Are you itching for a fun-filled weekend that’s nearby and nostalgic? How about a weekend getaway that’s all Gossip Girl themed? The Lotte New York Palace, which served as the backdrop for many of the show’s iconic scenes, has its very own Gossip Girl Getaway package that’s available all year round for fans of the CW or HBO Max show. But, if you’re a one-day-in-the-city type of person, instead, you can consider taking On Location Tours’ Gossip Girl Tour. Read on to learn more about how you can experience a Gossip Girl-themed weekend.
(Photo credit: The CW)
Where to Stay
The 5-star Lotte New York Palace hotel is located on Madison Avenue, in between 50th and 51st Street. The U-shaped hotel opened in 1980 and spans over 35,000 square feet. In the luxe hotel, there are 909 rooms — 87 of which are suites.
With the purchase of The Gossip Girl Getaway Getaway, guests will get luxury accommodations, a welcome box that includes macarons and Prosecco gummy bears, champagne cocktails at The Gold Room, and 25 percent savings on tickets to the “On Location Gossip Girl Sites Tour,” and “Spotted at The Palace” postcards.
^ A hotel room inside Lotte New York Palace
(Photo credit: Courtesy of Lotte New York Palace)
The website states: “It’s been ten years since Gossip Girl said au revoir and settled into their happily ever after on the Upper East Side — but you never know where you might catch a glimpse of New York’s favorite Park Avenue princesses.”
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Lotte served as the backdrop to many iconic scenes from Gossip Girl, including the temporary residence of the van der Woodsens (Serena and Lily van der Woodsen were played by Blake Lively and Kelly Rutherford, respectively), the famous Palace Courtyard, Serena sipping a martini in The Gold Room, the location for the Bass Foundation annual brunch in the Madison Room, and many more.
^ Lotte New York Palace is located at 455 Madison Avenue, New York, NY
(Photo credit: Courtesy of Lotte New York Palace)
What to Do
Other places to check out filming locations from Gossip Girl include Grand Central Station, The Museum of the City of New York (the backdrop for the Upper East Side private high school), the Empire State Building, The Empire Hotel, The Plaza Hotel, Central Park, and Dylan’s Candy Bar.
In between grabbing brunch and an evening cocktail, the best way to throwback to Gossip Girl would be to take a three-hour Gossip Girl Sites Tour with On Location Tours.
The fun guided bus tour around the city features sites of the iconic Metropolitan Museum of Art steps, Vera Wang’s boutique to peek at elegant bridal gowns, and the famous macaron hotspot Ladurée.
^ The Gold Room inside Lotte New York Palace
(Photo credit: Courtesy of Lotte New York Palace)
For all the new Gossip Girl fans of the HBO Max reboot, On Location Tours has included new locations that were used in the reboot. These include the New York Academy of Medicine, House of the Redeemer, Nightingale-Bamford School, Park Avenue Armory, and more.
A representative from On Location Tours exclusively shared with The Hoboken Girl: “Through photo-ops, hotel stops, and shopping until you drop, there are plenty of opportunities for passengers to venture into Gossip Girl‘s lavish soci
The tour itself, which starts at $66, has a 4.5-star rating on Trip Advisor. One reviewer wrote: “Our tour guide was so knowledgeable about the Gossip Girl filming sites and was even an extra on the Gossip Girl reboot! We got 2 free macarons from Ladurée and had plenty of stops to take pictures. Highly recommend!”
^ Cocktails at The Gold Room
(Photo credit: Courtesy of Lotte New York Palace)
Another shared: “If you’re a GG fan and you want to know more for the scandalous life of Manhattan’s elite, this is the tour! Abby was an amazing tour guide and we really enjoyed the ride!”
XOXO, Gossip Girl
The famous CW series was based on the bestselling novels by Cecily von Ziegesar and developed by Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz. The series was on air for six seasons from September 2007 to December 2012 and starred Blake Lively, Penn Badgley, Leighton Meester, Ed Westwick, and Chace Crawford.
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Gossip Girl was then made into a reboot on HBO Max — the first season premiered in July 2021. After the season 2 finale aired on January 26th, it was sadly announced that there will be no third season. The series starred Jordan Alexander, Eli Brown, Thomas Doherty, Tavi Gevinson, Emily Alyn Lind, Evan Mock, and Whitney Peak.
^ Tour participants on The MET steps
(Photo credit: On Location Vacations)
“We are very grateful to showrunner/executive producer Joshua Safran, and executive producers Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz for bringing us back to the Upper East Side and all the scandals at Constance Billard,” HBO Max said in a statement to Deadline. “Although we are not moving forward with a third season of Gossip Girl, we thank them for the enticing love triangles, calculated backstabbing, and impeccable fashion this series brought to a new audience.”
