Contact: Susan Martin, KRT,  T: 212.242.2550,  F: 212.242.3177,  E: susan@krtnyc.com

Stay at Le Parker Meridien and Never Leave the Elevator

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Hi-Tech Lifts featuring Old Fashioned Entertainment

New York, NY – The most uninteresting and often awkward part of a hotel stay just got a whole lot funnier at Le Parker Meridien.  The hotel has solved the problem of “where to look” by installing television monitors featuring short movies and cartoons in the newly refurbished elevators.  More and more guests are requesting rooms on higher floors to take in the whole show.

“We want every part of a guest’s stay to be a unique one,” said General Manager Steven Pipes. “Why not add a little comedy to the otherwise boring ride to and from the room.”

Designed in cherry wood and hazy blue carpeting, the elevators have 13” screens where the floor numbers are commonly found.  The monitors feature classics from Tom and Jerry, Laurel & Hardy, The Three Stooges and Charlie Chaplin.  Guests have taken such a liking to the short films that they are riding the lifts to see how it all ends.  “Mostly it is children who want to see if the cat gets the mouse but we have seen a lot of adults enjoying the antics of Moe, Larry and Curly enough to ride a few extra floors,” Pipes said. “We encourage guests to have a laugh at our expense.”

The award winning cartoons and shorts have also helped ease periods when crowded elevators can add tension to an often-uncomfortable situation. “People find riding in elevators an uneasy experience.  This new design has been in the works for sometime,” said designer Colum McCartan. “Instead of placing numbers or ineffective advertising we wanted something that the rider can benefit from.”

The newly designed elevators are a part of the five-year, multimillion-dollar renovation that the entire hotel is currently under going.  Starting with the debut of their breakfast restaurant NORMA’S, the hotel is revamping from its ‘80’s French flavor to the more stylish yet functional form of the new millennium.  The hotel renovation is slated for completion by Fall 2001.

Le Parker Meridien features 700 spacious rooms and suites with breathtaking views of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline.  The soaring lobby features an award winning concierge staff and the hotel’s burgeoning art collection.  Enjoy the hotel’s unique dining and drinking experiences at NORMA’S the award-winning, all-day breakfast restaurant, Raoul’s uptown sister, the French bistro Seppi’s and the circular bar jack’s.  Workout at gravity, rated in the top ten hotel fitness centers by Men’s Fitness Magazine, featuring 15,000 square feet of weight training, aerobics/yoga, racquetball/basketball/squash, spa treatment rooms and a glass enclosed rooftop pool. Le Parker Meridien. Uptown. Not Uptight.  For reservations and hotel information please call 800/543-4300 or email reservations@parkermeridien.com.