Full disclosure: This experience is in conjunction with the Starwood AmEx Stars program I'm participating in, courtesy of the Starwood American Express. They covered the cost of my flights to New York, my two night stay at the Westin Times Square, and tickets to the US Open. That being said, all opinions expressed are my…
Continue reading: Experiencing the US Open thanks to the Starwood American Express!
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
@Ben, so glad you and your mother were able to experience the US Open together.
Great review and story Ben! I highly recommend Wimbledon...fantastic experience, better than the US Open.
Awesome coverage Ben..thanks for posting! I got a chance to go to the US Open in '93...saw Michael Chang up close...it was a thrill (for that time, at least) hehhe..
Good review lucky. I got the emial for this and really wanted to go being a huge tennis fan. However i had already booked a 10 day trip to hawaii for that week. Next yr i will keep the us open dates in mind and see if this offer comes around again.
"So growing up I remember the US Open being on TV at home every Labor Day weekend, depriving me of the “Rugrats” and “Hey Arnold.”
Laughed out loud at that one. Aww...childhood memories. I miss Rugrats too. 🙂
I was lucky enough to win tickets from Starwood and had an amazing time seeing one of Roddick's final matches. We sat in a Courtside box 6 rows from the court. Amazing!
Like "Dave" above, we got box seats from Starwood "moments" for 35000 points and saw Roddick's match against Australia's bernard tomic.
Ben - If you are truly interested in another tournament, let me suggest the one in Indian Wells (Palm Springs). It's an awesome experience, with awesome weather, and the grounds there make the US Open grounds seem pretty underwhelming.
It's March 4-17 next year. And if you choose the correct city to move to, you should only be a couple hours drive away 😉
I'm a big tennis fan as well, in fact I went to the US Open also over Labor Day weekend. Did the SPG Suite deal for 35k SPG pts. A lot of pts, but worth it IMHO. You get some nice perks being a blogger and getting this stuff for free!!!
BTW, last year I did the "Spectator Grand Slam". One thing I learned from that is that it is quite cool to aim to stay at an official PLAYER hotel (as you get to see lots of players, coaches, etc)..........which BTW is NOT the Westin Times Square. Rather for US Open there are several players hotels, mainly IC Barclay, Waldorf Astoria, Le Parker Meridien, and a few others (surprisingly even Radisson Lexington, which as of a few days ago is no longer a Radisson). Ate breakfast 2 feet away from Sharapova at the Park Hyatt Paris (although that is NOT an official player hotel, but several of the better players stay there every year, including Roddick).
One of my neater experiences was at the Australian Open as the major player hotel was Grand Hyatt Melbourne. There were truckloads of players there, especially in the Club lounge each evening during hor'dourves and at breakfast. Paid rates were $500+ but it could still be had for 12k Hyatt pts. Great experience!! One other cool thing there happened when we moved to Park Hyatt Merlbourne for a night. There were almost no players there, nor anybody else for that matter. We were in the Club Lounge there one night and it was just me and my brother and Stanislav Wawrinka and his coach, Peter Lundgren. He was playing Federer the next day and they were sitting there talking about his strategy right there and we were eavesdropping. We were pumped up, we honestly thought he was gonna beat Federer the next day. But he got his butt kicked in straight sets, maybe due to the 2 beers we saw him drinking in the Club Lounge, which surprised me. But it was certainly cool to be able to mingle around near the players. So I highly suggest you try to stay at a hotel where the players will be staying as it REALLY adds to the experience. If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an e-mail or FT PM.
BTW, I agree with Murphy above, Indian Wells is also a great tennis experience for fans as you can get really close to the players on the outside practice courts, all the best players also play doubles, etc.
Being from Florida, I'm sure the Miami tourny the week after Indian Wells should also be on your agenda every once in awhile.
Ben - thanks for sharing the story about your brother. I lost a brother too and it has always been hardest on my mom. I can relate. Kudos to you for making the birthday/anniversary something special. You're a good son!
