In an earlier post (See: Book of Mormon) I mentioned that we went into New York City to celebrate my wife’s birthday, and that we had eaten at “The View” restaurant perched on top of the Marriott Marquis Hotel. The restaurant revolves slowly (it takes it about one hour to complete a full revolution) and as it does you get views of the surrounding skyscapers – from a perspective quite different from that you get a street level.

This is the “W Hotel – Times Square“, recognizable from the huge letter “W” on top of it.

According to Wikipedia:

W Hotels was launched in 1998 with the W New York, a conversion of the old Doral Inn hotel at 541 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. The first few W hotels were mainly conversions of existing hotels already within the Starwood group. The W expanded its number of flagship properties quickly in the United States over the next decade and is now focusing its expansion efforts abroad for the most part.

W opened its first hotel in Europe in Istanbul in May 2008. The hotel, located in the renovated Akaretler Row Houses, a group of historic structures built in the 1870s to house the employees of the Dolmabahçe Palace, blends the traditional Ottoman design of the row houses with the contemporary feel of the luxury hotel chain. The W Barcelona hotel was W’s first in Western Europe and opened in October 2009. It features a futuristic design by architect Ricardo Bofill in the shape of a sail and, standing 26 stories tall, it can be seen from all over the city. At the moment, the W Doha Hotel and Residences is the only W property in the Middle East and North Africa, though there are several properties currently in development for the United Arab Emirates and India. W’s most notable properties under-development includes the 62 storey W MUMBAI also known as Namaste Tower.

…

For example, the lobbies of all the hotels are known as the “Living Room.” W Hotels attempt to include the letter W wherever possible – the swimming pool is known as “Wet”, the concierge is known as “Whatever Whenever”, the laundry bag is known as “Wash” and so on. Many of the W properties are accompanied by their well regarded “Bliss” spas.

Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3