At the heart of the extensive renovation is the brand’s reinvented lobby, including two signature restaurants and lounges, where guests can work, socialize, relax, eat and drink. The makeover also encompasses the hotel’s nearly 2,000 guest rooms and a new, high tech 29,000 square foot Broadway Ballroom. 

“Even though we celebrated the New York Marriott Marquis’ 25th Anniversary last year, it feels like a brand new hotel opening,” says Mike Stengel, vice president, market general manager for Marriott International. “We still have the great staff and service our guests have come to know – but now it’s in a whole new setting. Our guests are thrilled with the transformation we’ve undergone this past year.”

Envisioned and created by the interior architecture and design firm ForrestPerkins of Washington, D.C., the hotel’s new interior and custom furnishings reflect the vibrancy and energy of New York City.

Renowned for offering travelers some of the most spacious guest rooms in Manhattan, the renovated New York Marriott Marquis guest rooms feature custom furnishings with clean, crisp lines that enhance and accentuate the space of the room.

Neutral colors of cocoa-brown, cream and champagne prevail within guest rooms. Accent pin lighting is mounted on oversized headboards inlaid with nickel, meant to evoke a streetscape grid. High-definition televisions and desk consoles, pull-out love seats and new carpeting and curtains complete the new look. Enhancements to the bathrooms include spa shower curtains. More than 1,000 guest rooms have been totally redesigned, with the remainder to be completed by Spring 2012.

The new restaurant and lounge, Crossroads – an American Kitchen and Bar, features a spectacular two story mirrored spiral bar encircled with 11 high definition television screens. Surrounding the restaurant’s centerpiece is a mix of low sofas and comfortable armchairs accented by four waterfall towers. Crossroads also offers a more traditional seating area for more than 100 guests, surrounded by perforated panel screens that slide to accommodate private or more open events. Illuminated crystal light rods hang above, creating a linear feel, or a streetscape grid pattern. The menu items are quintessential New York classics with a modern twist, such as Niman Ranch Pork Rib Pot Roast and Roasted Turkey BLT with Pecan Wood Smoked Bacon.

The design of the new Broadway Lounge is inspired by New Year’s Eve and the traditional ball drop. Guests’ eyes are immediately drawn to six spherical chandeliers, each with 234 shimmering clear glass balls, reflecting Broadway’s bright lights and electronic billboards. Two-story arched glass windows give guests panoramic views of Times Square. The multi-level seating in the Broadway Lounge offers guests the choice to be in the middle of the action or enjoy privacy. The lounge is richly colored in deep turquoise, petrol blue, dark ginger and grays. The menu features sharing and artisanal tasting dishes, as well as offerings inspired by New York City food trucks, including tacos, sliders and flatbreads.

The glamorous Broadway Ballroom, which seats up to 2,400 guests is the ballroom of the future, with chandeliers in amorphous shapes that resemble a geode being sliced down the middle. The room’s “vanishing ceiling” in black allows it to be transformed in myriad ways for every type of occasion. The programmable chandeliers offer thousands of choices for customers, with color-changing LED technology.

For smaller functions and banquets, The Liberty Room, is scheduled to open in October on the hotel’s eighth floor. This is a windowed room that seats 140, overlooking the famous Shubert Alley.

The overall renovation will include all guest rooms (to be completed in Spring 2012), restaurants, lounges and public areas and will cost approximately $39 million. ForrestPerkins in Washington, D.C. is the design and architectural firm responsible for both guest room and public area renovations. The New York Marriott Marquis has 1,946 guest rooms and over 100,000 square feet of banquet and meeting space, so this is a significant investment by its owners, Host Hotels & Resorts. The hotel has had a complete makeover, to provide guests with more choices and to convey its understanding of how today’s traveler likes to work and relax. It is one of the busiest Marriott hotels in the world.

Also in US today, City.Mobi is celebrating the success of its new guide to New York.

City.Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the City.Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, Paris.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

NYC.mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.