Tag Archives: NYC

Sleeping in NYC

30 Nov

While we were dozing…three great new hotels have recently opened in New York City.  Here’s a little teaser for your next trip to the city that never sleeps. Full reviews to come when we relaunch of this blog sometime in early 2013!

Wythe Hotel, Brooklyn: hipster epi-centre, hot river views.

WYTHE HOTEL IN BROOKLYN

Picture all the hipsters in Brooklyn and then imagine opening up a hipster hotel sending  hipsters from all over the world into this hipster zone and what you have is a kind of hipster theme park where thoughtful interior design meets scruffy facial hair meets politically correct caffeinated beverages….

Sleep like a baby in the Baby Queen Room, Wythe Hotel, NYC.

Situated in the a former textile factory, the 72-room Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg makes a feature of its industrial past, while a renovation has opened up amazing new river views to Manhattan. Like Manhattan’s Ace Hotel, it aims to cater to the full-deck of clientele – lofts for the loaded, bunks for the broke. Also on offer, hipster-ish eating options at the Renard restaurant that draws the local foxes, Instagram competitions for guests and if you ask nicely they probably have a fixie out back that you can take for a spin. For details and bookings: Wythe Hotel.

HOTEL AMERICANO IN CHELSEA

Ever since we unwittingly stumbled upon some photos of the beautifully nostalgic  La Boca Chica in Acapulco a few years ago we’ve been watching the Grupo Habita hotel group to see what they would do next… The Mexican group’s latest ventures is situated in the heart of NY’s Chelsea art district, the hotel was designed by Mexico City-based architect Enrique Norten with interiors by Frenchman Arnaud Montigny (best known for his work on the Paris concept store Colette).

NYC likes to mix it up: Latin heart with a hint of modern Japanese at Hotel Americano.

The hotel’s steel exterior presents a hard shoulder to its gritty urban environment but inside an industrial aesthetic is softened by Danish-style leather sofas, wooden sleeping platforms a la  ‘urban ryokan’ (as the marketeers would have it) soft Japanese textiles and homely touches such as gas fireplaces (in suites). We like the occasional splashes of bright yellow that brighten up the neutral tones and remind us of New York’s iconic taxis. Perks include a roof top swimming pool that converts to a hot tub in winter. Guests can cement their hipster credentials by borrowing a bicycle from reception. Rooms priced from US$255. For details and bookings: Hotel Americano.

Sex and the city: she’s all your’s baby at Hotel Americano, NYC

NOMAD HOTEL IN BROADWAY

Broadway, NYC is at the centre of everything yet until now it’s been hard to find a cosy hotel to call home. We love the rich bohemian vibe of NoMad Hotel – the mash-up of pictures, textures and colours evoke a mood of travel, a sort of melting pot that reflects the make up of this most cosmopolitan of cities.

New York’s NoMad Hotel features art work drawn from the photographic travel series, Portraits de Villes.

Housed in a Beaux-Arts building, the interiors were given a classic make-over by French designer Jacques Garcia. The French influence is apparent in the art work drawn from Be-pôles’ Portraits de Villes  art book series that document a city through the eyes of a single photographer. Another French touch includes the in-house Kitsune boutique, the hipper-than-thou Parisian music and design label. The end result is an old school European-style hotel with a New York sensibility and service ethos. Modern nomads better be packing plastic: room rates start from $395. For details and bookings: The NoMad Hotel.

Not afraid to make a splash. The NoMad Hotel’s dining room evokes the exotic imaginings of an Anaïs Nin novel.

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Smooth Operator: Morgans, NY

3 Jun

A discreet welcome: Morgan’s facade

Guest Review by Michel Beziat

In the crowded boutique hotel market, Morgans boasts an interesting claim to fame: it was the first original ‘boutique hotel’. The term was coined when Morgans was developed by the late French interior designer Andree Putman for Ian Schrager in the 1980s. (The hotel recently underwent a second refurbishment by the same Andree Putman, in 2008). Given the current 80′s revival, now felt like a good moment to see how it has fared the last decades. (In the interim Schrager has kept ahead of the hotel game with developments including the über-fashionable Hudson.) The association of high-design and Mad Men location led us to expect – and fear – a serious dose of attitude so we were surprised when we discovered a rather simple, and even familial ambiance.

