My Review of The Marcel in NYC...

Many of you had asked me about my hotel stay in NYC this past month. Well, I thought I'd write a mini- review about what the experience was like staying at The Marcel at Gramercy. 

The minute we arrived we were greeted nicely & they took care of us immediately by showing us around. The lobby was super chic with plenty of room to sit down & relax. 

We had a king size bed & a pretty decent room on the 8th floor with a view of 24th street. The staff was super nice & very helpful - so no complaints.

They showed us around & took us the the 10th floor lounge which had an outdoor terrace - amazing!  The inside lounge area was full of windows & very spacious!  Get this, the outdoor terrace had a clear view of the EMPIRE STATE building! 

As for the room decor.... it was pretty unique with a super tall headboard & a clean & modern bathroom. 

One of my favorite things about the bathroom was it provided enough shelving space for all my toiletries.... which is a must whenever I travel! 

All in all, the manager & staff were very pleasant - I would definitely recommend this hotel - but if you're all about having a spacious stay, ask for a KING room! 


Our room was 809, but we'll be happy to lend it to you. Ha! Just kidding!! 


Are you thinking of visiting NYC anytime soon?? Where will you be staying?

The Marcel

201 E. 24TH STREET 

NEW YORK NY 10010

212.696.3800 

-image by jen ramos

Guest Post: By Ashlina

Hi everyone! It's Ashlina, interior designer and blogger at TheDecorist. I was beyond thrilled to guest blog for Jen while she comes to visit us here in New York City. I adore Jen and am so excited that I get to share with you (her loving readers) my favorite things about this city that I love so much!!

I just moved out here from LA a few months ago and have found these 7 places to be AMAZING and I would definitely say are MUST-SEES for any decorista visiting NYC!

1. The Jane Hotel: A beautifully decorated hotel in the west village, its perfect for meeting girlfriends for  a fun get-together.

2. Top of the Rock: the view from the top of the Rockafeller is absolutely breathtaking. It's such a fun thing to do so you can see the city from the most beautiful angle!

3. Saks Fifth Ave: shoe department...I almost fainted when I first went here, its enormous and the shoes are like glitter in the sand, so beautiful you will be overwhelmed with excitement.

4. ABC Carpet & Home: The place to be inspired for home decor. It's like the mecca for decorating. I just love it.

5. Olde Good Things: If you love antiques or anything unique then you will LOVE this store. There are a few around the city and each time you walk into one, you see things that you never would have imagined. I love the history of everything and imagining the homes that these items lived in is so fun!

6. Levain Bakery: quite possibly the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever tasted in my life. It's around the corner from my apartment and has become such a weakness.

7. The Highline: Walking the highline was one of my favorite things to do this summer. The views are so pretty and they play black and white movies on the weekends. I had never heard of it, until I moved here and quickly realized its definitely a must visit place.

Hopefully one day all of you will get the opportunity to visit New York. It's probably the most magical city in the world!!

image credits:


jane hotel photo (time out nyc)
olde good things (apartment therapy)
the high line (www.mentalfloss.com)
abc (youropi.com)
levain (foodieuncensored.blogspot.com)
top of the rock (topoftherock.com)
saks (luxist.com)

NYC Vacation, Hassles, Flights & More...

So excited that it's Friday & we have a loooong weekend, aren't you? Any plans??

The past few days we've been trying to schedule our trip to NYC using Expedia, which was a NIGHTMARE. It seems that when we selected our flight + hotel package, they would give us a discount during checkout only to take it back when you finally hit enter!! MAKES NO SENSE. We did that about 5 times & still the same thing happened!!
 

We even called customer service only to have the guy tell us the same thing, but with no real explanation why it was happening. So, I finally tweeted about it & thanks to jewelry designer, Elsa Corsi who referred me to Last Minute Travel , our trip is now booked! I have to say, booking with Last Minute Travel was very smooth & the price you got was the price you paid. 

Originally we were looking for apt. rentals in NYC for 10 days - and visited sites like VRBO & Homeaway.

After writing to about 5 property owners & getting NO RESPONSE, we decided these sites weren't for us! It made no sense to me... So, on we went & booked our trip!

 

After all this back & forth, we'll be staying at the Marcel at Gramercy. Any of you stay there before??
 

This will be in October- so I'll have to tell you what our experience was with this hotel at that point. In fact, I'll blog while I'm there! Can't wait to visit my family as well!

So, please share where you stay when you travel to NYC? Did you rent an apt. or a hotel? Did you use sites like VRBO? What was your experience like?? 

I'd love for all of YOU to share your experience!!

-images via Marcel at Gramercy