotel Tribeca, located at 130 Duane Street, plans to open in "summer 2006," although its website isn't yet accepting reservations.
A 92-room, 17-story Wingate Inn Manhattan on 35th Street near Madison Square Garden is also scheduled to open this summer, but the website isn't yet accepting reservations.
Also nearing completion is the Downtown Hotel, at 377 Greenwich Street, whose backers include actor Robert DeNiro, according to CityRealty story available via WiredNewYork.
As of July 1, The Martinique will be rebranded as The Radisson Hotel Martinique. The 532-room historic hotel is currently undergoing a $10 million renovation, according to Hotel News Resource. Built in 1897, it's located at Broadway and 32nd Street.
The Jason Pomeranc's planned transformation of the West Park Hotel into the glamorous Six Columbus on Columbus Circle is still an unknown factor, according to the coverage at HotelChatter.com. Scheduled for a 2005 opening, Hotel Chatter's now predicting fall, of 2006. Although the shell website for Pomeranc's Thompson Hotels says 6 Columbus' 90 rooms and suites will open in "summer 2006."
Pomeranc also has plans for an 18-story Allen Street hotel called Thompson Lower East Side. The latest architectural drawings can be seen at Curbed.
The long open Marriott Brooklyn Bridge is adding 282 rooms, "coming in the Fall of 2006."
Renovations are continuing at The Paramount on Times Square. When finished, it will be rebranded as a Hard Rock Hotel New York, now scheduled for fall 2007.
A 150-room Hilton Garden Inn Tribeca is behind schedule, but under construction at 6 York St. A company spokeswoman said they're looking at an opening date in the late winter of 2006.
At least two other hotels are under construction from scratch in Brooklyn. The Smith, which has a giant pro-union rat parked across the street most days, will be part hotel, part condo. Although it's just a few blocks from the trendiest stretch of Smith Street, it's also directly across the street from the barbed wire and barred windows of the Brooklyn House of Detention. The boutique hotel will have 93 rooms.
Near the Gowanus Canal is an 8-floor, 48-room "extended stay," boutique hotel in the early stages of construction on 4th Avenue.
Also in the works ...
The Donald is working on the Trump International Hotel & Tower SoHo, a 45-story condo/hotel for Spring Street, although preservationist say it's too tall for the neighborhood, according to the Post. Construction could begin later this year with a 2009 opening date. Construction is being "handled" by "Apprentice" season No. 5 winner Sean Yazbeck, the Post reported.
When Andre Balazs' Standard New York opens on Washington Street, it will bring the third rooftop hotel pool to the MeatPacking District, according to the New York Times. (The other two are at SoHo House and Hotel Gansevoort.)
Owners of the Maritime Hotel are building a boutique hotel at East 3rd Street and Bowery, though the real estate blog Curbed is guessing it's not opening until 2008.
Ian Schrager and Aby Rosen are working on another SoHo hotel, at 350 W. Broadway, but they've only recently purchased the land, according to the Post, so don't plan on booking anytime soon.
And one more that isn't quite a new hotel, but probably has enough square footage to qualify. Later this year, the Four Seasons will debut the 52nd-floor Ty Warner penthouse with rates above $30,000 nightly, according to the Times. Square footage: 4,300.
Related: Tourists get taken in fake-hotel scam
WooGoo warning
Hey...Psst...You Need a Hotel Room?
Brooklynites renting rooms/apartments to tourists
Sixth Ave. Marriott's "totally awesome third-floor bar"
Update: The 385-room Doubletree Hotel JFK Airport opened June 28 with fre wi-fi, use of the 24 hour business center and shuttle service to JFK and AirTrain. Rates from $143 a night.
Earlier: Schrager: design hotels are over, art hotels are in
Dubai royal family to bring back Knickerbocker Hotel
Gramercy Park Hotel: plenty of private park keys
Gramercy Park Hotel clarifies park key 'access'
Brooklyn Holiday Inn Express rooms to start at $129
Courtyard by Marriott among 'midpriced' openings
Brooklyn's Holiday Inn Express aims to open by April
Blue Moon, Marriott among NYC hotel openings
June 29, 2006 01:25 PM in Hotelology
Comments (0)
®Copyright 2006, All Rights Reserved
|
