The Muse: New York City
October 6, 2015
The Muse is a new one on NPS. Our jaunts to NY often have us at 70Park or the Eventi. All three hotels are Kimpton properties. The Muse turns out to be very close to the Marriott Marquis where the conference I am keynoting is being held.
So here we are smack dab in the heart of Times Square tourist-land in NY. Hmm.
I arrived at the Muse just in time for the end of wine hour. After the prop-plane flight up on united, a glass of wine was just what the doctor ordered. Prop-plane? In 2015? Really?
The @united equipment. Global reach! pic.twitter.com/PVEZWKfnp6
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) October 5, 2015
The Muse is currently under massive renovation. From what we can tell from our room (915) the result will be fabulous.
Room 915 console
A few minutes after arrival, a nice amenity (cupcakes! and sparkling water) arrived with a note. Thanks to Sean Flanigan who heard tell of our arrival from the Boston spy ring and arranged for a nice welcome.
Kimpton Karma welcome amenity
915 comfortable bed
915
The bathroom is a bit crowded but very nicely appointed. The shower is great.
Not plastic! Two showerheads.
Another classic Kimpton touch worth pointing out. Kimpton knows that we all have devices to charge by the bed. So they make sure power is available. Together with the free wifi, we have all we need to get work done into the wee hours of the morning.
Power by the bed
Just after arrival is was off for a cocktail at Lantern’s Keep. Their mixology remains top notch even though Barman Bob is long gone (John has filled in very well indeed). I had a tweaked Manhattan made with Fernet.
Then we headed down to Bryant Park for dinner at Koi. Koi is very nice and impressed my starving college aged son.
There was a little time for some art at the Whitney museum.
All told, five showerheads for the Muse. It’s only drawback may well be its reason for existing in the first place (proximity to tourist-land).
The Eventi: NYC
February 20, 2015
The corporation has ditched the apartment in NY. Which means we now have to stay at the Eventi or 70Park when we’re in NY. Life is so hard!
It’s cold this week. Less than ten cold.
NPS is situated in 2304 on the top floor with a clear view of the back side of NY. See how cold it is?
Frozen city.
2304 Eventi sitting room
The comfortable bed in 2304 bedroom dominates
Of course, we’re here for the showers. The marble clad Eventi design is great.
Two headed marble shower complete with bench
After our late-ish arrival, a welcome package made its way up. Thanks Christopher. Sparkling water.
Reward for Kimptoning
In other NYC news, we hit Quality Meats for a nice dinner spiced up with way too much Pappy 23. Ouch. Then Roc Restaurant in Tribeca (a family place where they know us now and we speak some Italian). Get the oxtail ravioli. The Brandy Library is a superior place for a relaxing nightcap.
This NY run was fantastic. Five showerheads for the Eventi.
Oh, and we flew Jet Blue up here in our quest to avoid United at all costs. Jet Blue was fine, but JFK is not all that convenient.
We Interrupt No Fly July for NYC Tourism?!
July 18, 2014
If you follow NPS, you know about no fly July which basically gives me a chance to slow down and think away from airplanes. You may also have figured out that this year has (thankfully) been a light year of travel so far. After more than a decade of road warrior work, that feels pretty good FWIW.
Anyway, no fly July plans were interrupted this year for a trip up to NYC. United was its usual awful self. For the first time ever, I paid revenue for what was essentially a jump seat on a propjet. United has gone completely to the dogs.
Propjet on @united express. pic.twitter.com/O6Q4DTvfd9
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) July 17, 2014
It got better. The NJTransit train from EWR was convenient and fast.
Once we got to NY, we started with a game of Escape the Room, which was pretty fun all told. The only problem with the game is it is not puzzley enough and relies too much on random finding. But we had a good time (even though we ultimately did not escape the room).
We regrouped at Butcher’s Daughter near Little Italy to plan a quick trip down to Battery Park. Where we took a very touristy sailboat ride to the Statue of Liberty.
tourist sailboat in the NY harbor. https://t.co/NoH3TakCmN
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) July 17, 2014
Statue of Liberty
Dinner at Keste with Jason and Haley was fantastic and authentically italian as always. A quick trip to Mulberry Project was kind of disappointing due to the thundering dance beat. Good drinks, wrong atmosphere.
