Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Long Weekend in the City




So for the first time in a very long time my partner and I were going to be in our favourite spot for a long weekend:Manhattan. I decided to surprise her with a gorgeous new 1950s style bathing suit and a gift card that read "for where I'm taking you this weekend" with a picture of the Hotel Gansevoort's pool. She was ecstatic and we trekked the 5 blocks to our "staycation" Saturday afternoon....

Now for those of you outside NYC this probably sounds excessively ridiculous, but let me explain: Unless you want to take your chances at public pool or happen to have a gym membership that includes outdoor pool access, there are very few pools you can lounge by on the island of Manhattan. The Gansevoort is supposedly the best....

Let me tell you friends- I don't recommend this venue. First of all, we arrived an hour past check in and our room was not ready. We were told to wait at the rooftop bar/pool (without comped drinks or snacks) after an hour+ we returned to the concierge and requested a refund as we'd decided just to head home. They gave us a large discount on the rate so we stayed. We returned to the pool area to find it overrun with too many bachelorette parties to count and drunk singing irish-men with guitars...we felt a little ridiculous with our magazines and travel scrabble but made the best of it.

For any of you readers looking for some Manhattan pool action I would recommend the much less "sceney" Empire Hotel on the upper west side, or if your looking for a more serious commitment, a membership at the Soho House- where there is an unwritten precedent against Bachelorette parties.

We still had an awesome weekend- saved by the Radio City Glee concert on Sunday where Anne and I arrived as Rachel Berry and a very pregnant Quinn Fabrae

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