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Inside Imperial No. 9 and the Public Spaces of the Mondrian SoHo

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 9 Crosby Street [map], New York, NY, United States, 10013
February 24, 2011 at 10:26 AM | by | Comments (0)

Now that we've showed you all around our room on opening night, let's continue the tour with our photos and peeks inside the public spaces at the Mondrian SoHo. Just keep in mind that not everything is open or accessible—for example, the Crosby Garden and the patios—but we'll keep checking back and updating as the Mondrian's scene develops.

The first area we obviously scoped out was the ground floor lobby, which completely matches the guest rooms in that it's wholly decorated in shades of blue, completed by mirrored surfaces and lots of clean white. Although it's inspired by Jean Cocteau's 1946 film “La Belle et la Bęte," the design, for us, brought to mind clouds, sleepytime and pleasant dreams, which isn't too bad for hotel where people, you know, sleep. They're obviously really into the oversized glass lantern thing, as there's more of those scattered about than actual chairs it seems, but the idea is not for you to stay sitting in the lobby but to go dine in Imperial No. 9, drink in Crosby Garden or party at Mister H.

Speaking of Mister H, that's a bottle service club that's not owned by the Mondrian, so we're not even going to talk about it. Seriously, do people still do bottle service these days? So moving on to Imperial No. 9, the seafood restaurant by Top Chef Sam Talbot. We were only here for the complimentary continental breakfast supplied to guests until the restaurants open on March 1 and consumed no food produced by the place's kitchen, but that doesn't mean we can't comment on the surroundings.

Imperial No. 9, like the rest of the hotel, has a soft interior touch. It's a nice and intimate restaurant for a hotel, so the noise level should be manageable for actually talking during dinner. A gold leather bench runs the length of the middle of the dining area, flanked by curved and cushioned seating areas, behind which are scalloped wood shingled walls that evoke fish scales. Again, mirrored surfaces, lots of natural light from windows and chandeliers of fantasy keep with the theme of the entire hotel.

Crosby Garden, aka the permanent tent out front, isn't open and is still a sea of plastic-covered furniture waiting to be arranged. However, above Crosby Garden, they are almost finished setting up the patio off reception. It's an astroturfed, casual spot for maybe about 20 people to chill while watching arrivals walk up the sidewalk to the lobby door below. There's another patio as well, though this is a large one off the meeting area and could possibly only be used for private events. We have no idea...yet.

Currently the spot with the most potential, though we're sad to have no images of it, is the unfinished Crosby Garden. If that doesn't become all clubby and instead goes the route of opulent place to grab a drink and a bite or two, it could easily become Soho's next great gathering space. Heaven knows Soho is packed with tech startups and trendy companies enough (the early adopters to begin buzz) to really get happy hour going, assuming the hotel guests doesn't claim it for themselves straightaway.

[All photos: HotelChatter]

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