The Big Screen Plaza flanks Eventi, A Kimpton Hotel in New York City. // (c) 2013 Eventi, A Kimpton Hotel.
My favorite thing about New York City is its tantalizing arts scene, from world-class museums to top-drawer live entertainment. During my recent trip to the Big Apple, a Kimpton hotel called Eventi took that passion to new heights with its Big Screen Plaza, which reaches out beyond the hotel's own four walls and sweeps you along with it.
I've never seen anything like it at a city hotel, or any accommodation for that matter.
While Eventi, A Kimpton Hotel provides a stylish indoor oasis for relaxing and recharging your batteries, the adjacent outdoor multimedia plaza turns two-dimensional film into a dynamic, interactive experience.
Dominating the one-block-wide 10,000-square-foot plaza is a 30-x 16-foot high-definition screen that shows an eclectic mix of moving images, from cinema and sports to fashion and the arts.
Located in the heart of Manhattan, the public plaza also hosts special events and screenings in tandem with high-profile cultural partners like the Wine and Food Festival and Chamber Orchestra of New York.
I got my first look at the screen from Eventi's second-floor restaurant during its free nightly wine reception. The restaurant's floor-to-ceiling glass walls looked out directly to the plaza, which was airing a classic old Cary Grant flick.
During the next night's reception, the screen followed an artist as he created canvas after canvas of dazzling visuals. Instead of distracting guests, the screen brought us together and launched stimulating conversation over wine.
Eventi clients can rent the screen as an add-on to private gatherings, enhancing corporate functions, weddings, birthdays and holiday parties with synced audio and video. The hotel encourages community-based groups to hold events in the plaza, renting the screen for hourly use.
Throughout my stay I saw people outside enjoying the plaza with its chairs and tables, reflecting pool and pretty landscaping. It's exactly the sort of cutting-edge cultural innovation I expect from New York City -- and a perfect thing for travel agents to recommend to arts-loving clients like me.
Submitted by Guest Blogger Marty Wentzel