The Hotel: It’s ‘classic NY’ in a beautiful red brick building. Anonymous – there’s no hotel sign or name on the front door – which somehow gives you that wonderful feeling of coming back home at the end of the day. The sentiment is heightened by very cosy and intimate common areas, such as the 4th floor salon or the little outdoor terrace which is great spot to hang out if you can’t afford the penthouse on the same floor… (Ed– Hell, even if you can, why not slum it for a change?) On a sunny day, you can make the most of the deck chairs and the gorgeous views onto the Empire State building.

French designer Andree Putman works her magic at Morgan’s

The staff members were friendly and professional, without overdoing it. The room service manager didn’t hesitate to join us in the morning at our breakfast table to help us with our program for the day, he also shared some very amusing hotel anecdotes – sorry, I can’t remember any of them! – and his favourite addresses.  (For ideas about what to do during your stay, see HWL’s Perfect Day in NY and check out our Suggested New York books….) Breakfast, by the way, was lovely. Tasty and generous, and included in the room’s price.

As far as the clientele goes, it’s a good balance of European tourists and professionals working in the area, which gives it a nice local flavour. Oh, and Andree Putman is a regular client too.

The Neighbourhood: You can’t easily beat the location, right bang in Midtown, a block away from 5th Avenue, two blocks from the Empire State Building, three from Grand Central Station. Times Square and Central Park are around the corner, about 15 minutes walk away. It’s a great base to explore everything by foot.

The building next door hosts a convenience store which is, well, convenient, when you come back to the hotel totally knackered and want to get something – food, drinks, pharmacy – without going back out. Continue reading →

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Splash! Summer in the concrete jungle.

26 May

Paris Plage by Calinore on Flickr

Spring has hit the northern hemisphere – and we begin to dream of summer. A true summer holiday takes place amid the natural environment, we’re talking: beach, lake, forest and long bicycle rides. But forward-thinking urban design and/or canny citizenry can create summery urban experiences – even amid the concrete.

PARIS PLAGE

Under the concrete, the beach! It’s not just a slogan from the students protests of Paris 1968…. Every summer the city council transforms a highway into a pop-up beach and Paris Plage – complete with beach chairs, cafes, a temporary swimming pool, libraries and dance classes frequented by senior citizens – begins. It’s great compensation for Parisians who haven’t lined-up an escape route for July & August (or can’t afford to), but it’s also lovely for tourists and offers a very relaxed way of enjoying the Seine. (Unless you make the mistake of enrolling in water aerobics, it’s a long story, but let’s just say the queue for the changing rooms revealed a bizarre tension between the French love of quirk and fun and their zeal for enforcing petty bureaucracy….) (See here for hotels we love in Paris.)

COPENHAGEN HARBOUR BATHS

The Copenhagen Harbour Baths, a design collaboration between local architects Plot and BIG, transformed a traditionally industrial harbour in the Islands Brygge district into the proverbial urban playground. With its jutting diving platform and multi-tiered seating, it’s not only eye-catching, it’s a lot of fun! (Note: the revitalisation of the harbour is thanks to the city’s investment in an environmental clean-up and modernisation of the city’s water treatment plants. Try this at home?) Copenhagen continually gets the gold star for urban design and it’s obviously the world’s best city for bike riding – not to mention ‘bike perving’. Thanks to its extensive network of cycling paths you can rent a bike and explore the city in safety at a merry, carefree pace befitting a summer’s day excursion. (See here for hotels we love in Copenhagen.)

