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Now The Crosby Street Hotel is Here, What's Next for Firmdale in the U.S.?
Now that our breathless anticipation of the Crosby Street Hotel opening is behind us, we move into the next phase of our obsessive property coverage: wondering when the next Firmdale hotel will open its doors here in the U.S. (And, of course, tracking anything new and noteworthy at Crosby Street.) There are six Firmdales in London, including Elle Man Joe Zee’s favorite, The Convent Garden. And it looks like Firmdale would like to recreate that lineup Stateside. In this Sleeper magazine interview from last winter, Firmdale spokesman Craig Markham said: “we plan to open four or five others in the next five years. Our second will be in midtown Manhattan.”
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Is The Crosby Street Hotel Being Stingy With Room Keys?
*Update* We have since heard back from Crosby Street's head concierge, who tells us that it is not the hotel's policy to not provide more than one room key. He apologized and said he would make the GM aware of our tipster's experience.
As one of the first guests to check into the Crosby Street Hotel earlier this month, we were wowed by a lot of what the hotel had to offer, particularly the design and the tenor of service. Likewise, an anonymous tipster wrote to let us know that the spacious king-sized room they stayed in at the Crosby recently was “tasteful and fresh and charming and stylish, as was the hotel lobby space.”
What our tipster loved: “the room decor, right down to the pin-stripe wall coverings; the bed; bathroom and products; the well-insulated room and silent night of sleep; the elegant room service presentation at breakfast; and the thoughtful gift box of pencils waiting for me upon arrival.”
What our tipster DID NOT LOVE (all caps theirs): “that I couldn’t get two room keys. I’ve never heard of such a thing. According to the woman at the front desk, their fancy-pants sensor-key system does not warrant handing out two keys.”
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The Crosby Street Hotel's Screening Room is Already a Celeb Magnet
We hit up the Crosby Street Hotel on Monday night, and you know what that means: the celebrities are never far behind! OK, we'd never seriously say something like that but we suspect celeb guests and swanky events have been on the agenda for SoHo’s new "it" hotel since the blueprint stage. The place is made for the rich and famous, with its country-home-meets-urban-loft design and air of laidback British cool. Plus, there’s all that dog art. Celebrities love dogs.
Then, of course, there is the private screening room. So it did not surprise us to see photos of a film screening after-party at The Crosby pop up on Guest of a Guest this week. The film was the Sundance hit An Education starring much-buzzed-about Carey Mulligan. The young actress was at the Crosby for the bash—hosted by The Cinema Society & Dior Beauty with Moet & Chandon—on Wednesday night. Also in attendance to enjoy the on Moet English Rose cocktails, mini cupcakes and brownies were Dylan McDermott, Susan Sarandon, Mamie Gummer, Agyness Deyn, Bee Shaffer, Charlotte Ronson, and Zoe Kravitz.
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Elle's Fashionisto Names The Covent Garden in London His Favorite Hotel
We like to talk about Fashion Hotels quite a bit, naming everything from the Top 3 Milan Fashion Week hotels to where Chanel puts up their guests in Venice. But not often do we actually get to hear about the best fashion hotels from the horse's mouth, but of course Twitter comes through.
While Fashion Week season ends, one of the newest Twitter celebs has earned a loyal following thanks to his devotion to tweeting live from the front rows and the poshest parties; it's the Creative Director of Elle magazine, Joe Zee. You've seen him on Stylista and now on The City, but the man is more than just a powerful contact; he's a travel pro, with no qualms about naming his favorite hotel in London.
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Inside The Crosby Street Hotel
They say good things come to those who wait, right? Well, we were hoping that would be the case with the Crosby Street Hotel. We were trying not to tap our feet too loudly as the opening was delayed, and last night, our patience was rewarded and we were one of the very first guests to spend the night at the swanky SoHo property.
The hotel had been apologetic about the electrical-problem-delay last week, and that concern carried over to check-in, where we were greeted by an eager front-desk clerk, as well as the hotel’s GM, who again apologized for the delay and told us that they were still working on some things, but were for the most part ready to rumble.
Except he didn’t say it quite like that because he was delightfully English (slim, suited, blond, posh accent)—which seemed perfect for the property’s background and vibe.
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The Crosby Street Hotel Will Now Open on October 5th
We are so close, people. We are almost inside: can you feel the excitement? We're talking, of course, about one of the most anticipated New York hotel openings of the year: The Crosby Street Hotel. In case you haven't been following our coverage of the first Firmdale property in the U.S., the story so far is this: when it was first announced, the hotel was to open at the end of 2008.
Then it became March 2009. Then September. Then September 29. But that was earlier this week, and the hotel broke our hearts by making us wait even more. (The delay, apparently, due to an electrical problem.)
