Nado

I'm headed to NYC on Sunday morning and in advance of a Monday morning meeting. Am bringing my partner along to celebrate his 40th birthday and could use some advice from the sophisicated travel set here on FT.

Right now, the Sunday plan is:

Arrive in NYC at 12 noon.

12-5 - Undecided other than checking in and getting ready for the evening.

5:00 pm - Xmas Spectacular, Radio City Music Hall, 5 pm (ends at 630)
6:30 pm - Taxi to Union Square (15-20 minutes)
7:00 pm - Fueza Bruta - Off-Broadway show, Union Square, 7 pm (ends at 8:00)
8:00 pm - Taxi to W Hotel Times Square ($296 AMEX Plat FHR rate)
8:30 pm - Dinner at Blue Fin within W (use $100 AMEX Plat amenity) (This place any good?)
10:00 pm - Drinks at Therapy, Vlada or another HK/nearby location? Not sure if anything is busy on Sunday night, but then again, it's NYC.

Alternatively, and to avoid multiple taxis, I'm thinking of just finding a restaurant/bar in Union Square and also moving our hotel reservation to the W Union Square. I'm also not sure if there are any AMEX FHR hotels in the Union Square vicinity. Or should I stick with the original itin as to allow for a few after dinner libations within a gay venue?

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

I personally would avoid Times Square like the black plague. If you can, change to the W Union Square and maybe hang at G or Access instead.

thepointsguy

Blue Fin is decent, but I prefer it more for breakfast (if they have it, try the Lobster Benedict- to die for).

If you want something less hustle and bustle than the 2 story Blue Fin, you can try HK restaurants
Tout Va Bien (French, obviously- down street from Vlada)
Vice Versa (South African- Next to Vlada). I actually ran into DLNYC here the other night, randomly
Xai Xai (South African)
Bamboo 52 (Sushi- next door to Therapy)

I also like 5 Napkin burger, which is in the 40s near The Ritz.

jamesteroh

I like the HK bars but not sure how busy they would be on a sunday. I really like Posh and the Ritz in HK as well. My birthday was on a thursday last year and vlada and posh were both pretty slow but Ritz was busy. Went And if you want to be a true ft'er a lot of the HK bars (I know Posh, Ritz and Vlada) are part of rewards network so make sure to use your credit card

Posh used to comp all your drinks on your birthday but not sure if they still do. My flight was REALLY delayed on my birthday last year and I had spent way too much time enjoying the free alcohol in the Skyclub and on the plane so only had one drink at each of the bars

One of the my favorite places to stay at in the HK area is the Hilton garden on 8th. The free breakfast is one of the best I have ever had (you order off a menu with vouchers if you are a hilton elite HH member) and the location is great to the theaters and HK bars and 8th avenue subways. Convenient location but it isn't right in the heart of the times square crowd.

keeton

Your theater schedule is a little aggressive. Radio City is huge and, unless you get tickets in the very back of the main level, the time to exit will be in the many minutes. This also assumes that you can get a taxi immediately outside the door and there is no significant traffic.

If it were me, I would pick one show and book the hotel/bar hopping nearest that theater. Maybe let your partner decide?

Fritz

+1 for the W Union Square over staying in W Times Sqaure; a much nicer if slightly less frenetic hotel. As to bars, both G Lounge and Splash are close by. Both are fun but very different from each other (!)

If you want somewhere splashy to eat, then Gotham Bar and Grill is good. Or Grammercy Tavern where you can eat in the front room on a first come, first served basis. And the restaurant in the W Times square is as good as Blue Fin if you want to use the Amex voucher

The other bar suggestions is the thread above are good as well

have fun and wrap up warm

Fritz

PS The Radio City Rockettes are great

DLNYC

I'm so glad I did run into you, or I would have been sitting at the bar alone for 40 minutes.

+1 to Fuerzabruta. Fun show. Therapy should be fine on Sunday (fyi, Therapy is always low key), but I tend to be more of a Chelsea guy, personally ("Cuda"---aka Barracuda--and Boxers are probably my faves).

UpgrademeDammit

I am curious as to how you two met at the bar.

Was it pre-planned?

I love Blue Fin. But it was a LOT better a few years ago. It is kinda meh for me.

I'd go with somewhere else just because it isn't as good as it was and I'm used to it.

UpgrademeDammit

I would highly recommend that you stay in union square. If you have the outfit for it, grammercy tavern or union square cafe are delightful for dinner.

The only W worth a DAMN in NYC is Union Square (and that is sad as it is, but I digress). Olives is wonderful for breakfast (@ the W).

Might I suggest you go to Splash on 17th between 5th and 6th?

It is not as flashy as Therapy but the attitude goes down about 20%.

You could take in Quad cinema (total dump cinema but they have gay movies and we have all been reduced to going to these art house places to see a man on man kiss)

Also, the area around is MUCH more vibrant. It really depends upon your personality. If you are bohemian enough, give the East Village a try. The attitude is virtually nill there and a good time should be had by all as long as you don't club baby seals for a living.

thepointsguy

Splash isn't as flashy as Therapy?

UpgrademeDammit

Forgive me if I'm mistaken.

Therapy:
Coy pond w/ waterfall and babbling brook
Modern illuminated backgrounds
Fireplaces
Lounge environment
Skylight
$20.00 drinks

Splash:
Water on the floor in the bathroom mixed with something else
Glow stick hanging on someone's belt
Fire traps
Hard chairs and no place to sit
Underground on the top level despite being at street level
$7.00 beer blast on Sundays (OK it's been at least 8 months but they were doing it at the time)

They're just different. Not saying I dislike Splash (was recommending if you'll recall), but it isn't at the level of Therapy in terms of design and ambiance.

jamesteroh

And therapy never charges a cover do they? That is what I hate about Splash more than anything is the cover. You pay an expensive cover to get in, I think coat chekc is another $5 and drinks are expensive and weak.

I really miss the big cup. When I would do three day weekends in NYC, I would go there sometimes on Sunday night to just relax for my last night in the city as opposed to going to a bar.

DLNYC

I don't know much about Splash, but I personally consider Rawhide to be far too flashy for my tastes.

chrisjur

One thing to keep in mind is that Sunday nights at Therapy are unlike most of the other evenings. There is usually a comedy show upstairs and the downstairs is pretty quiet.

Splash, on the other hand is usually busy on Sunday. Gym is also very busy from, say, 2 to 8/9 and Boxers has been quite busy on Sunday late afternoon/evenings. I could not even find a place to settle to watch the football game two weeks ago.

The busiest things from 10pm onward for Sunday nights are Hiro at the Maritime (younger crowd, loud music, probably not what you want for just "drinks"), Greenhouse at Vandam (ditto to Hiro) and Sundays at the Griffen in the Meatpacking District, which is actually quite nice, very busy and is something different from all the normal stuff. These places will be packed. (Splash probably will be as well)

Apologies if this advice came late, but maybe it'll be helpful to others....

thc

Vice Versa is Italian food, not South African, and it's very good. See http://www.viceversarestaurant.com/index2.htm

I would also recommend Marseille. It has your typical French bistro dishes, but also some very good cous cous tagines.

Anyway, to the original poster, that's honestly a lot to pack in one evening. And you might need some more time for transportation, because you really never know about traffic. Personally, I would just stay at the W Union Square. Olives, the restaurant there, is very good. And from Union Square, you can head over to the bars in Chelsea or you could venture down to the East or West Village.

If you want another hotel choice that is FHR and that is located in the Union Sq area, you might want to look at the Gramercy Park Hotel. it's brand new and is Ian Schrager's latest creation.