Is The Empire Hotel Real? The Gossip Girl Landmark Explained

Gossip Girl featured many iconic locations in and round New York Metropolis, amongst them the Empire Resort, which is an actual place that followers of the present can go to. One of the standard and profitable teen dramas of the 2000s was Gossip Woman, developed by Josh Schwartz (who additionally created The O.C.) and Stephanie Savage. Based mostly on the collection of novels of the identical title by Cecily von Ziegesar, Gossip Woman took viewers to Manhattan’s Higher East Aspect to observe a gaggle of privileged college students at a prestigious highschool.

Main the group had been on/off greatest mates Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Full of life) and Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester), who had been accompanied by their mates (and typically sentimental companions) Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford), Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick), and Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley), the latter a scholarship scholar. By means of them, the viewers visited some iconic locations round New York Metropolis, of which many grew to become recurring settings that viewers got here to know fairly effectively. Amongst them is the Empire Resort, which is an actual place anybody can go to.

The Empire Resort Opened Its Doorways In 1923

The Empire Resort Is One Of Manhattan’s Most Iconic Locations

The Empire Hotel isn’t a spot distinctive to the world of Gossip Woman, because it’s an actual place named precisely as within the present. The Empire Resort is a boutique resort (a resort with smaller capability to provide its company a extra customized service), positioned at 44 West 63rd Avenue, in Manhattan. The unique constructing that stood within the spot of the Empire Resort was in-built 1889, and it was bought by Herbert DuPuy in 1908. In 1922, DuPuy tore the unique construction down and constructed a 15-story constructing that he would flip into the Empire Resort.

Though the Empire Resort was already a recognized spot for New Yorkers, its look on Gossip Woman boosted its recognition.

The Empire Resort formally opened its doorways in December 1923, with the now-iconic pink neon signal studying “Resort Empire” (which may be seen in Gossip Woman and different media). The Empire Resort was renovated in 2007, and it has 426 guestrooms, together with 50 suites. Though the Empire Resort was already a recognized spot for New Yorkers, its look on Gossip Woman boosted its recognition. In 2010, in keeping with CNN, the Empire Resort noticed a rise of 5 to 10% in bookings and a 50% enhance in web site site visitors after the resort began showing on the present.

The Empire Resort went on to seem within the pilot episode of the crime drama Energy, but it surely’s nonetheless greatest recognized for being the place the place Chuck and Nate lived for some time. After all, the Empire Resort has since used its recognition and connection to Gossip Woman, providing followers of the present a full expertise paying homage to the present.

The Empire Resort Affords “The Gossip Woman Expertise”

The Empire Resort Has Seized Gossip Woman’s Success

The Empire Hotel offers different events, actions, and experiences, amongst them the “Gossip Girl Experience” and “Gossip Woman Excursions.” The previous goals to provide its company a style of the glamorous lifetime of Manhattan’s elite as seen in Gossip Woman, and it takes place on the resort’s rooftop bar. The expertise, for which it’s a must to make a reservation (after all), affords a specifically crafted Gossip Woman cocktail or mocktail, a particular number of tea sandwiches, and macarons. The “Gossip Woman Expertise” is obtainable on choose weekends, starting at 11 am and persevering with till 3 pm.

The “Gossip Girl Tours” take company outdoors the Empire Resort and into town that noticed a few of Serena and Blair’s most important moments. The tour guarantees to take company to the unforgettable filming places of the present, and it affords completely different tour choices that vary from 90 minutes to a few hours in size. Visitors must make a reservation for the tour, however the resort affords a reduction for these staying on the Empire.

How Gossip Woman’s Model Of The Empire Resort Is Totally different Than Actual Life

Gossip Woman Made Some Changes To The Empire Resort

Chuck and Jack Bass at a wedding in Gossip Girl

In Gossip Woman, the Empire Resort is a key a part of Chuck’s story, as he purchases the resort for each enterprise and private use in season 3. Chuck moved into the Empire Resort after residing on the New York Palace Resort for years, and so the Empire grew to become the setting of enterprise conferences in addition to private moments for Chuck and the remainder.

For that, Gossip Woman made some modifications to the Empire Resort, including rooms and occasions and exaggerating some elements of the constructing for dramatic functions. The Empire Resort has seized its place in Gossip Woman lore, and people excited by entering into the present’s world can go to the resort at any time.

Sources: Empire Hotel, CNN.