But today, a source tells us that the hotel will be "fully operational" on October 5 and we couldn't be happier. What better way to make a sucky Monday totally awesome instead! Join us, will you, in crossing your fingers and your toes that no more hiccups occur before then.
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Sniffing Around The Crosby Street Hotel
As we reported earlier this week, The Crosby Street Hotel opening was delayed due to an electrical problem. Which made us sad. We were so close to being in there we could smell it. But in our holding pattern, waiting for the new opening date, we realized that what we were smelling was the hotel’s very own fragrance.
Yes, Crosby joins other boutique hotels—like the Greenwich Hotel and the Cooper Square Hotel—who can boast about their customize-scented bath products. And since Firmdale Hotels is British, so is their scent.
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The Crosby Street Hotel Will Not Open Tomorrow, Thanks to an 'Electrical Problem'
UPDATE: The Crosby Street hotel is putting guests who have reservations up at the Gramercy Park Hotel. No new opening date is set.
Monday mornings are already rough, but today we got some news that totally bummed us out: The Crosby Street Hotel is not opening tomorrow, as planned. (And here we were just one sleep away from getting to check it out!)
We received the update via an email from the hotel’s general manager, who said:
Crosby Street experienced an electrical problem yesterday and although this was through no fault of our own, it has affected the hotel’s progress and so our opening has been put back a few days. I am very sorry to let you know this close to your arrival. If you would like me to find alternative accommodation for you on the night of the 29th I would be more than happy to do so.
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The Crosby Street Hotel Crushes Us With Their $525 Opening Rate
We're depressed. Yesterday, we were flying high about the pending opening of the Crosby Street Hotel in New York on September 29th. But today we discovered that rooms will start at a whopping $525 a night for a Superior Room. Spending that much gets you 335-sq.ft of space, a king bed, free internet, air conditioning, a shower (gee, thanks!) and a street view. And just a gentle reminder from the hotel: this rate excludes breakfast and taxes.
We understand that this is Soho and the Crosby Street Hotel probably wants to compete with the likes of The Mercer (which has similar rates) but $525 on opening night is just too much. We'd really only pay that much for a hotel room unless we absolutely love the hotel, which would imply a previous stay at the hotel. So asking $525 a night--in a depressed economy--is a little ballsy.
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The Crosby Hotel Will Open September 29th; Reservations Begin Tomorrow
At the start of the month, we checked in on the Crosby Street Hotel and we were overjoyed to discover that finally, Firmdale Hotels had created a website for their first-ever U.S. hotel in Soho, New York.
And today, we see that the opening date of September 29 is in place. Yippee!
But unfortunately, no online reservations can be made at this time. We tried to call and find out if we could make a reservation and for how much, but apparently it's a bank holiday in the U.K. and the office is closed. However, online reservations should go live tomorrow. Otherwise, curious hotel guests can email reservations@crosbystreethotel.com to make a reservation.
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Crosby Street Hotel Construction Update: Getting Set for September
Is it bad that we have become so jaded and doubtful of a hotel's ability to open up as scheduled in this day and age (and by "day and age" we mean, of course, time and place: recession in the big city) that when we hear of a hotel on track to open a few months away, we sort of just sit back and wait for the delay announcements to come in? You know, for the delays to be delayed. Yeah, that's kind of bad, right?
Because it is, rather sadly, the first thing we thought when we'd heard the Crosby Street Hotel was still on track for an end-of-September opening (pushed back from March). The property is the first US outpost for London-based Firmdale Hotels, whose name was in papers this weekend because profits — yikes — had fallen 64%.
We checked in on the opening date, though, and a rep for the hotel promised the NYC property was still lookin' good for a September '09 go-time — and construction, per this shot the hotel sent us, seems to be coming along nicely. Also, we hear Firmdale has hired an artist who has been taking shots of the hotel's construction progress for the last year and they are "going to screen the result in their private cinema" when the hotel opens up.
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Crosby Street Hotel Still Set For a September Opening
The scene at the site of the Crosby Street in March.
We think that after nearly two years of delays it's totally fair of us to be getting impatient with the progress of the Crosby Street Hotel in SoHo. We've even started to get skeptical about their promised September 2009 opening.
But perhaps we should have a bit more faith. The Firmdale website still says September, and it's getting close enough for them to know whether a major delay will be happening (or so we like to believe). That, and the media is twittering with tidbits of information, like the fact that Jakob Hansen, currently general manager at one of Firmdale's London hotels, Charlotte Street, will be crossing the pond to take up the job at Crosby Street.
Once they've got Crosby Street up and running, the London-based Firmdale gang are planning to really take on New York — well, at least to open two more hotels in the city. Hopefully they won't take quite as long as the first one.
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