Are you sick and tired of the wall-to-wall election news coverage? I Am. Who cares what Hillary Clinton’s senior staffer said about Obama’s senior economist? Why should I listen to what some 83 year old in Philadelphia with one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel has to say about Clinton’s health plan? Or for that matter, what some 17 year old teen with freckles has to say about what the audacity of hope means (probably has something to do with grades not tanking inspite of spending all your time at political rallies shouting ‘Yes We Can’).

Point is, is there any place in New York safe from this barrage? Yes there is. The Casablanca Hotel in Times Square. The hotel is offering a special with the appropriately named promo code of DETOX, for election weary citizens in urgent need of rehab and relief from all the political news, valid for reservations made before April 30th with stay scheduled for a period between Memorial Day and Labor Day 2008.

You book under this package, and all your news channels will be blocked, and you also qualify for a discount of between $10 to $50 and a free Red, White and Blue turndown service which consists of brie and salt water crackers, garnished with blueberries and honey and served with red wine. “Our Red, White and Blue turndown service is a light and nourishing bedtime snack especially designed to give our weary travelers the relaxation and rest they deserve,” says General Manager John Taboada.

Only one question. Is there anyone who still reads newspapers and watches television news? What about the internet? The hotel can’t filter it, right? So how can you offer political rehab if you’re offering a room with wi-fi internet, with access to all the idiotic blogs and news websites, and worst of all - Youtube! Anyway, let’s just see what the hotel has to offer, in terms of rooms and amneties and dining.

The Casablanca is a family owned boutique hotel in midtown Manhattan, in the Theater district, with 48 luxurious rooms and suites, and the famous Rick’s Cafe on the 2nd floor. At Rick’s, European style breakfast buffet is served each morning, with assorted teas and international coffees, cookies and fresh fruit throughout the day, as well as a complimentary wine and cheese reception each evening from 5pm-8pm.

It kinda looks like a movie set home of a rich Arab sheikh or something, with quaint Moroccan decor featuring archways, lazily rotating ceiling fans, ornamental moldings, tapestries, paintings and murals hanging on the walls and corridors. In addition to Rick’s Cafe, there’s also an an adjacent courtyard called the Blue Parrot for guests who prefer to enjoy their cappuccino or Prosecco alfresco.

For fitness freaks, there’s a sports club with pool, sauna, weights and exercise machines. For business travelers, the hotel offers a conference room with space for upto 12 people, equipped with all the latest gizmos and business presentation hardware, along with fax and photocopier machines, same day laundry and dry cleaning services.

Normal room rates start at $319 plus a tax of $46.17, which makes it a whopping $365.17 for a one night stay. And the hotel claims their rooms are immune to a lot of things. Smoke free, sound proof and election-news proof (if you go for the DETOX package).  All the rooms and suites are equipped with complimetary wi-fi internet, tv with 36 cable channels, mini-bar packed with drinks, hairdryer and signature bath products.

One thing I have to say for the Casablanca. Somebody at the hotel has either a great sense of humor, or some very big delusions of grandeur. Everything has a distinctly pompous touch, with the ornate decor and the European style breakfast and the stiff necked and courteous staff with massive chips on their shoulders. The whole chilled champagne bucket on arrival thing is so yesterday now. But then, if you’re an NYC resident, or even a standard issue visitor to the Big Apple, there’s no way you’re going to shell out 400 bucks for a one night stay at a New York hotel. So I guess if you’re a rich Arab sheikh with a suitcase full of petro-dollars, you should feel right at home at the Casablanca.

Info: 147 W 43rd St New York, NY 10036; (212) 869-1212. Specials: For political rehab package with news free rooms, use promo code DETOX. Bookings before April 30th for stays between Memorial Day and Labor Day 2008.