HotelChatter

Lobby
The lobby/public area on the ground floor is decorated with brown and beige tones and finishes that remind us a bit of the Cooper Square lobby — tons of plush seating throughout, and a few focal points where beautifully-lit glass cabinets glass will house some yet-to-arrive found objects (intrigued? Us too!) There is a sort of lounge area with a day-to-night bar near the front desk (the bar serves coffee and such during the day and booze at nighttime) with walls covered in — seriously — men's suit material. There is a French-ish restaurant planned for the ground floor, plus a clubby bar/lounge coming one level below the ground floor. Also: there is a massive fitness center downstairs — probably one of the biggest NYC hotel gyms we've seen (and this hotel only has 150 rooms!)

Rooms
The dark-purple hallways are spacious and well-lit, and we were able to check out a standard room, a studio suite, a double room and a suite. The rooms remind us a teeny bit of 60 Thompson, and we're happy to report that even the standard rooms are totally spacious. No big lightbox artwork here; the focal point of most of these rooms is the pop of color from a fire-engine red chair by the floor-to-ceiling windows. There are a lot of nice little touches throughout: power outlets in the desks and next to the beds; DVD players in each room; cove lighting above the bed's headboard that lend a cozy, homey look to the spaces.

Overall, we got more of a contemporary-casual vibe from the place: it's not as trendy as the Thompson LES, and it definitely caters to more of a business traveler than a clubgoer — but it still maintains the look and feel of a Thompson property.

Though the rooms are finished, there's still some work that needs to be done on the lobby (final touches, decorating and whatnot) and the hotel will open up about 50% of its rooms in February — though an exact date is still up in the air. For now, they're still relocating January rezzies to Thompson LES (BizTraveler's January 28th reservation was moved), so hold off on booking anything.