Denny Lee's Gramercy Park Hotel Experience

Where: 2 Lexington Avenue [map], New York , ny, United States, 10001

10/02/2006 at 9:57 AM
Tags: Gramercy Park Hotel, Ian Schrager, Denny Lee, Manhattan Hotel Reviews

Finally, Gramercy Park Hotel has gotten its "Check In: Check Out" review from the NY Times, although we're not too sure if Denny Lee enjoyed it.

Although impressed with the mélange of styles from rococo to downright eclectic, Lee claims he can "almost sense the [hotel's] built-in expiration date."

Lee also offers up detailed decor and style descriptions that we, and others who lack an interior design degree, did not use.

My room, No. 1108, was grand if somewhat cluttered, sporting a baroque style that was hard to place: Old World luxury meets postmodern iconoclasm? But that is precisely the point. There was just enough design alchemy to keep the eye guessing: ripe colors (jade walls and raspberry drapes), fuzzy textures (velvet headboards and tasseled chairs) and clashing patterns (Spanish needlepoint and Art Nouveau lines). Despite an overstuffed green sofa and marshmallow-soft king-size bed, a leather-stitched table sat four comfortably for dinner. Notably absent were any sleek lines, save for the plasma television tucked above a mahogany liquor cabinet.

He also mentions that almost everything in the room was for sale. We think with starting rates at $550, you may not have enough left over to buy the scented $90 candle. Yet most of the hotel's current clientele--"included well-tanned Europeans, gay Hollywood hipsters, Midwestern housewives, Hong Kong fashion buyers"--probably will. (Hey! How did those desperate housewives get in there?)

Lee's stay wasn't without problems. Construction noise was a bother as well as the room service. It took several calls to get his needs precisely met, yet he still found the staff competent and "not merely good looking."

We're glad to hear the staff has managed to stay competent nearly two months after opening as we always thought this might be Ian's biggest game-changer. Yet we are disappointed Lee didn't mention anything about the place being a "scary gothic sex castle."

What do you think about Ian's latest hotel creation? Game-changing or does it have a "built-in expiration date?"

Related Stories:
· Check In Check Out [New York Times]
· Gramercy Park Reviews [TripAdvisor]
· USA Today Discovers The Gramercy Park Hotel and Schrager's Bulging Belly [HotelChatter]