The Hotel Elysée (www.elyseehotel.com), on 60 East 54th Street, between Madison and Park Ave, is offering an ‘NYC Luxury Shopping Package’ for $350 per night per room, which includes deluxe accommodations, pink champagne upon arrival, one pound of Leonidas Cocoa dusted truffles, NYC Zagat shopping guide, day at Bergdorf Goodman including a complimentary tea for two in the BG Restaurant, a complimentary facial on the beauty level of the store, a personal shopping consultation, and an incentive gift card, the latest issue of Vogue Magazine, complimentary breakfast each morning, complimentary fruit, cookies, tea and coffee throughout the day, complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres each weekday evening and complimentary passes to the NY Sports Club. Read the full press release.

I think a few questions are in order here. What the heck is a free shopping consultation? And the package includes a whole bunch of complimentary stuff, but is it all worth it? I mean, C’mon - Pink Champagne? One pound of Leonidas cocoa dusted truffles? A copy of Vogue…? Gimme a break. The only value is see in the offer is for the free breakfast and the visit to Bergdorf Goodman, although I would have preferred gift vouchers for Macy’s instead. There’s also a minimum two night stay requirement. Meaning you’ll probably end up spenging around a $1000 on hotel charges for a weekend, when you tote up the taxes and add-ons and room service and the rest of the schtick. Is it worth it? Well….Let’s see what the hotel has to offer, shopping and freebies notwithstanding.

Location wise it’s not so bad, with everything from Times Square to Central Park to Bloomingdale’s and the Theatre District within walking distance. From the outside, it looks quite New Yorkish, with the awning and the green doorman. The lobby, while ornate, chandelier and all, seems to be slightly worn and in need of a little sprucing up. There are 101 rooms at the hotel, including 86 guest rooms, 3 junior suites, 10 suites, 1 royal suite and 1 piano suite.  In-room amenities include hair dryers, safes, mini bars, complimentary wireless internet, work desk, cable TV and VCR, and marble bathrooms. Some of the suites have direct access to seperate terraces, kitchenettes or solariums.

But the biggest attraction which draws both NYC residents and visitors to the Elysee is the Monkey Bar, a well-known watering hole on the Big Apple social scene. The Monkey Bar serves cocktails and drinks around the $10 range, along with an eclectic range of virtuoso Asian fusion cuisine. Room service orders are also taken by the Monkey Bar.

In summary, the Elysee has seen better days and it is slightly overpriced, but its still quite up to the task, and you’ll enjoy the stay there. Besides, its a boutique hotel with only 101 rooms, which makes the service a bit more personal than the monster New York family hotels you find peppered on Fifth Ave.

Info: Hotel Elysée - 60 East 54^th Street  New York NY 10022; (212) 753-1066

I’m not sure if this an April Fool hoax, but even if it is, it’s well worth a read. Apparently its not enough to be crazy to get admitted into Bellevue nowadays. You also hafta book a room and pay for it, cause the City wants to turn Bellevue’s psyciatric ward into a luxury Hotel…Talk about a room with a ‘vue, as the NY Post delicately puts it in an article titled ‘Loony (B)Inn Bellevue Eyed As Luxe Hotel’.

Guests at Bellevue will soon be given bathrobes instead of straitjackets, if the city can convince a developer to turn its most famous nut house into a luxe hotel. Originally, officials considered turning the 1931 Italian Renaissance-style building on First Avenue between 29th and 30th streets into condos, but oddly, the layout of a mental institution is better suited to a hotel, Melissa Konur, vice president of the city’s Economic Development Commission, told The Post. “There are long corridors, and the rooms aren’t very big,” she said.

And this is the original story from the NY Observer, which started the ball rolling on this nuthouse story. Includes the full proposal from the NYC Economic Development Corporation. And some more juicy bits from FoxNews. Not many hotels can claim Norman Mailer, Edie Sedgwick and Charlie Parker all spent the night, but the psych ward housed fewer sax players than ax murderers, said Dr. Frederick Covan, who for 14 years was its chief psychologist.

If you’re not from NYC, please tell me something. Do we look as crazy to you, as we look to ourselves? Maybe its the water, or the gas leaking from the subway or something like that…

The Wolcott Hotel, NYC, located on 31st Street, is 3 blocks away from the Empire State Building on 5th Ave. And its also supposed to be one of New York’s best kept hotel bargain secrets. Now this is no idle boast. The New York Times lists the hotel in its featured list of six bargain NYC hotels. The editor of NYCTourist.com, New York’s official tourism website, picks the hotel as his best pick for NYC lodging. With impeccable references like this for being a decent bargain hotel, its worth taking the trouble to find out what makes the Wolcott so attractive.

For starters, like all good Fifth Ave hotels, the Wolcott is a stroll away from the New York you see in the tourist brochures - Macy’s, the Garment District and Braodway, Javits, Penn Station, Madison Square Garden and the Rockefeller Center. Being so squarely situated in downtown Manhattan also makes it very convinient if you want to take a bus or the subway to other points of attraction in New York or the outer boroughs.

The ornate lobby of the hotel makes it seem more like the ballroom of the Titanic than a budget hotel, and you wonder how they can afford to keep all that brass and the solid wood furnishings and the chandeliers polished and clean. For business travelers, the hotel offers a business center, conference and exhibit rooms, a theater for presentations and a classroom. There’s also a fully equipped fitness center.

