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Hotel Azure in NYC's Chinatown Uses Key Cards to Turn On the Lights

Where: 120 Lafayette Street [map], New York, ny, United States, 10013

A dedicated tipster recently went inside the Hotel Azure in Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood and discovered the hotel was using some eco-friendly practices:

The best part is that they have those key card activated energy saving systems like the hotels do in Europe. I have been waiting to come across those in NYC. The rooms are super small but they are clean and well priced.

Another hotel stateside using this energy-saving system is the Orchard Garden Hotel in San Francisco.

The Azure actually just opened in September and despite the website saying it's located in Soho, the hotel sits on Lafayette and Canal which is really Chinatown. Still, you can walk to the cool shopping in Soho and if you're on a budget you are very close to all those fake bags and watches they sell on Canal.

The hotel rooms are decked out in a modern but simple decor--white sheets on the bed with blue accent pillows. The hotel bathrooms are very simple (read: small) with a sink and a shower but also with fancy blue tiling.

As is the trend these days with small hotels, the WiFi is free and each room has a 32-inch flat screen TV. So far the hotel has pretty good reviews on TripAdvisor but we found kinda pricey rooms at $399 for next Friday. Then again, this is New York City where average room rates are over $300.

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Lower Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Hype / Hotel News / → All Tags

What Boutique Brand is Going in at 75 Wall Street?

The NY Times has an article on the lower Manhattan hotel happenings with a report that the hotel going up at 75 Wall Street will "a major hotel company that is starting a new boutique brand in Lower Manhattan."

Some other details are that the 36-story building will have 251 rooms, half of which will be suites and 350 condos for sale. The redesign is being done by David Rockwell who is looking to create a luxurious interior despite an office building exterior.

"From the outside, what you see is something that's built as an office," Mr. Rockwell said. "The surprise is going to be on the inside; it will be very luxurious, all about reflective light." The lower floors will include meeting spaces, a restaurant overlooking Water Street, and a bar that will spill out into an outdoor plaza.

But what we really want to know is who could this mystery major hotel company with a new boutique brand be? Could it be Andaz, the newly announced Hyatt brand? Or is it Barry Sternlicht's One or Crillion brands? Maybe it's the newly announced SLS hotels started by Sam Nazarian which will be managed under the Starwood umbrella? If you have an idea, let us know.

75 Wall Street rendering: Rockwell Group via NYTimes

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