View from the Cigital apartment in NY.
We’re staying at the apartment again. Midtown 36th floor penthouse. It’s gorgeous in NY this week. Kind of Fall-like weather. Not bad. I guess nature is playing along with no fly July.
More NY impressions…
Morning way up north at the cloisters. A visit to the conservatory gardens in central park. Excellent tapas at Txikito. Comedy at the upright citizens brigade. Late nightcap at Ayza wine bar.
The Cloisters
A walk down the high line after a very late but decent breakfast at the Petit Poulet (right across the street from the apartment) is a good way to start the day. Follow that with coffee at the superb Happy Bones. Then a first visit to the 9-11 Memorial museum. When you go, plan to spend over 3 hours.
Liam Finn at the Poisson Rouge
A late night begins at Le Poisson Rouge (LPR) for a Liam Finn show. Great show. Excellent use of charisma. Followed by midnight dinner at the Blue Ribbon.
Liam Finn also loves customer 42 (starbucks identity of NPS)
Sunday included a trip up the Empire State Building next door, a visit to the Brooklyn flea market (meh), lunch #2 at The Meatball Shop, an Iranian film (close curtain) at Film Forum and dinner at L’Asso.
The apartment and its tall next door neighbor.
Way down there is the roof of the apartment.
Time to go home (on the Acela).
View from the 35th floor. Just to the left of the big building in the middle you can see World Trade’s new Freedom Tower in the distance.
Ah New York city. It’s always a toss up whether to stay at the apartment or hit a NY Kimpton. This time we opted for the apartment.
Looking down on the city.
The living room with a spectacular view.
We pretend that the showers are not built over a bathtub. Alas.
uh oh
Some eating places to check out (mostly down past Washington Square). L’asso Pizza is an undiscovered gem just north of Little Italy. Great Italian style pizza. The Butcher’s Daughter is a quaint little crunchy granola juice bar. The Meatball Shop in the Village is a great place for lunch (good balls with a Buffalo Trace whiskey float to boot). Tamarind in Tribeca is fantastic upscale Indian worth the price.
On the cocktails and wine front, Ayza is a nice place for a glass of wine just around the corner from the apartment. The Brandy Library is an oasis for a drink and some live piano music almost any time.
The Gin Gin Mule (as concocted by Brandy Library)
2 oz gin (they used seagrams)
1.5 oz fresh ginger beer
.5 oz 1:1 simple syrup
.5 oz lime juice
3 mint leaves
splash of soda
Serve on the rocks in a collins glass.
A stop by Weather Up in Tribeca (which in the past has been top notch) after dinner at midnight was disappointing. They were “closed” and refused to make us a simple cocktail even though their hours supposedly go to 2am. Not accommodating in the services business? Done with buttheads like that. (Tuesday night 5.27 in case heads need to roll.)
All in all, the apartment is a great base of operations for a NY run. Take the acela and pick up some Krispy Kreme’s at Penn Station to import to Virginia!
Acela to NY: Train travel dogs the airlines
May 26, 2014
Airline travel has become so much like bus service (and bad bus service at that) that taking the train makes sense even when that involves driving an hour in to the station.
Acela DC -> NY takes under 3 hours all told.
The acela has comfortable seats, wifi, power, and a cafe car. Boarding requires only waiting a few minutes at the gate (like 5, versus 90). And when you get to NY you find yourself at Penn Station right in the middle of the city.
Net. Nuff said.
Why fly? Good question.
Eventi in NY Bails me Out (kinda)
April 11, 2014
It was one of those days. Plenty of time to get to the airport, no real rush. But somehow my belt did not get the memo and I arrived in NY beltless—for a big meeting with lots of senior banking execs flown in from all over the world?! Horrors. (They were all wearing French cuffs and pocket squares.)
Kimpton attempted to bail me out when the massive belt oversight emergency was broadcast to the world over the @noplasticshower twitter feed (follow us here). [BTW, it turns out that @kimpton does a better job realtime monitoring twitter than @kimptoninnyc! Hmm. It also turns out that Kimpton emergency coordination better accomplished by central emergency services (in san fran maybe?) than by Kevin the concierge in NY.]