All rooms and suites at the Walcott feature television with cable, in-room movies and a Nintendo for games. Amenities include an in-room safe, hairdryer, iron/ironing board, with free coffee and muffins in the hotel lobby available every morning. Minimum booking is for two rooms (which is one the reasons the hotel is so affordable), since they collect at least $600 plus taxes from each guest. That basically means that the room rates start at $150 per room per night. For families, the Wolcott offers the ‘Triple Room’ with two connection rooms, one with twin beds. This ‘triple Room’ costs $320 for two nights, or $160 per night.

In summary, New York family hotels don’t come cheap, and its a good bet that you won’t find a more balanced deal, which has just the right mix of economy and luxury. If you’re looking at a family vacation in new York, you can save hundreds of dollars by putting up at the Wolcott, without your kids and spouse starting to grumble that you’re Uncle Scrooge’s second coming. Besides, you have a chance to win two free nights in New York. Click here to enter the contest (please enter Cango.com ion the field which asks where you heard about the contest).

Info: 4 West 31st Street New York, NY 10001; (212) 268-2900

The Vu Hotel in the Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood (that’s NYC speak for Midtown West), like every hotel in New York City worth its salt, offers a sweeping view of Times Square and the Manhattan skyline, and is located within walking distance of all the major attractions and ‘visitable’ points of interest in Manhattan. The Vu is also the closest hotel to Pier 94 and the Manattan Cruise Ship Terminal, with the Javits Convention Center, Fifth Ave shopping, the Rockefeller Center and Times Square attractions a short stroll away. Its slated to open its doors to guests early summer.

The Vu is run by Kimpton Hotels (www.kimptonhotels.com). Which means that this hotel could very well end beating all the other NYC family hotels, when you factor in the KimptonKids program run by the group at all its hotels and the ‘tourist-friendly’ location of the hotel.

For the uninformed, KimptonKids sets the standard for family vacations, offering everything a family needs in a hotel, for kids of all ages, shapes and sizes, in their own words - Cribs and high chairs in rooms and restaurants and concierge services including accredited baby-sitting, 24 hour on-call pediatrician, car rentals with child friendly seats and rental of strollers. To top it off, the hotel offers special welcome gifts for all kids, and a list of kid-friendly activities and outlets near the hotel including parks and restaurants. 

And just in case you’re still not decided, the Vu is also a green hotel which relies solely on eco-friendly services and products, and is pet-friendly with special services and amenities deoted to pets. Amenities for the pets’ masters include wireless internet throughout the hotel, free coffee and tea, a luxury spa, valet and laundry services, complimentary overnight shoe shine and newspaper, valet parking and 24 hour room service.

The 222 rooms and suites at the Vu hotel each come with an expansive view of either the Manhattan skyline or the Hudson River through large windows, with wi-fi internet, flat-screen HDTV cable and over 150 channels, on-demand movies and games with Nintendo 64, an ‘essential travel kit’, iron & ironing board, hair dryer, stone tiled bathrooms and oversized showers stocked with signature bath products, in-room spa services, and some of the rooms feature a Fuji soak tub.  Room rates are expected to be pricey, starting from $425, but the hotel will be providing specials for family stays.

Dining options at the Vu include a first-floor restaurant adjacent to the hotel, which features casual dining with a regional cuisine prepared with local produce, and there’s also a 15th floor rooftop bar perefect for a warm summer night date with an unobstructed view of the City on the West and the hudson River on the East.

Info: 653 11th Avenue at 48th, New York, NY 10036; Reservations: (877) 843-8869;
Front Desk: (212) 757-0088 Web: www.vuhotel.com

Robert DeNiro, Hollywood’s favorite mafioso…Make that Oscar winning mob actor…is all set to launch the Greenwich Hotel (www.thegreenwichhotel.com) in New York’s Tribeca District on April 1st 2008.

Why New York? You talkin’ to me? Well, in his own words, “I go to Paris, I go to London, I go to Rome, and I always say, ‘There’s no place like New York. It’s the most exciting city in the world now. That’s the way it is. That’s it.”

Review from Los Angeles Times staff writer Jane Eagle quotes Robert Deniro as saying that the new eight-story 88 room Greenwich Hotel, which sports eclectic decor and a handmade brick facade, will offer “sophistication and authenticity.” And gourmets, take note: Its restaurant is the latest outpost of chef Agostino Sciandri’s Ago empire. Also coming later: a 2,500-square-foot penthouse and a spa where guests can lounge under the roof of a 250-year-old farmhouse, reconstructed by Japanese craftsmen. Hotel furnishings range from hand-loomed Tibetan rugs to Italian terracotta floors.

Photo Credit: special HoodWatch photographic correspondent Will Femia. More specifics on the Greenwich hotel’s facade and rooms from HotelMotel.com.  

There are 88 rooms, of which no two are alike. The hotel has thirteen suites - some with saunas, others with working fireplaces. There are two duplex suites: the Greenwich, designed by Grayling and the N. Moore, designed by The Rockwell Group. Conceived as artist ateliers, both have soaring 30-foot skylights, chef’s kitchens, two master bedrooms with 2 S bathrooms, stone fireplaces, and offices with separate entrances. Each of these duplex residences can be expanded to accommodate up to 5 bedrooms. Behind the hand-made brick facade, DeNiro and Drukier [Real Estate Developer Ira Drukier] have created an intimate and welcoming retreat that reflects the warmth and personality guests would feel if they were staying at the home of a good friend. Shibui, the Greenwich Hotel’s spa is a true haven for relaxation and rejuvenation.

The hotel offers babysitting/child services, business center, and concierge 24 hour front desk and laundry/valet services. There’s a very comprehensive and through list of the Greenwich Hotel’s amenities, room information, directions and miscellaneous information at MetroTravelGuide.com. 

Info: 377 Greenwich St New York NY 10013; (212) 941-8900; E-mail: info@thegreenwichhotel.com