The boutique dorm room hotel QT has become Room Mate Grace.
After we reported in May that Andre Balazs sold his Hotel QT to Spanish hotel group Room Mate, the place sort of dropped off everyone's radar and we didn't hear much about it.
But thanks to a heads up from Concierge.com we visited the QT's old website today and, lo and behold, the property has become Hotel Grace.
"She" appears to be an actual woman, and all the marketing stuff sort of talks about the property as though she is, like, a person. The website asks you to "discover her":
Room Mate Grace is the stylish solution for the savvy traveler who wishes to experience the sophistication and fun New York has to offer. Room Mate Grace features a unique lobby and event space, complete with an indoor pool, sauna and steam room. The 24 hour kiosk is stocked with everything from the most basic supplies to the most decadent treats.
Um, er, yeah. We're just happy the free WiFi is still there.
Fellas on the other hand, now you can say you went to Manhattan and slept with your buddy's Room Mate, Grace, and not be lying! Ha!
Guest of a Guest managed to score some photos of the inside of Andre Balazs' upcoming Standard NYC. We've been keeping tabs on the property's construction via the exterior shots on the Standard's website (the opening date is still MIA, with a "coming soonish" in its place), but these are the first images we've seen of the inside -- and it looks like these rooms have killer views!
Unfortunately, these pics don't explain what the hell those curtains we saw were all about....
NY Mag reports that the hotelier is going to debut his own private wine label in his hotels--The Andre Balazs Reserve Sunset Beach Rose. Damn, that's a lot of accents.
The grapes are grown near Balazs Sunset Beach Hotel on Shelter Island and processed by Wolffer Estate of Sagaponack. It's a blend of merlot, cabernet, sauvignon, cabernet franc and cahrdonally and Balazs argues that it can challenge any california vino.
Apparently South Fork is the new Napa Valley for Balazs. The bottle will cost somewhere between $40 to $50 and a wine expert sought out by NY Mag said it has whiffs of strawberries and cherries and will be a nice "afternoon summer sipper kind of thing."
Andre Balazs has always been about fashion and art. Where there is Andre Balazs the man (whose ex-wife runs a modeling agency) and Andre Balazs the hotels, there follows models and modelizers. Also, Art Basel parties and Spiegelworld. Now you can add fashion shows to the mix too.
WWD has the scoop on Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld's cruise line last week at the Raleigh Hotel in Miami Beach.
With a lifeguard perched above the Raleigh pool, and double-C logo life preservers and beach balls scattered throughout, the Chanel cruise extravaganza kicked off on Thursday night.
Those expecting Miami Vice pastels or even a touch of Golden Girls were in for a surprise though. Karl Lagerfeld set the mood with an all-black start, from a sleek tuxedo to a slouchy blouse-and-pant combination that was more Paris and New York than some of the world's sunnier locales.
A smattering of fashionistas including actress Diane Krueger and former tennis star Anna Kournikova along with Anna Wintour were on hand to take in the show.
Could the Raleigh be the site of more fashion shows? Possibly. Krueger said, "Everyone associates Miami with the Raleigh's kind of glamour." Let's just hope those models don't eat it on the runway. The wet look is totally out this season.
We must have been so distracted by the crazy curtains in the windows of the rising Standard Hotel NYC, that we have been neglecting the man behind the hotel himself, Andre Balazs.
Interestingly enough, a bunch of AB-related stuff has come in through our inbox. Here it goes in no particular order of importance:
· Hotel QT Sold: A while back we learned Andre Balazs was looking to ditch some of his hotels from his portfolio. According to our well-connected tipster, AB sold off Hotel QT to a Spanish hotel group. We're also hearing that his partner may have sold some shares in the Standard Hotels to the same company. All this is very real-estate centric so it really won't affect the guests unless AB Hotels stop managing the properties.
· Not Setting a Good "Standard": It seems as if the old-timey residents of the Meat Packing District, including a "disco devotee", aren't so happy with Balazs' Standard NYC project. And we're not just talking about the curtains.
· Balazs Momma's House: This arrived in our inbox. Take it for what you will:
Eva Balazs, the mother of Andre Balazs, lives in a house in Arlington, Massachusetts, that is falling apart.
C'mon Andre, we know you treat your mother better than that, right? Right??
· Who Is He Dating?: We all know that the Andre-Uma love affair is kaput but who is he into now? This random site says he dated Naomi Campbell and Renee "Squishy Face" Zellweger" in 2007. Interesting...but again, who's he dating now? Let us know.
A devoted HotelChatter tipster sent us this pic that she snapped today of the Standard NYC and we are thoroughly perplexed.
Dearest Andre, what the %@&$* is hanging in the windows there? Are they rainbow-colored curtains of a sort? Yachting flags? Designer tarps? Please let us know.
Also, please don't include these in the guestrooms. XOXO, HotelChatter.
Sunset Beach on Shelter Island is what we have called Andre Balazs' dark secret because the rooms and amenities are less than what we are used to when it comes to AB Hotels. Hello, couch stains and early 1990s TVs! Not to mention dingy kitchenettes.
Nevertheless the place is reopening on May 16th (it's a seasonal joint) and rooms start at $245 a night for a midweek stay. The rates jump up to about $420 for a weekend stay.
We haven't made up our minds if this is a good rate or not. On the one hand, you do have a kitchenette plus a private sundeck with a seaview and complimentary wireless. And you are on the beach.
On the other hand, your accommodations may look like this. So you may not be in the same caliber of lodgings as your other tony Hampton friends.
On a sidenote, if you're in need of a summer job, Sunset Beach is hiring some people now.
UPDATE:A reliable tipster tells us the address of the new AB Hotel is 345 West 14th Street, which would mean it's not in the buildings shown above. And the plot thickens.
We always take rumors of a new Andre Balazs hotel here very seriously, as evidenced by our map of both real and rumored AB Hotels.
However, his next location is probably more worthy of a "real" classification than a "rumored" depending on whether you put stock in Curbed, which we do.
We had previously gotten a tip that that the location would be a private club but Curbed is reporting that Balazs will indeed open a new hotel at 320-324 West 14th Street in a group of three run-down walk-up (hah, that's sorta funny) buildings between eighth and ninth avenues. Curbed writes:
According to our source, Balazs has some tricks up his sleeve for this one, like working fireplaces in every hotel room. Yowza.
Hmm...this sounds alot like Lafayette House to us. And it's actually quite close to the sister property of Lafayette House, the Maritime. And the hoteliers behind those two hotels--Sean MacPherson and Eric Goode--are planning another one at Hotel Riverview on nearby Jane Street. We predict a hotelier smackdown in the West Village!
Still, Curbed is not saying the AB Hotel is 100 percent legit. But we hope it is as hotel guests need more options downtown.
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by Jenna
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