1Hotel NYC: Time for a New Thing
January 28, 2023
As you know if you read this blog religiously (you do, right?!), back in the old days NPS favored the Kimpton hotel chain. Once IHG bought Kimpton, the vibe transformed itself over a number of years from design-forward, hipster-esque to corporate hamsters from Kansas. So we’re done with Kimpton.
That puts a small damper on problems like where to stay in NYC. The prosthetic memory is no longer valid in a bunch of towns. So what do we do? We strike out on our own again and try new things. 1Hotel is one of these new things.
What’s the verdict? Well, 1Hotel is certainly trying hard to be cool. Kind of like that kid in high school who would sneakily tag along, hoping to be invited to the keg party.
For one night it will do. And it’s in an interesting place (just south of the Park, near the Moma, and for our purposes this time, very close to the CORE Club.
We’re spoiled. Yeah, we admit it. So when we uber in from EWR to check in at 11, we kind of expect a room to be ready. Like, the hotel has a computer, right? But no. No personal note. Just friendly staff who will text you during your business lunch meeting to inform you that, yes, 90 minutes later your room is ready. Whatever, dude.
So you can wait here in the lobby with the Spaniards. Or you can get an espresso in the restaurant. But freshen up in your room and unpack your set of stuff? Nope.
We were eventually in room 904 (a Park view King on the corner of the building, but nowhere near high enough. Ask explicitly for a high floor.
After lunch at Hatsuhana (great sushi) and some excellent street coffee, we did finally check in around 2:30. There was time for a quick visit to the MoMA.
A corner room is nice, but this one is too low to really see the park.
The actual view.
This window box is a nice, if not a bit chilly, place to delete email.
Interesting but very small bathroom with a glass shower. The shower is NPS approved.
The event, at CORE Club was very nice. This is a great location for a private event. We comfortably hosted about 60 people, though only 40 of them were served dinner. The food was pretty not bad and the cocktail bar downstairs was quite good.
Real plants.
All in all the 1Hotel seems a bit overpriced for what it offers. but it is NY and the room had enough space to actually exist once we got into it.
Four showerheads for 1Hotel by Central Park.
Quick Hit in NYC: Hotel Indigo is Very Corporate
October 17, 2022
What was to be a long weekend in the city shrunk down to one night when business did its usual thing of melting away. NPS stayed on the lower east side on somewhat of a whim. The verdict? Meh.
Thing is, Madou had no idea that we weren’t in midtown. So we shlepped up there for sushi at Sushi by Bou. Which was hilarious and definitely worth the subway time.
Waygu and uni…surf and turf @mmadou pic.twitter.com/BBZUfT75ih
— noplasticshower (@noplasticshower) September 7, 2022
The place is tiny, so make a reservation. Immediately after coffee, it was back downtown for our meetings, and then back to midtown for dinner at Freemans. Dinner was great.
But skip the rice pudding fad! LOL. Ride pudding is way too filling to catch on.
After dinner, the plan was to wedge into PDF, but the hot dog place was being its persnickety self. So instead we headed to Amor Y Amargo for some fantastic cocktails. We made up an experimental cocktail called the McGillicutty.
The Indigo was generic and boring. All of the Kimpton magic has dispersed.
The shower is not plastic.
The lower east side is close to some stuff, we guess.
NPS doesn’t remember the room number. Not returning.
Back to EWR you go (in an early Uber).
The United club is all new and fancy, but the flights are still delayed.
All told, three showerheads and no more strikes for Kimpton. Anybody have a good boutique hotel chain to offer?
Don’t Take Away My Perfect Shower: The Muse NY
January 25, 2018
Ah, The Muse. Last time we were here it was too short and about as good as they come. This time was very similar.

Night view from The Muse room 1703
We figured out that 1703 is the room number of the room we like (because lucky dogs that we are, we snagged it again). What a shower! Sadly, we were all by ourselves this time. (Thanks Ray Mannon for your magic.)

