HotelChatter || Downtown Manhattan Hotels Are All About the Nightlife

The NY Sun has an article today about the ever-growing (already established?) trend of hotels serving as more of a nightlife outlet than an actual place to rest your heads.

"Before, it was basically an amenity," nightlife impresario Steven Kamali said. "Now it's becoming like London. The social scene is gravitating toward hotel restaurants, bars, and lounges."

Aside from creating a vibrant social life within the hotel, having nightlife options like restaurants, bars and lounges also help the hotel pay their hefty rents. So expect the 33 upcoming hotels for NYC to have some kind of nightclub/bar/lounge/restaurant or all of the above.

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The only buzzkill is community boards who refuse to hand out liquor licenses as a way of keeping the neighborhood quiet.

For instance the hotelier behind Hotel 41, Benjamin Soleimani, is planning a seven-story boutique hotel in downtown NYC (where else?) on the corner of Bond and Lafayette Streets. It's name: Bond NoHo Hotel. It will have 86 hotel rooms and a 5,000 sq.ft. area to rent out for parties. But he's probably going to run into liquor license problems as the community board recently vetoed a license for a restaurant on the block.

Someone who's "downplaying" the impact of hotel nightlife is Michael Pomeranc of Thompson Hotels who talks about Thompson LES.

"Since this will predominantly cater to people staying in the hotel, it will keep a serene atmosphere in the neighborhood," he said. The project, with which Mr. Pomeranc is aiming to draw "Hollywood types, celebrities, and VIPs," will also have 142 guest rooms and a swimming pool.

So Thompson Hotels doesn't expect locals to hang out at Thompson LES? We highly doubt that.

[Photo: Myles Noton]

Related Stories:
· Nightlife Options Awaken Amid Hotel Boom [NY Sun]
· 60 Thompson to Get Some Competition in Soho [HotelChatter]

Hotel Reviews:
Thompson Les
Hotel 41 At Times Square

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