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LOS ANGELES TIMES
New Airbnb suites in Rockefeller Center will feature views of the center’s ice skating rink during Christmas.
Travelers to New York City will soon have the opportunity to book luxurious suites through Airbnb in one of the Big Apple’s most iconic buildings, Rockefeller Center.
Airbnb will be converting 10 floors at 75 Rockefeller Plaza and turning them into 200 apartment-style suites thanks to a new partnership with RXR Realty LLC. This move is part of Airbnb’s “new category of urban lodging.”
Each suite will be custom-designed and have views of popular attractions such as the Empire State Building and the Rockefeller Center’s ice skating rink during Christmas. Airbnb aims to offer “all the comforts of home” with a “curated, authentic NYC experience and sense of community typically reserved for locals.”
Airbnb and RXR may also focus on short-term rentals in other areas of New York City like at the 47 Hall Street project located near the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
“When we launched Airbnb over 10 years ago, it was immediately clear how people opening their homes could make guests feel like locals,” Airbnb’s Chief Executive Officer Brian Chesky said in a statement.
“With this new partnership with RXR, we hope to provide that same unique feeling, in the form of new spaces in the heart of Midtown Manhattan and elsewhere so that everyone can enjoy an authentic New York experience.”
Classic monsters join Universal’s lineup
ORLANDO, Fla. >> They’ll do the monster mash at the 2019 edition of Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights. A haunted maze dubbed Universal Monsters will feature Dracula, Dr. Frankenstein, the Wolf Man and other classic movie characters at the Orlando event.
The house will include passes through Dracula’s castle and Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory, home of the famed man-made monster, Universal announced April 29. Visitors also will encounter a creature from the Black Lagoon and an ancient Egyptian curse that’s courtesy of an evil mummy.
“They’re coming together to tear you apart,” a Universal promotional video says. In a news release, the characters are touted as being from Universal Pictures, “the (studio) that invented the horror films.”
It’s the third themed environment that’s been announced for the HHN29, following a house based on Netflix’s “Stranger Things” and the all-new Nightingales: Blood Pit, set in ancient Rome. Universal Orlando will create 10 haunted houses and five scare zones for the event.
Meanwhile, Universal Studios Hollywood announced a house called “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man,” featuring a battle between the two classic creatures.
Halloween Horror Nights is an after-hours scarefest requiring a separate admission ticket. In Orlando, it runs on select nights between Sept. 6 and Nov. 2 at Universal Studios theme park.
For tickets or more information, go to halloweenhorrornights.com/orlando.
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