1703 anteroom

Thanks for the amenity, especially the two LARGE san pellegrinos
After way too much korean food at Gayeon in Fort Lee, NJ, there was no room left for even one wafer thin slice of cheese. The sparkling water was perfect, however.
Gayeon was solid Korean in a suburban mall kind of upscale NJ space. Why is it that all of these restaurants in the ‘burbs feel the same? We had a blast watching the completely wasted couple one table away try to cope with reality.

desk nook 1703

bedroom 1703

looking thru the “takeout window” into the bathroom

SHOWER NIRVANA
NPS loves the shower in 1703. Yes on all fronts. Even has a bench. Sadly, the city of NY decided to turn off the water somewhat arbitrarily in the morning. We got a shower, but always under the threat of ending up all soapy. This is a bummer, and we must return.
This quick trip was so fast that there was no time for cocktails outside of the restaurant.
There is very good news about being Global Services on United! First class upgrade on the way out, and a free efficient switch to an earlier flight on the way back. We even managed to get a seat that did not suck. NPS approves of Global Services.
Uber on the other hand needs to get a map of NY and commit it to its computer’s memory.
Five showerheads and a fervent wish that NYC would get their utilities act together. Thanks to The Muse for a quick but nice stay.
Ink 48: Rocking Hell’s Kitchen in NYC
November 1, 2017
There’s nothing like experiencing a new Kimpton property for the first time. In all of our countless trips up to NY, NPS has never visited Ink 48 (though we have heard tell of it). Hell’s Kitchen is pretty far up there, but sometimes business uptown happens!
Our greeting at the front was warm and welcoming even though it was supposed to be scary. We were assigned the fantastic river-view suite 1416 (for which we thank Steph and Barry). What a great room.

Room 1416 on a gorgeous day overlooking the Hudson
The sitting room section.
The bedroom section.
And the all important huge bathroom with a distinct shower cube in the corner. Plenty of room in here, and no sign of plastic.

Glowing shower cube of 1416.
The “hot and cold” amenity was impressive and delicious.
Dinner at Taboon is not to be missed. Outstanding bread, delicious food, a real cocktail program, a nice wine list. Seek it out. We enjoyed ourselves so much before the play that we returned after the crash.
Spirits Bisbas
1.5 oz hendricks gin
1 oz rhubarb puree
1 oz lemon
.5 oz dry vermouth
shake. serve up in a coup. smoked paprika on top
We tried to see a play at Lincoln Center, but it was not to be. About an hour in to “Junk,” technical things went south and never recovered. Frankly, we expect more out of NY Theater.
The “hot” part of the amenity came in handy late night when we got back from our cocktail run at Taboon.
Five showerheads and a warm glow for ink 48 in NY.
The Muse Sets Things Right in NY
May 21, 2017
The Muse was so great compared to the Eventi on this trip, it’s hard to know where to start. You may recall that the Eventi could not help moving our bags uptown, so we ended up doing it ourselves at 9:25pm. Shortly after fetching our bags we arrived at the Muse and were greeted by name by the staff who was waiting for us (and apparently even beginning to wonder what had become of us).
So incredibly personal, friendly, and warm! Special thanks to concierge Daniel Mitchell for putting our champagne on ice as we unpacked for our way too short visit to the Muse.
The room, whose number is lost in the sands of time, was great.

Welcome to the Muse!
Super great bathroom featuring an awesome glass shower with a built in bench.
Drive up service window.
Anyway, the Muse helped us finish our NY run in style. Five showerheads and a glass of bubbly for the Muse!

