All photos by David Mitchell

The world’s first hotel on wheels is set to debut in the Hudson Valley this winter. The New York-based startup company Moliving Inc. revealed earlier this year its first model unit, which measures roughly 400 square feet and includes two outdoor decks. The company believes the movable luxury hotel rooms, which are designed to be easily installed and relocated, offer hoteliers the opportunity to build hotels faster, more sustainably, and to adjust room inventory according to seasonal demand.

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Photo of The Plaza via Pixabay

A sign of New York City’s recovery, The Plaza Hotel will reopen next month after closing its doors to guests for over a year. The iconic Central Park South hotel announced it will open its luxury rooms again on May 20, about 14 months after it first suspended services due to the pandemic. “For the past year you’ve been asked to stay home, The Plaza is now extending its formal invitation to return to New York,” the hotel’s website reads.

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Cabin interiors; Photo courtesy of Hutton Brickyards

For years, New Yorkers have been drawn to the Hudson Valley city of Kingston for its rich history, arts and culture, and proximity to nature, ideal for both a weekend getaway and year-round residence. A new hotel just north of New York City is set to open this spring that will offer 31 individual cabins across 73 acres of lush landscape, providing a coronavirus-safe escape for city dwellers. Located on the site of a former brick factory, Hutton Brickyards has been transformed from a manufacturing property into a laid-back but luxurious riverfront resort with private cabins, a spa, restaurant, and events space.

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Photo by Dimitry Anikin on Unsplash

A state lawmaker introduced legislation this week that would allow New York to buy financially distressed commercial buildings and convert them into housing for low-income and homeless New Yorkers. The Housing Our Neighbors with Dignity Act, sponsored by State Sen. Michael Gianaris, includes the purchase and conversion of office buildings and hotels that are up for sale, as the Wall Street Journal first reported. The proposed legislation comes as commercial districts and tourist hubs have yet to recover fully from the impact of the coronavirus and as the housing crisis, particularly in New York City, continues.

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All renderings courtesy of Virgin Hotels

As the New York City hospitality industry continues to reel from the effects the coronavirus pandemic has had on tourism and business travel, plans are moving forward for a massive new hotel in Nomad. Fresh renderings of the 510-foot Virgin Hotel at 1225 Broadway, the first in the city, were recently released, showing off the hotel’s resort-like rooftop pool and bar.

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Courtesy of the TWA Hotel

Looking to safely hang with friends outdoors without freezing your bum off? Then you might consider heading out to the TWA Hotel at JFK Airport. For the second year, the hotel is sharing its Eero Saarinen-designed mid-century fabulousness with its guests by transforming its rooftop bar into the Runway Chalet for the rest of the winter season. In addition to a tented and heated Alpine-themed restaurant and bar, the chalet offers the “pool-cuzzi,” which is heated up to 95 degrees.

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Rendering of the proposed cornice at Hotel Wales by Form4Design Studio and Higgins Quasebarth & Partners, LLC; via LPC

The Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday approved plans to retrofit Carnegie Hill’s historic Hotel Wales, which is set to be converted into luxury condominiums. The proposal from Form4 Design Studio and Higgins Quasebarth & Partners retains the hotel’s Beaux-Arts facade, terra cotta elements, and scroll-bracketed balconies, as CityRealty reported. But the biggest alteration planned for the Carnegie Hill Historic District building is the new cornice and rooftop addition, the design of which the LPC on Tuesday said needs to be modified.

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Photo courtesy of Conrad New York Midtown

A new hotel in Midtown is offering the ultimate New York City holiday experience. Conrad New York Midtown has partnered with iconic toy store FAO Schwarz to bring a 1,800-square-foot one-bedroom suite full of toys, including 10-foot stuffed animals, train sets, and of course, the famous dance-on piano. The playful stay does not come cheap; the holiday suite package starts at $3,000 per night.

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Image via Pixabay

After receiving an endorsement from the New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council (HTC) for his long-shot presidential campaign in June, Mayor Bill de Blasio has asked the city’s planning council to look into the process for implementing a city-wide special permit for hotel development, as Crain’s first reported. If adopted, new hotel projects throughout the five boroughs would have to undergo the city’s land-use review process, ULURP—something that the HTC has long advocated for.

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Image via CC.

New York City could make hostels legal under a bill, set to be introduced this week in the City Council, that would permit the super-budget accommodations to operate again after a state law made them illegal, the Wall Street Journal reports. The bill would provide hostels with their own separate department and classification under city law. The city’s hostels all but disappeared after a 2010 law covering multiple dwellings took aim at short-term rentals.

Will hostels thrive in the Airbnb era?