New York Hotel Reopens, and QE2 Resumes Visits

NEW YORK--New York tourism received a double dose of good news last week as Mayor Michael Bloomberg presided over the reopening of a big hotel near the site of the former World Trade Center, and the Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise ship arrived for its first Manhattan port call since the Sept. 11 attacks.

The New York Marriott Financial Center Hotel is the first of four big hotels near ground zero to reopen since the attacks. The hotel, two blocks south of the site on West Street, was used as a center for recovery workers.

Only 125 of the hotel’s 504 rooms were ready for use, and just 70 rooms had been booked for the reopening night, Marriott Vice President Roger Borsink said. Discounted rates were $189 a night for weekdays and $120 a night for weekends, rather than the usual $300 for this time of year, he added.

--Reuters