Hotel Bars: A Bar Away from Home

Seth Kugel: New York Times

Tourists flock to New York during the summer months. They go on tours, take a lot of pictures and generally get in the way of working New Yorkers. All these people need to stay in hotels. Obviously they also need to drink. Luckily for us as each hotel fights to stand out from the pack, more and more money gets spent building up hotel bars. Now cougars and fashionistas can mix with financially loose tourists for a unique nightlife experience.

There are two main categories of hotel bars; there are the ones you can get into and the ones you can’t. On one hand you have places like Salon De Ning’s and Sixty Thompson. These places are new, trendy and you are probably not going to get in unless you stay at the hotel or the words ‘exclusive club’ mean nothing to you. On the other hand, you’ve got places like Underbar, Plunge and the The View. These places might seem imposing when you first arrive, but most of them are just as easy to get into as any other club. Unless you go on the weekend, then getting in is just as hard as any other club. Each type of bar has its indoor (SoHo Grand, TriBeCa Grand or Library Bars) and outdoor (Ava Lounge, Cabana’s or Metro) variations, but whatever type of hotel bar you hit, you are likely to get attractive scenery inside and out, good service and comfortable surroundings. Intimate dates mix very well in hotel bars. That’s why the cougars are there…

When you hit the hotel bars, keep these tips in mind. First, the bar might close earlier than a New Yorker might be used to. Midnight to 2:00 AM closings aren’t uncommon. Second, hotel bars tend to be a bit more reserved than your normal club because they have to cater to the tastes of upscale guests and the drinkers. Third, the prices tend to be tourist (high) prices. There’s no happy hour here. These factors make hotel bars better for midweek drinking as opposed to the weekend club crawl. But none of these things should keep you away. If you’re a local looking for a change of pace any time of year, drink where the tourists sleep.

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Cougars, Connections and Giuliani's Other Failure (Nightlife News)

Nightlife News for February 5th, 2008
By Gamal Hennessy

Dating
Turning the tables on the Sugar Daddy
Robert Campbell: Reuters
The image of an older man dating a younger woman isn’t that unusual. Using money and status and pursue a younger woman is also an accepted social practice. But what happens when the tables are turned? How do we view older women who use money, experience and status to pick up younger men?

Government
Is Times Square Smut Free? Not Really.
Keith Richberg: Washington Post
When Rudy Giuliani ran for President his main claim to fame was his experience as Mayor of New York. He was here during 9/11, so he should be President in a dangerous new world. He stopped crime and cleaned up the smut on 42nd Street, so he had the moral character to be President. But the reality of the situation could be that Giuliani didn’t mastermind the purity of 42nd Street and even if he did plan it, he didn’t succeed in cleaning the place up…

Special Announcement
New York Nights Adds Connections to the Magazine
Gamal Hennessy: New York Nights

New York Nights readers are being given the first chance to join a new social network devoted to nightlife. The service is called Connections and it is available starting this month.

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