Thing is, there was no time to lose. So we uber’ed to two hotels and a mall on the way to the financial district. JC Penny belt it is!
About 20 minutes before my meeting downtown, a twitter DM arrived from @kimpton emergency services who, of course, had managed to pick me up a belt! It was waiting in my room when I got back after the meeting, dinner, general carousing, and shutting down a bar. Super amazing great, but just a smidge too tardy. Thanks anyway Eventi staff (and double thanks to @kimpton central emergency services)! You guys are the best.
Not only was there a belt, there was also a nice snack and some sparkling water. The water probably saved us from certain death by dehydration. Thanks Rebecca.
Thank you Kimpton for beltifying the emergency! Super kind.
Another great authentic Italian meal at Roc in Tribeca. It seemed like the after dinner grappa (moscato) was a good idea, but it completely dissolved our resolve to make an early night of it right there on the spot. And then the lemoncello.
So instead of heading in to harbor, we simply walked over to weather up for some delicious beverages and a bourbon lesson.
By that time we were on a roll and managed to uber on up Lantern’s Keep where I believe we stayed until they ran out of fernet branca. Oh woe is us. We did determine that barman bob is no longer working at Lantern’s Keep , and I am sure that we met the current barmen, but we pretty much don’t recall.
Thursday morning was blinding and way too early. But rally we did for another busy day at the office.
Bright. Ouch.
BTW, our secret noplasticshowers spy contingency is with us this trip. That may explain why the bathroom is so messy and there is a yoga mat on the floor.
Glass shower in 2104
Two shower heads in the shower. And plenty of water pressure. Ahhh.
Who knew that there were yoga mats?!
We strolled down the high line to NYU from midtown. The high line is beautiful in every season.
Thursday evening was capped with a relaxing visit to the Brandy Library.
Anyway, the eventi is feeling more homey in NY even though there is the apartment, and it is in NY! Must be the Kimpton vibe. Five showerheads and some much needed sleep.
Our Spies Report Back from Eventi in NY, NY
December 12, 2013
By now loyal readers know that noplasticshowers has packed up the tent and is not flying anywhere in December, but the blog can live on through careful spycraft. That is, by sending proxies into the breach! Go proxy go.
Our first attempt at these shenanigans involves NY city and the Eventi hotel.
The Eventi is really close to Penn Station. That’s a major plus when you train into town on the Acela.
The Eventi somehow magically determines who our spy is (through the twitters) and greets her with fruit, cheese, sparkling water (!!) and a note. Plus two. Houston, our spy has been outed!
Uh oh, the spy welcomed by name with sparkling water.
Room 815 is the king suite variety. But it is uncharacteristically messy.
Noplasticshowers does not mess up its table like this usually.
Does the bathroom art appeal to our agent as much as it does to us? Why, yes, it does.
Bathroom art looks mighty familiar.
Unfortunately the spy thing is not working out. Here is a picture of our noplasticshowers secret agent outing herself! Don’t look now, it’s a mirror selfie.
Secret agent overtly covets the marble sinks.
Finally, and most importantly, the shower is certified non-plastic by our agent.
This shower is not plastic—at all.
Five showerheads and a big thank you for not putting our secret agent in the gulag but rather treating her like a member of the Kimpton family. You guys rock.
Fortunately, our agent somehow avoided the wiles of oh so dapper barman bob at Lantern’s Keep this trip out. That was a close one!
NY Happens Awfully Early (The Apartment)
October 18, 2013
6am came awfully early this morning. I made it through Logan in a daze. Uber’ed up a car and slept on the way in to the apartment.
Empire state building (the neighbors)
Looking down from the roof.
Manhattan.
Things are even more stunning at night.
Moon by Empire State Building
Movie set.
Caliope in the west village is outstanding. Simple French bistro food done right. They do need to remove some tables and charge more so things are not so tight and a little less hectic. But the food is outstanding. And they make a great Negroni.
Also worth a visit (and way better than Hearth) is Fedora in the west village. Well crafted cocktails made by barkeeps who know what they are doing (Negroni, Old Fashioned), a quirky wine list heavy on the French and a bit overpriced, and very good food. The mushroom appetizer is a must.