Thanks for the comments, guys!
@ Murphy -- Great idea, will pencil it into my calendar and see if mom can make it.
@ gregorygrady -- That's too cool! Funny you should mention it, because I was asking myself what hotels the players stay at, whether they're near the stadium or city, whether there are "official" hotels, etc. Would totally aim to stay at the "official" hotels in the future, as I have to imagine that's quite fun. Any clue if they publish what the "official" hotels are, or do you figure it out through trial and error?
Was in NYC for the Open this year, but missed out. Got to go to Flushing Meadows a few years ago - courtside, and I have to say, nothing beats live Tennis! Also, glad to see the hospitality tents provide better food. The one bad thing at the Open, I have to say, was the food (at least on the grounds). They served frozen pizzas and nachos in NYC!
I also got to the Aussie Open in Melbourne, which was fantastic - plus it's a nice summery experience in the middle of January.
Keep up the good work!
@Lucky: Originally it was trial and error, mainly by seeing many Mercedes Benz official player cars outside certain hotels. Then I started Googling it to figure out where the players are staying.
NYC: Tough since there are SOOOOO many hotels to choose from. Last year I stayed at Waldorf Astoria and saw some players and lots of announcers (Gimelstob, Brad Gilbert, etc). Year before I stayed at IC Barclay, Le Parker Meridien, and several Ws. Year before that stayed at Grand Hyatt and Barclay. This year I stayed at The Plaza, IC Barclay, and Radisson Lexington. Saw no players at all at Plaza even though it was a players hotel. Guess it's too pricey for them? Here is a very good link to see where the players will be staying at the US Open:
usopen.org/playersonly
There is a list of 13 hotels on the official list that give player discount rates. About 3 of those are actual OFFICIAL player hotels. You can also search the ATP & WTA Tour websites as they each have an official hotel (ATP = Waldorf Astoria and WTA = Le Parker Meridien).
London: I have stayed at truckloads of different hotels in London during Wimbledon over the years. Last year for example I stayed at LM Picadilly, The Savoy, IC Park Lane, Waldorf Hilton, and Trafalgar (Hilton). Didn't see a single player, nor did I previous years. Most of the players at Wimbledon stay in Wimbledon Village and often rent flats there for the fortnight.
Paris: Didn't see a single player at IC LeGrande when I was there for 4 nights last year. Did see several of the better players at Park Hyatt Paris. Didn't really do much hotel hopping while there though.
Melbourne: Since there are only a handful of nice hotels in Melbourne (especially near Rod Laver Arena), this is easier to target. Saw TONS of players at Grand Hyatt. Saw none at Westin Melbourne, and saw a couple at Park Hyatt Melbourne. There is a very nice downtown casino hotel there that supposedly many players also stay at.
I HIGHLY recommend staying at the GH Melbourne though during the OZ Open as it's so close (walking distance) to the venue. We even saw announcers, coaches, etc walking between the venue and the hotel often. And if you are on the proper side of the hotel you get a nice view of the venue right from your room and can see how full each court is with spectators.
Can't go wrong with any of the Slams. The French is the most intimate (I LOVE Court 1 there, the 3rd largest showcourt, looks like a bullring arena). NYC is the largest, and has a great nighttime vibe. Wimbledon is Wimbledon, great to go to of course. And OZ actually may have been my favorite due to how close we got to the players. It also helped that I went with my brother who is glued to The Tennis Channel 24/7, so he knows every single player, coach, trainer, umpire, broadcaster, etc that has anything remotely to do with tennis. He pointed everybody and their mother out to me. I only would have recognized the top ~30 players in the world, but he recognized all 128 players in the draw and well as their coaches, parents, etc. So what I'm saying is bring your tennis playing bro along with you as that will be a cool experience too!!
Thank you for sharing this.
Going through your blog makes me feel like I was there as well. I’ve travelled through your pictures and get the feel of the place. You’re one lucky Pal! Hope I’ll have the same experience next year! Keep posting more, I enjoy going through it.