Yotel's Night of 100 Performances

Hotel Chatter: If Yotel Times Square is setting the tone for a new culture of hospitality entertainment, then we're very excited to see what else it's got up its yo-sleeves. Last night, the purple giant hosted a series of one hundred performances that all took place inside one hundred different rooms of the hotel's top four floors. Kind of like a cross between a haunted house and a peep show (this is Times Square after all!), everyone was encouraged to step inside the rooms and explore, but no one ever quite knew what to expect.

Here's how it worked: guests were issued a "mission card" upon arrival and assigned a "festival captain" who, at the scheduled time, would lead the groups of 10-15 lucky souls to the ongoing carnival taking place upstairs. The plan was for each group to be shepherded along as a consolidated unit, but the reality was much more difficult to control. Once unleashed into the madness, all sense of order truly vanished.

Have you ever walked down the hallway of a hotel whose rooms have all been left completely open? Probably not, which is why things got a little exciting last night. Each of the one hundred marked doors continually led into some new configuration of half-clothed, keyboard-wielding, tarot-card-shuffling, beat-boxing, and—yes—pillow-fighting, umm....creative types.

Anyone who came to test the softness of the beds would have been utterly distracted.

Best of all was how every single act made use of their given space in a unique way. There was visual artist Celso, who plastered every inch of the room—including the shower—with blue painter's tape. There was opera singer Joseph Keckler, who used the bathroom dividers as his velvet curtain. There was folksinger Cillie Barnes, who took up the limited floor space while her 3-man band crammed onto a single bed.

There was actor Rob Cantrell, who covered his bed with issues of High Times magazine and jumped around the room. There was Tigger, who made use of the headboard mirror to put on his makeup (despite the fact that he was bound and gagged). There was, unforgettably, Newmindspace, who amassed an army of troublemakers (we include ourselves) inside their larger terrace room, and staged a pillow fight.

Luckily for you, we took the time last month to show off the hotel's unique room features. Last night, between the pillow feathers and the audio cables, any attempted room inspections would have been a little skewed. But we certainly approve.

Not only of the Yotel's unanticipated dedication to finding one-of-a-kind performers, but also of the Yotel's wide-ranging design touches—like bathroom doors that open onto terraces, or outdoor jacuzzis, or gooseneck reading lamps above each side of the bed. Not everyone will necessarily be able to afford the corner terrace suites, but you will nevertheless be seduced by the sexy, economic design.

And if you should find an opera singer in your shower, or a stack of High Times stashed under your bed, count yourself lucky.