After dinner with Chalmers and a quick run by a tribeca party at Steve Pyke‘s house, we headed up to ZZ’s Clam Bar for a nightcap. Delicious oysters and well-crafted cocktails from the tiki side of the universe. I ordered off the card, and barman James Kaspari (who had on very silly shorts) made the following ZZ Topper (my name):
1.5 oz Bourbon (Elija Craig 12 yr)
.75 Apple brandy
.5 Cinnamon bark syrup
Teaspoon orange liqueur
4 dashes Angostura bitters
2 dashes mole bitters
Stir down, serve on the rocks with an orange twist.
ZZ Clam bar is worth a visit. Though rumors of their tiny size seem to be holding people back, we were gladly received and had a great time. Just go.
Sunday brunch at the gorgeously-appointed Maialino (in the Grammercy Park Hotel) was a perfect ending to a great weekend.
Eventi, NY, NY
October 5, 2013
A very quick trip up to NY was once again hijacked by barman bob at Lantern’s Keep. Holy cow, bob is trying to kill me (and all of my friends)!
Because of bob, the amenity left by the crack staff at the Eventi came in particularly handy. Here’s what was left in the morning.
Sparkling water was a necessity.
Some pictures of 1804 are in order.
Sitting area.
Sleeping area.
Showering area
No plastic anywhere, sparking water to drink, some cheese that seems to work just fine at 3am, super great front staff (a huge improvement from the growing pains days way back when), I must be at a Kimpton!
It was a typical starbucks kind of morning, though morning happened at noon.
Customer 42
Eventi NY
Five showerheads for this abbreviated stay at the Eventi. Watch out for bob.
Not So Special in the Big City Huh? 70Park, NY
September 19, 2013
Maybe the awful United express flight up here in a creaky old expressjet CRJ200 was foreshadowing of some sort? In any case, there is nothing quite like New York City to disavow you of your ego! Even the hotels and my own best guys are in on the game.
Just when we thought Kimpton loved us here at noplasticshowers, we were unable to finagle our favorite room for one of my companion’s rare visits to the city. (We admit that we waited way too long to ask nicely, but the powers that be are keeping us way too busy these days!)
And the note, though handwritten by Santo and very much personal, was handed to me with the new loyalty program chit instead of being secreted away in my room? Dang. There’s no way that a $30 minibar credit makes me feel as welcome as cold sparkling water, a bottle of wine, and some cheese. Especially since there is no sparkling water in the minibar. (Minus 10.) Maybe the corporate apartment is better.
Too many people in the Kimpton loyalty program?! The inner circle is way way wide. Horrors. Now we’re all the same?! Noplasticshowers prefers the grade inflation found outside of NY where everyone is above average.
This is not cheese?!
Palomars where are you?? Come rescue me.
OK OK, first world problem. It’s true. And maybe this all has something to do the the scaffolding all over the building and its deleterious impact on room service? Quite possibly there is no cheese (or sparkling water) to be found.
Room 1515 is nicely way up there and has a classic 70park layout. Excellent style with good lines and great use of mirrors. We’ll feature the mirrors in the pictures this time.
Bed in the mirror.
Bed in the other mirror. And an infinite mirror too!
Bathroom mirrors can’t be left out.
But sadly, there is a shower curtain. You know how we feel about those on this blog.
Curtain over a tub. Uh oh.
To add insult to injury, blue smoke is out of Hirsch ’76 (no more left in NY or maybe on planet earth). We are in a three showerheads kind of mood. Meh.
Want sparkling water? Well go get it yourself from Starbucks.
And then things took a serious turn for the much better (not at 70Park but in NYC). Thursday evening included a walk downtown on the high line, a visit to NYU and Washington Square, an outrageously great meal at annisa in the village (really, best restaurant ever in NY which is high praise), and the best time ever for NY mixology at Lantern’s Keep. All in one evening.
We are so glad that Raines Law Room was once again too popular for its own good, because we met barman Bob and his merry band of friends. What’s not to like about outstanding shots of agave tequila and zacapa 23 from paper cups in between delicious beverages? Real daiquiri shooters all around got us started. There was even homemade amer picon (kinda) for a Liberal. Lantern’s Keep is now high on the NY mixology list.
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