About five months after closing their doors, some of Big Apple’s finest hotels are starting to take reservations again, bordered by signs of renewed demand from composite New Yorkers.
Tourists and business travelers have been displaced, and in their place treacherous suburbs are being sought to celebrate a birthday or specialize in a place to stay – as well as newlyweds who have decided not to let the coronavirus no longer expose their livelihoods, say hoteliers .
“We have a constant stream of elections,” Peter Lawrence, owner of the swanky Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, told The Post.
Business of frustrated brides and grooms has been so rapid that the 70-room property promotes an elopement package, complete with “a special cake,” champagne and a room overlooking the water.
The Wythe can also be seen booking people who want a style to celebrate a birthday or visit a new family member’s baby. Some just want a change of landscape, he said.
“We see a lot of locals, mostly city dwellers, desperately needing a break from where they were going after them,” Lawrence said.
When the pandemic hit in March, hundreds of city hotels closed. Only about 90 of the 650 remained open during the pandemic, primarily to host emergency workers, according to the city’s tourist office, NYC & Company.
But that starts to change as people emerge from their coronavirus cocoons in search of a little fun.
“We see a lot of locals, mostly city dwellers, desperately needing a break from where they were going after them,” Lawrence said.
That’s why NYC & Company recently launched a campaign targeting New York area residents who have caught their home.
“A lot of New Yorkers do not take a European vacation or go to Disney World, and we want them to know that staying in NYC is not a consolation prize,” said spokesman Chris Heywood of the All In NYC: Staycation campaign.
Even the five-star Lotte New York Palace hotel on Madison Avenue, which can charge as much as $ 25,000 a night, has reopened.
The Palace, opposite St. Patrick’s Cathedral, allows guests who stay weekly to reserve the same room for each visit and leave their belongings there.
“If you are a regular traveler with us, no one else will be able to stay in your room if you do not use it,” said David Shenman, director of sales and marketing at the hotel.
Guests looking for a little pampering can enjoy the hotel’s spa services in the comfort and safety of their own rooms.
“Allow us to transform your room into your very own spa oasis,” says the hotel’s website.
While a night at the Palace can still cost $ 500-plus with fees and taxes, other hotels lower prices to attract customers at a time when some of the city’s biggest attractions remain close, including Broadway plays, museums and many restaurants.
“New York is currently a bargain,” said Geoffrey Mills, regional vice president of the Hudson Hotel, on West 58th Street near the Time Warner Center.
The Hudson, which hosted essential workers in the deadliest days of the pandemic, now offers room rates ranging from $ 99 to $ 140 compared to the starting room rate of $ 190 a year ago.
The deal has attracted many last-minute bookings by people from Westchester, New Jersey and Connecticut, Mills said.
Overall, the average daily hotel room rate in New York City fell to $ 127 in July, when occupancy rates were at 37 percent, compared to $ 261 a year ago, when 90 percent of rooms were booked, according to NYC & Company.
The Langham Hotel on Fifth Avenue, which can also cost $ 500-plus a night, offers free parking and a $ 50 hotel credit for standard rooms, or a $ 100 credit for suite bookings, to attract businesses.
“Our reception staff noticed a frequency of guests telling them they were at the hotel to celebrate a wedding or anniversary,” said Louise O’Brien, a Langham spokeswoman.
Hoteliers say they also see a smattering of business guests seeking reservations.
The Langham, for example, recently hosted two corporate board meetings. The Palace sees bookings of people “who need to check on their businesses,” Shenman said.
De Wythe, meanwhile, is starting to see an uptick in booking TV and film production crews preparing to start filming again at the nearby Steiner Studios in Brooklyn’s Navy Yard.
“It’s historically been a big part of our business,” owner Lawrence told The Post. “And they start living back.”
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