This is London hoteliers Tim and Kit Kemp's first hotel outside London where their eclectic style has proved hugely successful. Their hotels are characterised by a decor of bright colours and oversized art, contemporary but comfortable furniture, good-looking and friendly staff, a large buzzy bar and restaurant which attracts lots of local custom, and a smart screening room in the basement. The effect here in New York, in a new 11-storey brick building with a kitchen garden on the roof, is rather exhilarating and I immediately felt full of anticipation, which I tried to disguise, of course.
It was novel and fun to be greeted by British staff. When I walked in, Uma Thurman was walking out, but they were taking her presence in their stride. The staffer who showed me into the elevator confided that in the last week they'd had Anna Wintour, Claudia Schiffer, Elle McPherson, Orlando Bloom and Claire Danes in the hotel. The smell of industrial-strength glue was distracting but the hotel had only recently opened and last-minute adjustments were clearly still being made.
Perfect, fantasy New York. Cobbled Crosby Street is SoHo, a low-rise area shoulder to shoulder with busy, cool restaurants, bars, cafes and the sort of shops where you want to hand over your credit card and be given a whole new life. Conveniently, it has a back entrance into the downtown branch of Bloomingdales. However, it has remained one of the area's quiet streets, so you can enjoy SoHo without being kept awake by it. As a neighbourhood it is much more enjoyable than the much-hyped Meatpacking District.
Very downtown. Lots of media and creative types in the restaurant: odd haircuts, expensive glasses, slightly grungy clothes. For the time being, this feels like one of the coolest, liveliest places to be in New York. It's a mark of the hotel that in a neighbourhood packed with great places to eat - Balthazar, for instance, is just around the corner - a lot of guests eat in the hotel restaurant. The post-work scene was a roar of noise, and the hyper-buzzy atmosphere persisted until after midnight.
Made me grin in delight. Floor to ceiling metal-framed windows, a king-size bed, one black wall, the rest white, and a colour scheme of black, white, grey and lilac, with a glass and granite twin-basin bathroom with Miller Harris shampoos, etc. All the rooms are different, but decorated in the same bold, vivid, uncorporate style. The chairs were comfortable, the bed bliss, and the bedside reading lights had been placed so a person could - hey - actually read without leaning out or peering or otherwise contorting themselves. Unusual, you have to agree. The views from the top, 10th and 11th floors, were brilliant ...
Cheerful, comfortable, easy, efficient. So many design-led hotels have staff who make it clear they feel vastly superior to guests; no doubt some of the staff here feel the same, but if so they were expert at disguising it. I saw a barkingly face-lifted woman, the kind who in many places would have subtle little glances exchanged between staff behind her back as she was escorted to the elevators or appeared at breakfast, treated with focused kindness.
Still, it probably wasn't a good idea to put non-American staff at the concierge desk. A question about the location of another hotel flummoxed the young British guy and when I left a request for a taxi, I saw the flummoxed one disappear up the street for a good 10 minutes until he reappeared in the back of a cab, which all felt a bit amateur. But in the restaurant, everyone was snappy and super-efficient, clearly loving their success.
When you walk into the lobby, the Crosby Bar is on your left, fizzing away. This is a combined long bar and restaurant in one large, open-plan, high-ceilinged, grey-oak floored and again vividly decorated room: striped banquettes, multi-coloured globe lampshades, large bright paintings, big mirrors, a wall of Bakelite phones, looking on to a central courtyard. On your right, in the lobby, is the lounge, which is for hotel guests only and felt very cool and insidery. The Crosby Bar stays open for drinks and meals all day, from 7am to 1am. Their house granola, at $9 (Dh33), is deliciously crunchy, and I loved the Spanish frittata, $13 (Dh48). It is a terrific place to hang out, with a constantly changing cast, lots to look at and eavesdrop; I could have happily spent the whole day there.
The look of the place and the buoyant atmosphere.
Crosby Street isn't broad and while I selfishly enjoyed looking out from the floor to ceiling windows I didn't like the feeling of being scrutinised in return.
Buzzing, fresh, fun - you have to have a look, at least. It's expensive, though (except for food). If you're coming to New York on business, this is a very good place to be and to name-drop. If you're coming to New York on holiday, I'd say don't bother to splash out to stay here; better save some money, check into a less expensive alternative and just come and hang out at the Crosby Bar.
A double room costs from $551 (Dh2,024), including taxes. 79 Crosby Street, New York (www.crosbystreethotel.com; 001 212 226 6400). travel@thenational.ae
