HotelChatter

The opening page of the website is a tiny bit misleading as the photo and the bright lighting (which was nowhere in actual evidence) makes it appear to be as tyrannically large as Trump Tower. The place is actually built to a human scale and both lighting and mood are low key. This works to make it a calming spot to return to after a day of running at top speed and the location is great for back and forthing.

The bar on the main floor is a lively spot for locals as a brief stop on their way home from work and in no way interferes with hotel guests. There is a beautiful restaurant below the bar and accessed through it. We had other food priorities so hadn't time to try. There is a mezzanine built around the top of the entryway with art and a shockingly good library of twentieth century art books spread about on super swell shelves. We had the best coffee (French press) of our entire trip and some good people watching up there.

Art and architecture are priority details of the hotel and each floor's hallway has its own personality created by a different modern artist. Some were incomprehensible to me but there is a booklet in the room that might explain it all to you. The elevators are a bit too dark and they squeak loudly. Not a confidence builder.

Our room was delightfully modern, plain and simple and was a decent size as NY hotels go. The best thing about the room was lots of light from windows that open, the bed, with fab 300 (or more?) count sheets, a real comforter. There is an icky fuzzy bolster on the bed that I kept removing and the turn-down service kept putting back. I couldn't help but wonder who had been on that bolster before me as it touched my own seemingly immaculate pillow and kept remembering a woman who told me that "when you sleep with someone, you also sleep with everyone they've ever slept with". You do sleep in this hotel, if you want to. It was quiet even on the 56th St. side.

They had the most creative mini-bar I've seen with my favorite Rhodia note pad, a "Sex Kit", a good choice of liquor and wine, Dean and De Luca treats and other cool surprises. The bathroom is well designed with a large, glassed-in shower that sports a state-of-the-art giant flat head. Does it waste water? Probably. This worried me (a conservationist) but O What a Feeling! I also worried about the giant cakes of soap. The beauty part is how good they are and that they don't have a throw-away wrapping but what happened to those great big man-sized bars after we left?

Our room (which was supposedly deluxe pour-deux) had no dresser. The closet was slightly in the way of the entrance and had a couple of shelves under the safe but No Dresser. I hope this is not some "chic" new trend. The literature all boasts a CD player in every room but in ours the only way to play a CD was through the DVD player which meant we would experience our music through the TV speakers. Not exactly truth in advertising.

Overall, I would say this place is terrific with the potential for being even exceptional with a few small adjustments.

One other note: FANTASTIC INDIAN FOOD down the street at BAY LEAF. A super inventive Southern Indian chef.

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