TRAVEL: The best of New York
Music, dance, theatre, fine art, shopping and sunshine are just five hours away, and through the Club you save up to US$770 on Manhattan hotels.
 NEW York may be the city that never sleeps, but at this time of year it dozes: the living becomes easy, the atmosphere almost calm, the famous sights and shops less crowded, the entertainment sparklingly good, and the days blissfully warm (average high temperature 85˚F).
Think of a hot English summer, but with the added American razzmatazz. Central Park is one vast pleasure garden and in summer the arts scene spills over from the concert halls into the open air as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and even the Metropolitan Opera come out to play there. Taking to the water, on a three-hour Circle Line cruise round Manhattan Island you can see three rivers, seven major bridges, five boroughs and more than 25 famous landmarks. For a free trip, join New Yorkers on the Staten Island ferry. It runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, is five miles long and offers magnificent views of the Statue of Liberty.
 From autumn onwards, for art, music and dance, you can hardly do better than New York. The Metropolitan Opera opens its new season in September. The New York Philharmonic Orchestra has a scintillating autumn-winter programme, and Carnegie Hall offers a festival of orchestral concerts from October onwards. For classical dance, the New York City Ballet is sublime, and if you can catch the Dance Theater of Harlem you will have a rare treat. For jazz, see the best at Iridium, Blue Note or Village Vanguard.
From now until after the January sales, shopping until dropping is a distinct possibility. The dollar-to-pound ratio is still good enough ($1.80 at time of going to press) for US prices to be half what we pay in the UK. Department stores—best visited in the morning—include Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Bergdorf Goodman, Lord & Taylor’s and Neimann Marcus. The acknowledged shopping centre is Fifth Avenue, but Madison Avenue boasts many of the ritziest shops around.
As night falls, the bright lights of this big city are energizing, and if you want to do things New Yorker-style you should be sipping cocktails by 10pm. There is no guarantee of finding Tom Cruise or Sharon Stone at The Pegu Club on West Houston Street or the Flatiron Lounge on West 19th Street, but you will be sure of finding a well- mixed Manhattan.
NEW YORK DIARY
September: Big Apple Performing Arts Festival; American Day Parade; US Tennis Open; New York Harvest Fair; Broadway on Broadway; San Gennaro Festival; New York Musical Theatre Festival; New York Film Festival.
October: Columbus Day Festival; Tibetan Festival; Greenwich Village Hallowe’en Parade; Bluegrass Music Festival; Ice Skating at Rockefeller Center; Ice Skating at Central Park; Big Apple Circus.
November: New York Marathon; Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade along Central West Park and Broadway; Christmas Tree Lighting at Rockefeller Center (and free ice-skating shows); Madison Avenue Holiday Expo; New York WhiskyFest; Grand Central Laser Light Show; Radio City Christmas Spectacular; Holiday Train Show at the Botanical Garden.
December: Handel’s Messiah in Harlem’s Gothic Cathedral; New York Armory Antiques Show; Riverside Candlelight Carol Festival; Vienna Boys’ Choir in Concert; New Year’s Eve Fireworks, Times Square.
January: The January Sales.
LUXURIATE IN ONE OF NEW YORK'S ‘HOT HOTELS ’ OFF FIFTH AVENUE, £147 FOR TWO
The Chambers Hotel is on West 56th Street in the heart of the Fifth Avenue shopping district (Prada, Gucci, Armani etc), with significant cultural destinations such as MOMA, Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center nearby. Ultra-modern and ultra-stylish, Chambers is as much a private collector’s gallery as an hotel. So impressive is it that Condé Nast Traveler feature it in their international hotel ‘Hot List’.
Chambers opened four years ago to great acclaim, and has established itself with New Yorkers, international travellers, and—never to be forgotten in America—‘celebrities’. The key to David Rockwell’s gracious interiors is the original art, more than 500 works giving a sensation of being in a modern private collector’s townhouse. There are pieces by John Waters, Do-Ho Suh, and Bob and Roberta Smith among others.
The 72 spacious deluxe rooms and five suites are on 14 floors, with impressive views over the city. Rooms are loft-like, with Tibetan and Turkish rugs on wide-plank walnut floors. Rooms have flat-screen TVs, DVD players, and four original artworks. Bathrooms have sliding opaque glass doors and showers as big as manhole covers. Some have super-deep tubs.
Chambers’ detailed services—this includes a personal shopper—set it apart. Linens are by Archipelago, duvet covers by Avea, and Frette did the bathrobes. The food is unbelievably good. The dramatic restaurant, Town, holds a coveted three stars from the New York Times, and is headed by a great chef—Geoffrey Zakarian (Le Cirque and L’Arpege).
The Offer
Our Club rates are from US$275 (at current sterling rate this would be £147) for a Double room including breakfast (Friday and Saturday nights) and US$295 for a double room midweek (normally from US$350). Our Deluxe room rates are US$325 (RR US$400), a Studio costs US$425 (RR US$500). Our members also receive extras which other guests pay for, including water and fruit in the room.
NGIHTS IN A NATIONAL TREASURE, SAVING US$770
For a luxurious traditional five-star hotel in midtown Manhattan, The Benjamin is perfect. Opened in 1927, the building was considered to be one of famed architect Emery Roth’s most successful creations, inspiring even legendary artist Georgia O’Keeffe to paint it from her apartment across the street. The location is great: 125 East 50th Street, within walking distance of Fifth Avenue, Central Park, the Rockefeller Center, The Museum of Modern Art, Carnegie Hall, and even Grand Central Station.
The service is superb: polished yet unassuming, with a celebrated concierge to help you find the best of everything. The rooms are elegant contemporary, decorated in shades of cream and taupe, with mahogany furniture. Large, ultra-comfortable beds have custom- designed mattresses and guests may choose from the hotel’s famous menu of 10 different pillows—your good night’s sleep is important to The Benjamin, and the rooms are so quiet and comfortable you will find it difficult not to relax.
As to services, each room includes a galley-style kitchen and a complete office centre, allowing guests to conduct business non-stop. For relaxation there is a fully-equipped Wellness Spa. The excellent restaurant serves continental food and the Emery Bar focuses on the Twenties with top-notch Sidecars, Dry Martinis, Gimlets and of course Manhattans.
The Offer
Our Club rates are from US$299 per night for a Deluxe room (about
£157) for two, plus a further 8% off the best available rate until September 1, 2008. From September 2 to December 31, the Club rate is US$489 for a Deluxe (about £256), plus an extra 10% off the best available rate. Rack rates are from US$1,059 per night. Our saving is up to $770 per night (40%). Rates are per room, excluding tax, for two adults sharing.
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