Urban Market Hoboken Inches Towards Opening on Washington Street
Uptown Hoboken isn't starved for choices when it comes to grocery stores. Trader Joe's, Kings, and ShopRite are all accessible food shopping options in the area — and lucky for us, we're about to get another. Back in October of 2022, we reported that Brooklyn-based shop Dumbo Market is officially coming to Hoboken at 1425 Washington Street, under the name Hoboken Market (surprising, we know). Construction started at the massive space near the Hudson Tea House on Tuesday, January 23rd, 2024 and signage officially went up earlier that week. In mid-July, the new market was taking steps towards opening as construction continued, and in September, we found out that Urban Market is planning to make its debut in the Mile Square this November. As of October 30th, the market was making even more moves towards opening as some food was stocked. Now, we know that Urban Market is just weeks away from making its debut on Washington Street. This move marks Dumbo Market's first New Jersey location. We've covered what you need to know about this new uptown supermarket. Read on to learn more about Urban Market, coming soon to Hoboken, New Jersey.
Updates as of February 3rd, 2025
Per an email sent out by Hoboken Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher on Tuesday, January 28th, Urban Market said "they were a day away from clearing their last hurdle, which has proved to be the most challenging – their final electrical inspection. And once cleared, it would take about two weeks to get the rest ready to open."
A member of the HG team walked by on Tuesday, February 3rd, and can confirm that the market is making moves towards opening in Hoboken. This post will be updated as more details come out.
Updates as of October 30th, 2024
Urban Market now has some food items stocked, meaning the Washington Street spot is making even more moves towards opening.
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Updates as of September 24th, 2024
Urban Market is planning for a November 1st opening on Washington Street, per an email sent out by Hoboken Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher on Tuesday, September 24th.
"Ahmeed Mujalli, the owner and manager of Urban Market, gave me a tour of the space last week," Councilwoman Fisher said in the email. "The cool, industrial-feel interior is much bigger than it looks from the outside. Ahmeed is especially excited about the fresh produce, dairy, meat, and prepared food sections, and he can’t wait to introduce some interesting new offerings to our community."
Updates as of July 15th, 2024
Per an email sent out by Hoboken Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher, Urban Market is taking steps towards opening.
"We still do not have a specific opening date, but we are getting closer," the email read. "The interior drywall looks almost finished which means flooring and final fixtures are next so my guess is they will open in August. In the coming weeks, the city will be restriping the parking on the east side of Washington on that block, moving the loading zone from the north corner, to center on the block where it was always supposed to go, adjacent to the ramp and directly in front of the entrance to the market. More to come…"
Updates as of March 19th, 2024
Signage for Dumbo Market's first New Jersey location has officially gone up at 1425 Washington Street in Hoboken. Previously it was thought that the grocer would be called "Hoboken Market," but the team confirmed with The Hoboken Girl it will instead be called Urban Market, which is the parent company behind Dumbo Market.
The Urban Market team also shared that "Urban Market Hoboken will be a high-end supermarket with organic and conventional products." Signs outside the storefront promise residents that the uptown market is opening soon, and HG can confirm that soon means late summer or early fall of this year.
Updates as of January 2024
On Thursday, January 18th, the Hudson Tea House building sent an email notice to residents regarding upcoming construction in the area. Per the email, "a major portion of the build-out for the new Hoboken Market will begin on Tuesday, 1/23/2024." Accordingly, residents in the area can expect to hear "heavy drilling and cutting to the foundation," which is "limited to between the hours of 11:00AM to 3:00 PM on weekdays." The complete project schedule has yet to be released, but "other construction noise and workers may be present from 9:00AM to 5:00PM everyday except Sunday."
The email also corroborated previous reporting about the space, its location, and what to expect from the market. "This market is the same company that owns the Dumbo Gourmet Market and Soho Market...the location of the market will be the empty commercial space between Bond Vet and Montessori School on Washington Street, ground level."
The Lore
In 2022, Jersey Digs reported that workers broke ground on the vacant space at 1425 Washington Street — which will soon be home to Hoboken's own offshoot of Dumbo Market, called Urban Market Hoboken. This building is also home to Bond Vet, which opened in March 2023.
Currently, Dumbo Market is located at 66 Front Street in Brooklyn (in the Dumbo neighborhood, fittingly) as well as 205 Smith Street, also in Brooklyn. According to the spot's Instagram, the team aims to provide 'quality service and great customer satisfaction.' This move marks the grocery store's first venture into New Jersey.
According to Jersey Digs, this supermarket "will offer an extensive selection of organic and specialty items, and their Brooklyn locations offer fresh fish, meat, and hot food departments." It is also supposedly going to have online ordering with curbside pickup options as well.
The size of the space, according to Jersey Digs, is said to be 14,000 square feet. It's confirmed to be bigger than both Kings (about 7,000 square feet) and Trader Joe's (about 12,000 square feet) — so we're expecting a fairly massive supermarket.
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In addition to Bond Vet and Dumbo Market, this building is also home to Club Pilates, Hoboken Montessori School, as well as Hand + Stone Massage.
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We'll keep you updated as more details become available. Follow @thehobokengirl on Instagram + TikTok to stay in the know with all of the local news, sign up for our weekly newsletter here, and check out our events calendar.
