Skip to main content

Christmas Isn’t Over Yet at NYC’s Arthouse Hotel

By Mike Richard Apr 21, 2021 12:50 AM

Arthouse Hotel New York City tree — Arthouse Hotel New York City/Facebook

Just because December 25 has come and gone doesn’t mean Christmas is over — not yet. For some of us, it’ll last until the last needles fall from the tree sometime around late March when we’re forced to put away the decorations. For those crazy few who relish an extra week or three of good tidings and the classic movies that celebrate it all, one New York City hotel has transformed its lobby into a shrine to honor the most iconic Christmas films of all time.

Arthouse Hotel New York City room — Arthouse Hotel New York City/Facebook

This month, Arthouse Hotel New York City revived its annual holiday pop-up bar. For 2019, the Upper West Side hotel decked its lobby and the adjoining Arthouse Wine Bar with vignettes inspired by the most beloved Christmas films. One window of the bar, for example, features a cutout of Home Alone’s “Wet Bandits” Marv and Harry, peeking in at guests from outside. A replica living room from A Christmas Story complete with a vintage radio, fireplace, the Parkers’ blue couch, and a box marked “fragile” fills a corner of the bar. The Griswold Family’s burnt-to-a-crisp Christmas tree is tucked into another, along with a charred outline of Aunt Bethany’s cat in the carpet. Buddy’s white paper cutouts from Elf line the ceiling over an intimate corner of the lounge.

Arthouse Hotel New York City cocktail — Arthouse Hotel New York City/Facebook

The cocktail menu has been appropriately updated with Christmas movie inspiration, too. Holiday punch can be poured directly from the iconic “fra-gee-lay” leg lamp from A Christmas Story. A housemade, Clark Griswold-inspired holiday eggnog spiked with Pierre Ferrand Cognac is served straight from the carton. The bar is also offering new twists on classic holiday cocktails, like the Spruce Tree Martini (with bold pine notes), a Negroni with hints of cranberry sauce served in a cranberry sauce can, and a Cold Fashioned (an Old Fashioned with Mr. Black Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur). All are served in vintage cans with bespoke, retro-holiday labels.

Arthouse Hotel New York City eggnog — Arthouse Hotel New York City/Facebook

This is the fourth year for Arthouse Hotel’s holiday pop-up feature, which has become something of a tradition for locals and guests. Past themes included a Willa Wonka-esque Holiday Cocktail Factory with a bubble room and drinks served in gumball machines, and a Shakespeare-inspired Midwinter Night’s Dream setup. This year’s Arthouse Holiday Movie Revival pop-up installation lasts only until January 5, 2020.

Mike Richard has traveled the world since 2008. He’s kayaked in Antarctica, tracked endangered African wild dogs in South… Read Full Bio

Topics

A morgue, a ship, and 1,500 creepy dolls: Spooky trips worth taking

spooky trip ideas edinburgh underground vaults min 1

Look, we have nothing against a good pumpkin patch. But if your version of spooky season goes beyond hayrides and a cider donut, the world has some genuinely creepy places you can visit, and a few you can even sleep in. Some come with ghost stories attached, and others come with actual human bones. Either way, a haunted corn maze is going to feel like a petting zoo afterward.

Here are our favorite spooky destinations for travelers who like a little fear with their vacation.

Away teams up with DJ John Summit to launch revamped aluminum luggage line

Away

Away and DJ/producer John Summit have debuted a special partnership, naming him the brand’s Chief Destruction Officer! The campaign debuts an exciting refresh of Away’s Aluminum luggage collection, including new colorways, Arctic Steel and Bronze. This partnership marks the first update to Away’s premium Aluminum collection in six years; it introduces new colors across both Aluminum and Aluminum Edge, along with the debut of the Aluminum Mini Crossbody.

This exciting new campaign tests Away’s durability, with Summit putting its Aluminum luggage through a series of outrageous trials, from dragging and torching to tarring. Built to take the blow so your belongings don’t have to, Aluminum undergoes rigorous testing, including over 900 hours of shell testing, to ensure it can withstand the demands of travel. What you can find in this durable new collection includes:

Feeling bored? That’s because you lost your thirst for side quests

Field, Grassland, Nature

It’s no secret: I am one lucky son of a bitch. I get to travel all over and write about it. Regularly, I will randomly pick up on a Tuesday and find myself in Bermuda, Kenya, Hong Kong, or Rome by Wednesday. Sometimes, I will even plan it. It is a complete 180 from where I was in my life before the pandemic. I was deep in the trenches of the Monday-through-Friday, nine-to-five lifestyle. I was eight rounds in on the bout with the Joneses and believed I could catch up with them if I only worked harder, saved more. The truth was, I was already putting in sixty hours a week and depriving my life of the things that would truly help. I discovered the hard way that, once I achieved the thing I was working for, once I bought the car, wore the suit, got the raise- I was still empty. I couldn’t figure out what it was that was missing from that life. Until the pandemic laid a side quest in front of me.

Once I was laid off from the law firm I’d put my whole self into for the previous four years, I was free. It was ten seconds of sheer panic followed by the largest weight I didn’t even know I was carrying disappearing from my shoulders. I could disappear myself, explore the world passing me by the last half-decade. So I did. I started writing full time and lived in Airbnbs for a month (or three) at a time in different cities. I discovered myself, discovered what destinations had to offer. I found the joy in my life. And it always came on the other side of a side quest. Can’t quit your job and travel the world? That is ok; I have tips you can do from home. Over an evening. Over a weekend. Over a week’s vacation. The point is that your life isn’t boring; you’re just in campaign mode and forgot the open-world model allows you to explore the world at your fingertips.