HotelChatter

In keeping with their love for all things local(ish), Andaz is sourcing their good stuff from Ithaca, NY-based Gimme! Coffee. You may have already tried their espresso—in addition to their original coffee shops upstate they have NYC outposts on Mott Street and in Williamsburg.

That "love the locals" goes for for Gossip Girl's Mr. Crawford, too. Apparently he lives across the street from Andaz in the Phillippe Starck-designed Dwell95 and his name was thrown into the general mix of neighbors living in the Financial District that the hotel hopes will embrace their Andaz Lounge, bar and restaurant as quasi clubhouses.

The coffee—and croissants and pastries—in the Andaz Lounge will be complimentary for guests, but locals and drop-ins will have to pay. (There'll most likely be some kind of room-key flashing involved to prove you're freebie-worthy). From what we've heard about Gimme! Coffee, that shouldn't matter. New York Press called it "heads, shoulders, ears and skull above any cup of coffee we've ever tasted, anywhere," and DailyCandy calls the exclamation point in its name "well deserved."

Most of all, we like how the Gimme! peeps put it themselves: "We're turning out coffee that turns people on." Hear that Chace?