HotelChatter

The Neighborhood
Upon arriving at Bowery and E. 3rd Street, we realized that we have spent many a sketchy night near Bowery back in 1999/2000 when the block was practically deserted. (Don't ask.) So to us, the neighborhood looks great compared to what it used to be.

The hotel and its restaurant Gemma are located on the corner and are pretty much the most happening thing on the block. It's also about two blocks from the forthcoming Cooper Square Hotel (which is monstrous and totally uncalled for). And it's also two blocks from the shops on Broadway in SoHo.

Check-In
A gracious bellman grabbed our bag out of the taxi as we paid the fat lazy cab driver who couldn't be bothered with our suitcase. The bellman even did a quick glance at the ID tag on our suitcase and using our last name, asked us if this was our first time at the Bowery.

At the reception desk, there was no wait and as a woman quickly processed our reservation we stared at the old-time tassled keys on the wall behind her. These we found out were actual room keys. They are pretty but we noticed on the reservation agreement that if you fail to return your room key, you will be charged a $100. So much for keeping them as a souvenir.

Room Reaction
The first thing we noticed after entering from a dark hallway is the abundant amount of light. The floor to ceiling factory windows are fantastic. Our room on the corner offered both views of uptown and looking west.

The bedspreads are trimmed in orange and there is a somewhat ratty fleece blanket at the edge of the bed with The Bowery scripted upon it. The furnishings are dark wood and the two little green chairs had doilies sewn on top.

The whole feel is very Victorian and a throwback to the early 20th century. It reminded us of Gramercy Park Hotel but lighter, happier and overall less scary.

The bathtub is heavenly. We don't take long showers. Typically, we are in and out in three minutes, four if we shave our legs. But upon seeing the sunken tub and the shower head above in the ceiling we probably luxuriated for about 20 minutes with the water running. Sorry Al Gore, but we just had to.

Amenity Assessment
C.O Bigelow products fill the bathroom. A flat-screen TV, iPod docking station and two phones round out the gadgets in the bedroom. There's also an iron and a hairdryer in the armoire.

Minibar Madness:
Speaking of the armoire, the minibar is chock full of goodies like Dean & DeLuca nuts and candies, chips, power bars, mints, beverages and a Bowery set of condoms in an "elegant carrying case."

Internet Connect
The wireless is fast and easy. The network is wide open so just click the network and start surfing. The only problem is that our Mail software is not allowed to send mail. (This happens frequently in hotels. We have no idea why. Would love your tips if you got 'em.)

Gemma
Gemma really surprised us. We had known it was a bit of a hot eatery but we didn't do any research. Simply put, we were starving and this was the closest place. Fortunately a friend was able to meet us for dinner and we dined on the artichoke, raddicho and white truffle viniagrette salad and the gnocchi bolognese. We sipped Veneto wine throughout and topped it off with vanilla gelato "drowned in espresso." What that means is they bring out a little shot of espresso and you pour it on the gelato. Mmmmmm....

The Bar
We didn't hang around the bar but we spied plenty of other people there and they were taking advantage of the outdoor terrace on the warm but not muggy August night. However, the lobby and the bar, which are one and the same really, reminded us of winter. Is that weird? The furnishings are dark wood. And it's kind of musty. But we somehow think that's the point.

Bottom Line, Part One
We like this place way better than Gramercy Park Hotel. We'll have a video room tour for you tomorrow as well as touch on some other things in the hotel that we liked and a few that we didn't like.

On a side note, we caught a bit of Mandy Moore's reality show on Oxygen, after Tori and Dean, and she spent a night at the Bowery Hotel. How weird, we were sitting there in the Bowery Hotel watching TV and the hotel comes on the screen. Very weird.