Cheap thrills: the free harbour baths in Copenhagen (Image by BIG/Casper Dalhoff)

DUMPSTER POOLS NYC

If you can’t get away for summer, perhaps you can bring the summer vibe closer to home? While it’s possible to surf off Coney Island, and Central Park is ripe with picnicking possibilities, New York City isn’t exactly synonymous with a summer vacation. And that’s why we were inspired by this video in the New Urbanism series on Babelgum. In 2009 New York design firm Macro Sea dreamt up a scheme to transform garbage dumpsters into swimming pools. Check out how they make it happen in Brooklyn – we definitely want one in our neighbourhood! After this video was made, the group tweaked the process and repeated the trick in 2010 – this time they used a truck to deliver a mobile dumpster pool on swanky Park Avenue. We’re not sure where it’ll surface next, pack your swimmers just in case. (See here for hotels we love in NYC.)

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Tourist Lane: hi-jinx in NYC

16 May

So, I just got a facebook post from Improv Everywhere saying: “Today marks the one year anniversary of our Tourist Lane mission.” Question: When can a prank have an anniversary? Answer: When it is no longer a prank. Quibbles with self-promotion aside, we are fans of tomfoolery in all its guises and posted the Tourist Lane Mission video in Our Perfect Day in NYC a while back; however, for those who can’t be bothered clicking through, there’s no harm in re-posting it here. Enjoy silliness on 5th Avenue.  (Oh, and happy anniversary!)

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The Standard Hotel NYC: Anything but Standard

31 Mar

NYC’s Standard Hotel as seen from the Highline (Image: HWL)

Jutting out over the High Line in the heart of the Meatpacking arts district is the Standard Hotel, which is anything but standard.  It’s hard to believe that this retro looking edifice designed by Todd Schliemann of the NY-based Polshek Partnership was built in 2008 – judging by the facade and stilts it evokes modernist icons such as New York’s UN building.

standard room at The Standard Hotel, NY

The rooms: the standard sized rooms are comfortable with a cosy woody sleeping pod (see above) that defines sleeping/waking spaces, a desk and the usual mod-cons. Gazing at the New York City skyline through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows is mesmerising; akin to watching waves break or the glowing embers of a fireplace.  This twinkling jewel of light is nothing short of sublime. Request a room with the bath and you can enjoy the view while soaking in the tub.

bright lights, big city: views from the east rooms @the Standard (Image: HWL)

Tips: Aim to get a room on levels 9 to 11 – any lower than nine and you miss out on the view, any higher than 11 and you might be bothered by noise from the nightclub on the 15th floor.  Also request a room away from the ice machines located on each floor; sometimes they make a funny noise like a running shower which could disturb your sleep. Continue reading →

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A Perfect Day in NYC

13 Nov

There’s no such thing as a definitive ‘to do’ to NYC – isn’t that the whole point? But these are a few suggestions to get you kick-started…

A PERFECT MORNING… Begins with breakfast. We’re slow starters in the am (leaping out of bed with guidebook at the ready by o-eight-hundred is not really our strength) so, we favour a painless segue between caffeine kick-starter and the day’s activities.

start your day with one of the world’s great newspapers @ Pastis (Image: HWL)

If you wake up in the arty Meatpacking district: Start your day with one of the world’s great newspapers at Pastis, a New York style French brasserie, crazily popular for brunch. If the sun is shining, hope for a table outside.

Alternatively, the more economically priced Cafe Gitane (inside the Jane Hotel) will serve you up a decent fruit-juice, coffee and avocado toast for about $10  in a crumbling-Havana style atmos. (Note, the original Cafe Gitane branch at Nolita, 242 Mott Street, makes for a good coffee stop if you’re mooching around the New Museum and Bleeker St area.)

Much loved and even more hyped The Highline makes for a great morning stroll (it gets increasingly crowded in the afternoon) that simultaneously raises interesting ideas about the conversion of dis-used urban spaces into wildlife-friendly parks. Get on at the Standard Hotel and walk all the way up to Chelsea, past the new Frank Gehry building.

From here, do you can do a kind of art tour on 20th, 21st and 22nd street between 10th and 11th avenue – don’t miss Gagosian and Jonathan Llevine galleries.

biking: take one along the Hudson & set it free (Image: HWL)

As your sugar levels plummet, have lunch at Cookshop, a buzzy slow food restaurant with a contemporary take on Americana cuisine. (Book in advance.)

