October 2023
|
|
Seven Five, where both rectangular tables for 10 have their own “mixologist” and stocked bar. Be sure to try the 75 Smash—a blend of maple syrup, lemon juice, muddled mint, and Apple Jack Brandy.
Rooms: $275-750 per night for rooms; $1,000-$2,500 for suites.
The Standard Hotel
If you are a celebrity or just like to watch them, reserve a room at the beautiful-people hotel that abuts New York’s hit elevated linear park, the High Line. You may have heard stories about hotel guests providing NC-17 “performances” for High Line crowds, but friendly Standard staff accept these naughty antics as “part of the fun.” Enter a bright yellow revolving door and follow the black runway to the marble reception desks, where svelte and chiseled model types check you in. The elevator serves as ersatz cinema; as the doors close, the lights dim to accentuate the latest artistic video installation (and no, it’s not an advertisement for buffet breakfast downstairs). Rooms are as simple as the clientele is flamboyant, with a Scandinavian-beachy vibe: plump, white duvets and slatted teak headboards that arc up onto the ceiling. You can see your bedmate through the bathroom’s glass wall, so don’t plan on bringing kids old enough to be embarrassed. Though the rooms are on the small side, they are bright and airy, with floor-to-ceiling windows and off-white Berber carpeting so pristine the hotel does not permit red wine in the rooms. Not to worry, though. Head downstairs to hotspot Standard Grill, where you can order all the red wine you’d like while standing on a floor made entirely out of old pennies.
Rooms: $266-$1,800 per night, includes free Wi-Fi
Fashion 26
Three buildings were knocked down to create space for the gleaming 23-story Fashion 26 Hotel. One block from the Fashion Institute of Technology, the area is much improved since Mick Jagger famously mispronounced “schmatta” in his commentary on the rag trade, “Shattered.” Though still a bit “in tatters,” this section of town is benefiting from newcomers such as this boutique hotel, which offers bit of style and luxury amid the Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonalds, and other fast-food joints.
At check-in, munch on a complimentary Baked by Melissa cupcake while appreciating a Devorah Sperber recreation of Mondrian’s Broadway Boogie Woogie, created out of 1,632 spools of thread, behind the cutting-room table reception desk. Here, luggage carts are actually clothing racks, mannequins dressed in seasonal outfits line the lobby windows, and staff is gussied up in custom-designed black Australian Merino wool suits. A tubular lighting fixture casts a subtle rotation of groovy hues on the pinstripe lobby seating below. Pinstripe carpeting repeats in the sizable earth-toned rooms, which feature high-end amenities, including large flat-screen TVs, silky-smooth sheets, and plump duvets. Bathrooms sport narrow (tub-dimensioned) showers and are neatly designed with mosaic walls and travertine floors. Views are quintessential Chelsea and Midtown—rooftop water towers up close and personal.
Rooms: $299-$449 per night
Distrikt Hotel Frette linens right across from the Port Authority? Now that’s a surprise. Based on the grid of Manhattan and floras of Central Park, Distrikt Hotel has brought marble bathrooms; crisp, urban décor; iPod docks; free Wi-Fi; and a fitting motif to this formerly sleazy part of town. Built slim and tall (32 floors and only five rooms on most floors), every group of three levels corresponds to a neighborhood of New York City, represented by a back-lit collage of site-specific photos that engage you as you step off the elevator—starting with the Financial “distrikt” on the first three floors and ending with Harlem on the highest three. Offering handsome appointments—gray and brown stained wood furniture, “espresso” leather headboards, subtle “grid” wallpaper and Frette linens, gray marble baths, ecru toiletries, complimentary shoeshine, and a New York brownie at arrival—Distrikt is a studied, chic departure from the pedestrian franchise budget hotels next door. Empire coffee is available 24/7, a “Flyte-Touch” panel provides updated flight times on a touch screen, and the use of several Mac computers is complimentary for guests in a funky lobby that also features a .... |
