Holiday Lights in New York City – Hotel Edition

New York City is all dressed up in its holiday best these days, as I have written about in a post or two. The hotels in New York are staying in lockstep, decking out their halls with boughs of holly and then some, making them a must visit destination to check out the holiday lights.

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Peninsula Hotel Holiday Decorations

I am going to kick this post off with the Peninsula Hotel, which puts up a spectacular holiday display, which is surprisingly void of any hotel guests and employees because all I could see were people checking out the holiday decorations. There is a room behind the Christmas tree in that arch you can see below , and it is equally spectacular from the inside looking out as well.

Plaza Hotel Holiday Lights

The Plaza Hotel is like the epicenter of hotel decorations, and has had so many people coming in to take pictures that they have had to restrict entry to hotel guests and patrons – and they do mean ones with reservations – only. There are guards at each entrance – I know because I tried all of them – that are screening every person. I even tried to get a reservation at one of their restaurants, and they are booked out till January! I finally managed to find my way past the guards – how is a trade secret now that I am a blogger! – and here is what lies beyond those well guarded doors –

As we came out of the hotel, there was a Santa Claus entertaining everyone outside, felt kind of like a consolation prize for not being able to actually go into the hotel.

Lotte Palace Hotel Holiday Decorations

The Lotte Palace Hotel is making the most of the holidays despite the consutruction shed outside their hotel. Walking in is equally stunning, though my favorite is the gingerbread house that looks exactly like the hotel. The sign next to the gingerbread house explains that it is a replica of the historic Villard Houses constructed in 1882, and took over 200 hours to construct! The house includes a roof of 1462 individually baked shingles, and in all used 40 lbs of flour, 25 lbs of confection sugar, 20 lbs of granulated sugar, 16 lbs of butter, 8 lbs of brown sugar, 6 jars of molasses, 2 quarts of egg whites, 1.5 lbs of gelatin, 1 cup of mixed cinnamom, clove and ginger. I think I have put on a couple of lbs just typing this out!!

St Regis Hotel Holiday Decorations

The toy soldiers outside the St Regis are impressive, and they had a busy lobby full of guests so I didn’t get many pictures on the inside. They are keeping the decor classic with gold highlights in the lobby.

Park Lane Hotel Holiday Finery

Park Lane Hotel has 2 holiday horses greeting guests on the outside. They had a really interesting tree inside, not sure if this is a part of their holiday decor or just their usual lobby decor.

Essex House Holiday Decorations

The Essex House is a place I have very fond memories of, used to have a friend that worked there and spent altogether too much time at the hotel in my first few years in NYC. The holiday decorations included a gingerbread house in the likeness of their hotel as well, though there was no description of the amount of sugar and butter used in its making.

Looking for a hotel for your visit to New York? Booking.com is a great place to look for available options at any budget.

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