A Casablanca New Year’s Eve Tradition
Published: February 1st, 2019This New Year’s Eve the Casablanca Hotel had the pleasure of welcoming back such wonderful guests, Michael & Sandy. This couple has traveled the world, yet when it comes to New Year’s Eve our cozy oasis in Times Square is their home! After years of ringing in the years with us, we decided to ask them some questions & find out more about what keeps them coming back!
1. When was your first NYE experience at the Casablanca Hotel? How did you hear about/what made you book it?
“We heard about the Casablanca while on a tour of New England in October 2007. After the tour while visiting NYC we stopped at the Casablanca. As soon as we entered, the noise and chaos of Times Square disappeared. The old, patterned, tiled floor set the mood of a small, quaint hotel. While we waited to see a room we were invited to Rick’s Cafe on the 2nd floor. The hostess offered us coffee, cookies and hot chocolate. The head of housekeeping apologized to us, as she was unable to show us a room. The location, friendliness of the staff and the coziness of the hotel sold us on the Casablanca.”
2. How many years have you been ringing in the New Year with the Casablanca Hotel? What keeps you coming back?
“In October 2009 we booked our first stay at the Casablanca. Our expectations were exceeded. While on the elevator we noticed a poster advertising the hotel’s New Year’s Eve party. December 2010 was our first New Year’s Eve in NYC at the Casablanca. Champagne and chocolates at 4PM; drinks, snacks and music at 5PM; dinner, drinks and a show beginning at 6:30PM hosted by Tony’s Italian restaurant. The only negative, there wasn’t a place to store leftovers. The food was excellent, along with the unlimited drinks. 11:45PM move to the roof for the champagne toast as the ball drops, fireworks explode and the confetti floats down.”
3. What is your favorite part of our NYE Experience?
“The affair is made special through the efforts of the accommodating and friendly staff of the Casablanca. The staff brings a holiday spirit of joy, celebration and happiness to the evening, which is infectious. This has been our experience at each of the 7 New Year’s Eves (2010, 2011, 2012, 2014. 2015, 2017 and 2018) we have spent at the Casablanca. Three of those years we shared New Year’s Eve with friends from home. In 2019 there will be 8 us celebrating together at the Casablanca, along with John, Jefferey, Asim and the rest of the staff. It has become our home away from home in NYC.”
4. What is your best NYE memory at the Casablanca Hotel?
“The first New Year’s Eve at the Casablanca John, the manager, took me out onto Broadway and 43rd to look at the crowd in Times Square, amazing. Another year my wife and I toasted the New Year amongst the fireworks, confetti and a delicate, soft snowfall.”
5. If you were to recommend NYE at the Casablanca Hotel to a friend, what would you say?
“Avoid the crowds, the confusion and the hassles and celebrate the New Year with people from across the country and around the world at the Casablanca. Become a friend and member of the Casablanca family. You will never feel more comfortable and at home than you will at the Casablanca.”