NEW YORK — At rates from $199 a night, guests at the new World Center Hotel can get as close to the hive of activity that is ground zero as it’s possible to get without a hard hat.
The 169-room hotel just south of the Trade Center site celebrated its grand opening Wednesday, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg proclaimed World Center Hotel Day. However, guests have been staying there for months as construction was completed floor by floor.
Deena Mendlowitz, an improv performer from Cleveland, said it was “phenomenal” to see the rebuilding firsthand.
Mendlowitz said she visited New York in 2002 and the Trade Center site was depressing then.
“It’s more hopeful now,” she said. “It seems like they’re reaching the next phase, which is great.”
Some of the hotel’s rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the Trade Center site or the former Deutsche Bank building, which was irreparably contaminated Sept. 11 and is being dismantled.
Some rooms have been made into corporate apartments for extended stays.
“People choose to be here for a number of different reasons,” said Cheryl Palmer, vice president of Club Quarters Inc., the company that’s opening the hotel.
