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Welcome to the The Atlantic Update for Wednesday 3 April 2019.
The Equinox Hotel New York Opens July 2019
The US gym chain Equinox opens its first hotel in New York’s Hudson Yards on Monday 15 July 2019.
Designed by Rockwell Group, based on CGI images on its website, it certainly looks good. Unsurprisingly, there’s a strong emphasis on wellness in both the rooms and public areas. The hallmark of a good hotel room is that you should not be able to hear a sound from outside your room. Equinox promises complete soundproofing and blackout blinds.
However, the rooms are very handsomely priced with indicative rates from $1,000+ per night. Even by New York standards, this is expensive and puts the property on a par with the likes of the Mandarin Oriental. The service, which many New York hotels struggle with, will certainly need to match Mandarin Oriental standards.
Equinox Hotels is due to open another hotel in Seattle next year, with Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles to follow.
BA Operates Inaugural Heathrow – Pittsburgh
British Airways operated its inaugural flight from London Heathrow to Pittsburgh yesterday.
Pittsburgh has long sought a reinstatement of a direct route to London and the new route has generated a lot of press locally. Red telephone boxes have also been dotted around Pittsburgh. As is customary local business and political leaders were on board the inaugural flight from London Heathrow. The flight will initially operate four times weekly.
Also of note this week:
New York is set to be the first US city to levy a congestion charge, which will be levied on vehicles entering Manhattan below 60th Street. The exact rate and exemptions are yet to be decided. As is the launch date, which will be no earlier than 31 December 2020. (New York Times)