Koons street art in NY

Radio City
Cum laude![/caption]
NY Eventi: Again the Corporate
May 20, 2017
New York is a fantastic city to visit for any reason or no reason (and this time we had a reason as you will see). The Eventi, because of its location, makes a good base of operations. Thing is, after having been to the Eventi many times, the place still feels corporate and soulless and the property seems to have no recollection or any memory at all of NPS stays. Not sure why.
This time, NPS was doing the complicated free night reward thing. The Kimpton twitter fairies did a formidable job shaking loose a free night at the Eventi and then did what they could to combine the reservations. Which meant we were able to stay in the same room for our two days running. That was good. The no maid service until explicitly requested in the afternoon? Not so good. The Eventi front desk even turned off the keys requiring a trip downstairs. Service much? Nope. Strike one.
We were assigned 2217. This “city view” room is on the south side of the building and has views down 6th Avenue. You can see both the Empire State Building and Freedom tower from the room. The view is very nice.

The Empire State Building in purple for NYU Graduation
We arrived late at night after one of the worst United Express flights ever. It never ceases to amaze NPS just how bad United can be when it is bad. Commute air should not be flying props in 2017. Sorry. Just no reason.
Having an amenity in the room with a personalized note and two tiny bottles of sparkling water was nice. Later on night two we had to order up our own water for $26. Inner circle people don’t like that nonsense. Strike two.

Greetings

Dual view, South and East.
New York is always pretty at night.

2217 is all one bed dominated room
The bathroom is nice but not too fancy as far as the Eventi goes. The room category NPS usually stays in has better showers.

Shower 2217
Up early, we headed to Yankee Stadium for NYU graduation.

Cum laude!
NY was exceptionally hot as was the stadium!
After our sweltering morning in the direct sun, we changed scenery by chartering a 41 foot sailboat and sailing in NY harbor and up the Hudson. Awesome!

No fun was had (at all)
Dinner at Il Buco was fantastic as always.
Day two featured a great brunch at Cafe Orlin.
The plan was to switch hotels after brunch and before the second graduation ceremony. Sadly, the drunk driving incident at Times Square had traffic snarled by the Muse. We hopped the subway uptown.
NPS is very sorry to say that the staff at the Eventi was entirely unhelpful in arranging to get our bags taken to the Muse (during a 7 hour window). We were forced to come back at 9:25pm and pick them up after dinner. Good hotels do better than this. Minus twenty Eventi staff! Strike three. And you’re out at home plate.
We did manage to find one very helpful bellman who stashed our champagne in the employee fridge. Now that was creative and a huge help.

Radio City
So you see, the Eventi has this corporate bureaucratic approach that just grates and causes a constant barrage of swings and misses. The staff seems friendly enough, but impersonal. The lack of a creative, helpful solution to a pretty easy bag moving problem is telling.
The Eventi’s stylish open restaurant and lobby as well as its prime location almost makes up for the IHG (not very Kimpton) feel, but not quite. Three showerheads and a mandatory training program for the Eventi.
NYC and the Eventi
November 13, 2016
It’s New York City, where this building is.
Sadly our view from 1104 looks like this instead of like that.

Eventi 1104
We’re staying for several days here at the Eventi, and we were really hoping for an even better room (height and view-wise). Sadness.
1104 is a nice room category at least. We’re happy about that. It is kind of weird that this hotel seems to have no memory of which rooms it assigns. I know many other kimpton properties that do a better job with that (say, hotel marlowe in boston).
Without further ado, 1104.

Eventi 1104
The fruit amenity was actually almost completely consumed! But still water?? Really? Seems to us here at NPS that the “infrastructure staff” is not quite as stellar as the “front desk/downstairs staff” here at the Eventi.

No cheese for you.
The bathroom is super fantastic with a great shower.

Eventi 1104 shower highly recommended
Two meals at the restaurant/bar downstairs were particularly noteworthy. NPS is not a fan of hotel restaurants (even at Kimpton properties), but an exception can be made for the eventi.
Of note in NY this trip. Dinner at Il Buco (the old one). Dinner at Ramen-Ya. Lunch at Tac-N-Roll. A cocktail at Pegu. Drinks at Lantern’s Keep with Natasha and Natalie. Heisenberg the play.

HIghline tree

The end of the line

Lantern’s Keep cocktails

On the stage at Heisenberg
And the Whitney was outstanding as always.
A very high four showerheads and an upgraded database to track rooms with for the Eventi.