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While major hotel companies like Marriott are planning to compete with Airbnb by branching into the home-sharing business, the biggest name in the home-sharing industry is now seeking other opportunities in hospitality.
Airbnb has partnered with New York-based developer RXR Reality to open luxury lodgings in iconic New York City locations. First up: 75 Rockefeller Plaza.
Together, Airbnb and RXR plan to turn 10 stories of the 33-story building into luxe rentals, according to Curbed New York. The rentals on offer will be Airbnb-operated, but will reportedly function less like the company’s typical home-shares and more like a traditional hotel. According to Scott Reichler, chairman and CEO of RXR, the rentals won’t bear Airbnb’s branding, either. Rather, the lodgings will “have a name tied to the neighborhood or the building,” the Wall Street Journal reported.
Prices have not yet been released for the rooms, which, according to the companies, will be apartment-style suites. Guests will also have access to a variety of services and amenities, including a concierge, a dedicated lobby, a new bar and restaurant, and a business center. The rooms will reportedly occupy the skyscraper’s higher floors, granting guests a maximized view of the famous plaza below, according to the WSJ.
While plenty of surrounding hotels have catered to Rockefeller Center’s many visitors, the new offering will mark the first time in years guests have been able to stay overnight within the famed complex.
The Rockefeller Plaza rentals are reportedly the first of many lodgings the new partnership plans to open in New York. According to Curbed, the companies are collaborating on a similar project in Brooklyn, with plans to open an office/hotel hybrid in a former printing press at 47 Hall Street, across from Brooklyn Navy Yard.
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