The Gossip Girl Experience is a dress up opportunity for women who may have never played with Barbies or former theatre kids going to see Wicked.
For New Yorkers, Gossip Girl was set in a fantasy New York, but now the fantasy is available complete with macaroons and cocktails at the Empire Hotel where Leighton Meister and Blake Lively played dress up as Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen.
So I dragged my friend Crystal to the Gossip Girl Experience after we debated who’d be Blair or Serena. In real life, we both relate to Blair. She worked hard for everything she got. However, one of us had to be Serena, so my friend kindly and stylishly took on the role and we went to our respective closets to get ready.
What is the Gossip Girl Experience?
The Gossip Girl Experience is a setting plus a menu option of items you can order on the rooftop of the Empire Hotel.
The menu includes individual towers of finger sandwiches, macaroons, and pastries. The drink is either a mocktail or cocktail with fresh peach puree and egg whites, so it has both fiber and protein. (It’s one step away from a smoothie, lol!)
When you walk up to the rooftop, you’ll see the famous sign for the Empire Hotel, where you can get a photo op with a Chuck Bass life-size cut out.
In Gossip Girl lore, this is the hotel Chuck Bass lived in and sold Blair to keep. The experience can be outdoors or indoors. Indoors, Gossip Girl episodes continuously play behind the bar.
Specifications
- Cost: $50 per person.
- What’s included: Individual afternoon tea towers and an XOXO-Goossip Girl Cocktail or Mocktail.
- Days and times: Select Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m.
- Location: The Empire Hotel rooftop in Manhattan a.k.a. Chuck Bass’s hotel, which is also where Dexter was filmed! The alternative location is downstairs where other scenes were filmed.
Pros
- Especially at the corner table (definitely ask for it) with the afternoon tea and macaroons, you feel like you must know Blair Waldorf herself.
- It’s a sunny, relaxed rooftop bar in New York City. Enough said.
- The afternoon tea tower was filled with delightful finger sandwiches and assorted flavors of macaroons.
- $50 per person for an XOXO-Cocktail with an afternoon tea tower in New York City is pretty reasonable. Afternoon tea at The Plaza is $125 per person.
Cons
- I wished for a little more theme. There was a cardboard cutout of Chuck we took photographs with, but where was the rest of the gang?
- The waitress didn’t seem to be playing along with the vibe. The truth is the experience is something you order from a menu that also includes other items. It’s not a whole routine.
- You must have reservations. Towers for the experience aren’t just sitting around. You must make reservations in advance.
What was our Gossip Girl Experience Like?
In one word, it was fabulous.
I met Crystal at the elevator in my black dress and fake pearl headband to play Blair. Crystal played Serena in a flowy, yellow skirt, off-the-shoulder white blouse, and oversized, vintage sunglasses and cascading hair.
We nodded in approval of the outfits and searched for the way to get upstairs. We didn’t see a button for rooftop, so we exited the top floor staircase and climbed up. We found a hostess, and she showed us what felt like our golden staircase to the experience we’ve been waiting for.
Before climbing the staircase, we stood next to the Empire Hotel sign that was in many Gossip Girl Episodes and took pictures with the cardboard cutout of Chuck Bass. Then we walked up the stairs and chose the corner booth.
The tower and the drinks were perfect. The server didn’t seem into the experience, but we weren’t at Universal Studios. We enjoyed the sunny rooftop and the manager let us bring Chuck Bass to the table for photos. She even joined in with us.
Only one other table was there for the experience. There were kids at another table. One little girl seemed to really want macaroons. She was the perfect Blair Waldorf in training and reminded us that Chuck and Blair had a kid that was introduced in the last episode of Gossip Girl.
Between us, the manager, and the little girl, our Gossip Girl experience was complete.
Who Is This Experience For?
- Someone who loves Gossip Girl who wants to play dress up.
- A bachelorette or birthday party with a Gossip Girl Theme.
- If you can’t climb steps, don’t worry. You can still ask the experience on the lower floors.
- Fans of Dexter. There’s a fantastic irony for fans of a serial killer show having macarons and cocktails on a rooftop.
Who Shouldn’t Buy This Experience
- Someone who just wants to be on a rooftop in New York can order from the brunch menu, too. We ordered an amazing flat bread to go with our tower.
- You want an exclusively Gossip Girl Experience. It’s hit or miss whether other people will be dressed up. This is a personal experience for yourself and friends.
In My Expert Opinion
I received review tickets from the Empire Hotel. I’ve reviewed concert, comedy events, and cultural experiences since the summer after I graduated high school and I always wanted writing to take me to New York. Thus, experiencing the high school version of one of my favorite shows seems very full circle.
The biggest problem with the experience is there could have been more of it. In the future, I hope to see cut outs of Sabrina and Blair to take pictures with, just like the ones with Blair. I’d also love to see hand prints on the ledges.