If you’re feeling frisky and the weather is fine there’s  wholesome fun to be had: rent a bike and take it for a spin along the newly revamped bike track along the Hudson.

    *****

If you wake up amid touristic-blockbusters Uptown: Wood-panelling and furnishings by Adolf Loos – is there a better accompaniment for a perfectly boiled egg? Muse it over with the elegant set breakfast at Cafe Sabarsky, the old-school Viennese dining room at the Nueue Gallerie. It’s busy on weekends, but jetlaggers might have the advantage, if you arrive early enough you might even score a booth. (Nb: The gallery and cafe are both closed on Tuesdays.)

Guggenheim, yeah baby (image: HWL)

From here, it’s a block from the iconic Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, check their website for exhibitions.

Alternatively, skip across the road for a walk through Central Park which is always fabulous, regardless of the season. Invariably a busker will be playing jazz covers, providing that all important –”I’m in a Woody Allen movie”– kind of ambiance. If it’s sunny, it’s a nice place to settle down with a book (or given we’re in a classic kind of mood why not a short story from The New Yorker?).

Like Holden Caufield in Catcher in the Rye, we’re very fond of the beautiful nature dioramas at the American Museum of Natural History – thank God they haven’t been transformed into interactive exhibits (though there’s no shortage of those either).

If you’re all high-cultured out, you might consider getting lunch from one of NYC’s’ very reasonably priced and – sometimes delicious – food vending carts! The so-called ‘Vendies’ are described as “the Oscars of food for the real New York“. You’ll find a list of the recent Vendy Recipients here, offering gourmet bargains throughout the city.  Keep an eye on their site for developments.

Dreams of Diorama: North American flora & fauna @ the ANHM (Image: HWL)

Continue reading →

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Ace Hotel, NYC: I’m with the band

15 Jul

the lofty Loft Room

Contact & Bookings: The Ace Hotel or via Tablet.

The Ace is a useful card to play, it can be the smallest card in the pack or the Winner-Takes-All big gun. The Ace Hotel in Mid-Town New York City aims to cater to the whole deck – whether you’re counting pennies or splashing the cash. We really appreciate this democratic and generous spirit – afterall, isn’t diversity what makes NYC such an exciting place to visit?

Yes, do sleep with a friend at the ACE hotel, New York.

What we love…arriving in the lobby bar.  You get out of the cab, walk into the lobby, the music is up, the place is buzzing and you get a real, blood-pumping ‘this is New York!’ kind of feeling. By day it’s suited to coffee drinking and whiling away the hours on your laptop which is a real boost to anyone in a smaller or shared room who needs to take care of business.

Room 408, The Ace Hotel, New York (Image by Hotels We Love)

As you’d expect the rooms vary enormously, from OMG lofts for the record execs to squeezier bunk rooms for the unsigned-band (but who’s sleeping anyway?). Throughout the decor vibe is rock n roll glam meets industrial army barracks (the ratio of ‘glam’ to ‘barracks’ increases with room category) so BYO camouflage & guitar case.

We stayed in the very special Room 408, which is not only bigger than many NY flats, it also has a huge dining table, guitar and record player – if you like that kind of thing (and who doesn’t like that kind of thing?). What it didn’t have were enough shelves to store clothes and it’s sparsely lit so you may want to pack a miners torch to wear on your head. Continue reading →

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THE JANE: all aboard in NYC!

24 Jun

Visiting NYC is a little like being plugged into an electric current but, the Jane’s in-house hotel manager (a laid-back Australian) brings a chilled vibe to this hipster haven with a budget price-tag and salty seadog roots. Wedged between the Chelsea art district the Highline and the revamped cycle path along the Hudson, The Jane hotel once housed survivors from the Titanic before morphing into a flophouse. Today it provides shelter to both hotel visitors and long-term residents and is pitched at those with short pockets and a tolerance of eccentricity.

Can we help you?

Continue reading →

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