Katie Warren/Business Insider
- On Thursday, I attended the 2019 Palace Invitational, an annual event at an iconic New York City hotel in honor of the US Open, America’s largest tennis tournament.
- Tennis stars Rafael Nadal, Serena and Venus Williams, Alexander "Sascha" and Mischa Zverev, Sam Querrey, Daniil Medvedev, and special guest Cori "Coco" Gauff faced off in friendly games of badminton.
- In 90 degree heat, guests in button-up shirts and summer dresses sipped sangria cocktails and rosé wine and snacked on small bites that included Kobe beef sushi and chorizo and saffron arancini.
- The badminton matches only lasted about 20 minutes total, nobody seemed to know the rules or care who won, and the tennis players didn’t stick around afterward.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
On a sweltering Thursday night in New York City, I attended the 2019 Palace Invitational, a glamorous professional tennis event in honor of the US Open.
The event, which took place at the iconic Lotte New York Palace hotel, saw tennis superstars including Rafael Nadal and Serena and Venus Williams facing off in a friendly game of badminton.
Here’s what the event was like.
Last night, I attended The Palace Invitational, an annual event at a luxury hotel in New York City in honor of the US Open, America’s biggest tennis tournament.
Katie Warren/Business Insider
Tennis stars Rafael "Rafa" Nadal, Serena and Venus Williams, Cori "Coco" Gauff, Alexander "Sascha" and Mischa Zverev, Sam Querrey, and Daniil Medvedev were invited to the event to face off in a friendly game of badminton.
The event takes place at the Lotte New York Palace, an iconic five-star hotel in Midtown Manhattan.
Katie Warren/Business Insider
A night’s stay at the Lotte New York Palace starts at about $405.
I arrived to the event about 10 minutes early, as the invitation said to arrive promptly at 5:00 p.m.
Katie Warren/Business Insider
I recognized the hotel’s iconic courtyard from The CW’s teen drama "Gossip Girl," which filmed scenes both in the courtyard and inside the hotel.
In fact, the hotel offers a "Gossip Girl Getaway" package that includes a stay at the hotel and tickets to a tour of the show’s filming locations around the city.
After checking in and getting my media pass, I waited on the sidewalk for about 10 minutes before they opened the gates.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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Source: Business Insider – kwarren@businessinsider.com (Katie Warren)