This story appears in the
February 2004 issue of
Entrepreneur.
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Despite a decline in business and leisure travel since 9/11, the
Manhattan hotel scene remains resilient and continues to grow. If
you'd like to put the "new" back into your hotel stay
in New York City, try these brand-spanking-new properties at three
different price points:
Value: Hampton
Inn, Chelsea
This 144-room, 20-story high-rise hotel recently opened in
Manhattan's trendy Chelsea neighborhood on West 24th Street,
about halfway between Midtown and Lower Manhattan. It combines
high-tech design features with the amenities you may have come to
enjoy at other Hampton Inns: free continental breakfast, free local
calls, in-room coffee makers and ironing boards, a fitness center
and free high-speed Internet access. In addition, you'll earn
Hilton HHonors points for your stay. Rates start at $160. (108 W.
24th St.; 212-414-1000)
Boutique:
Hotel Gansevoort, Meatpacking District
The new zinc-and-glass-clad, 13-floor Hotel
Gansevoort opens this winter in the eclectic Meatpacking
District on Manhattan's Lower West Side. Surrounded by
cutting-edge restaurants and boutiques housed in retrofitted meat
warehouses and storefronts, the hotel offers balconies and/or bay
windows with views of the city or the Hudson River from most of its
187 rooms. High-tech amenities include free Wi-Fi and plasma-screen
TVs in each room. Rates start at $325. (18 Ninth Ave.;
212-206-6700)
Luxury:
Mandarin Oriental, Columbus Circle
The dramatic new Mandarin Oriental is perched on the top floors
of the Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle-a brand-new
twin-tower, multipurpose complex on the southwest corner of Central
Park. The 251 guest rooms feature floor-to-ceiling windows, three
phones, high-definition plasma-screen TVs and marble bathrooms
featuring soaking tubs with picture windows overlooking the park
and the city. Start saving now; rooms start at $595. (80 Columbus
Cir.; 212-805-8800)
Christopher McGinnis, travel correspondent for CNN
Headline News, is author of The Unofficial Business
Travelers' Pocket Guide.