♥♥♥HotelSweetHeart

You know, the one inside Yotel. Find out here.

Opening onto the corner of 17th St and Park Avenue South, the W in Union Square is as central as they come. Sure, the W gets a bad rep for over-the-top gimmicks like the “Living Room” concept lobbies, and signature scented hallways, and alliterative “Whatever/Whenever” bullcrap. However! This is a very cool lobby. Walk straight past the front desk, and ascend the twisting staircase. You won’t find much except the bathrooms, but it’s a fun climb. Alternatively, upon entering, head right into a naturally-lit lounge full of chairs, sofas, and extremely unwieldy floral displays (see above). If you’re hungry, check out Olives located on the south side of the block.

Rating:

(4 out of 5)

On Friday night, my mood was frustrated, and I was avoiding going to a party where there would be tons of loud people. So, instead I headed to the Gansevoort Park Avenue to take pictures of the lobby. Against the building’s compact black facade, is an expansive interior with black-and-white marble stretching in all directions, and three giant purple chandeliers hanging overhead. There is no bar contained within the lobby, but plenty of public spaces like Asselina and the Rooftop within arm’s reach. At 11pm on a Friday, the lobby was silent, motionless, and—with a gently flickering gas fireplace—beautiful. Rating:

(3 out of 5)

Take a look at the newly renovated lobby at 70 Park Avenue, on 38th St and Park Avenue in Manhattan, which I reviewed yesterday for HotelChatter. If you’d like to check out my recent stories—like the Bangkok hotel with Mac minis in every room, or the New Jersey wrestling champ who might be opening a new hotel at JFK, or Long Island City’s new Z hotel—click here.

On Sunday, I saw a very cool show on top of the Cooper Square Hotel, located on Fourth Avenue near Astor Place. The band was Amadou & Mariam, a blind Senegalese couple who sing stomping, mantra-like tunes accompanied by a sole guitar. Their show was part of a series curated by Annie Ohayon, who in the past has worked with bands like Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, and Lou Reed.

Wine and cocktails were served in the penthouse space, whose walls are almost entirely windows. The views of the midtown skyline were…intense.

In order to secure a place in the single elevator, audience members started queuing up downstairs about an hour before showtime. Once everyone had crowded into the room (with plenty others peeking in) the duo started playing. Interested in attending? Check out the schedule here.

It’s been a busy week! Here’s a tip for you: The rooftop pool at the James New York will be opening their pool to everyone (hotel guests and non-hotel guests alike!) starting Memorial Day Weekend. Who knows what the reality of this will be—lines around the block, who-knows-who competitiveness, and exorbitant drink minimums are all likely outcomes. But for the time being, check it out! And don’t forget to bring a towel!

West Hollywood was my first introduction to LA two years ago, staying at a friend’s house a few blocks away from the Pacific Design Center. So it somehow felt right to revisit the area when I was there last month. Catering to mid-range (certainly under $250/night) travelers, The Farmer’s Daughter is a funky converted-motel on South Fairfax Ave that used to be a Best Western (which, luckily, says nothing about the quality of the food). Not that there’s anything wrong with Best Western!

Check out my full review here!

Check out my review and photos of Portland’s Hotel Lucia and Hotel deLuxe, where I stayed March 29-30. I think the Driftwood Room (pictured) at the deLuxe tipped the scales for me. Though in both hotels, every telephone has a service button called “make it so.” Yes, it’s exactly what you think. Six body pillows, four terrycloth bathrobes, and an ipod later, they did, in fact, make it just so.

Not only was LA our final encapsulating vignette of California, the Joie-De-Vivre-owned, all-white, high-rise Hotel Angeleno also served as our haven of peace, smack in the middle of ultra-residential Beverly Hills.

We checked in on Sunday night, the elevator hauling us up to the eleventh floor, where our mini-palace awaited—white curtains fluttering out to the balcony and a complimentary bottle of white wine perched on the desk.

Our beige-and-black bathroom, including the glass-walled shower, was tiled from floor to ceiling. Fifteen people could easily have fit inside that one room alone. A bathrobe hung on the wall; there was also a pool downstairs. I started to get an idea…

That night, we visited the penthouse restaurant West, which offered pretty much the same view as the one from our room, except six floors higher. Our delicious dinner consisted of fettuccine with scallops, halibut with cous cous and ramps, and a full bottle of wine. After which, we ran down to the room, grabbed our bathrobes, and made a beeline for…

…the pool! Though I didn’t manage to take pictures that night, here is a shot sourced from their website. By 10:45pm, we had an entire pool to ourselves. The fireplace flickered in the corner, cars zoomed by on Highway 405, and we just floated for a while under the (relatively) clear night sky.

Guests generally appeared far and few between, though a manager informed us the hotel was almost fully booked. Once in a while, a family would stroll out of the elevator, or a poolside business meeting would be taking place, but that was about it. Coming from our previous hotel in bustling West Hollywood, the silence was a major blessing.

On Monday, we asked to stay an extra night. And on Tuesday, after we had extended our stay for the second time, we were ready to move in! But it was finally time to leave Los Angeles—and the entire state of California—behind.

The Hotel Angeleno left me with nothing to complain about. Without a doubt, I would recommend this place to anyone visiting LA. And if they happened to fly me out and book me an extra room here, I certainly wouldn’t complain about that either.