New York: Where to Stay: Newcomers: The Bowery Hotel

The Bowery Hotel

When the Bowery Hotel opened in February 2007, Schrager fanatics were quick to point out that its dark, brooding lobby complete with Gilded Age antiques, a fireplace and velvet, tassled furniture was eerily similar to the Gramercy Park Hotel’s own salon-like entranceway. But while both properties have been cited as examples of the current High Bohemia design craze, the Bowery’s vibe is a little less dramatic (no Warhols and Damien Hirsts here), a little bit cozier, a little bit brainier—as evinced in the shelves of leather-bound classics and the old-fashioned newspaper rack—and ultimately, a little bit more laid-back. This is after all Bowery Street—aka.) NYC’s “Skid Row—an area formerly associated with drug dealers, low-income housing units, and punk rock angst rather than stylish, boutique hotels. Still scenesters have already been hitting this Sean MacpHerson and Eric Goode brainchild in droves, in no doubt due to the duo’s genius (and some say obnoxious) marketing policies. The swank second-floor space is set aside for only the poshest of private parties and much like the pair’s earlier venture at the West Village’s Waverly Inn, the hotel’s Italian restaurant and bar, Gemma, takes no reservations unless you are a hotel guest (or Demi Moore, who recently threw Ashton’s birthday party there). The rooms are simultaneously elegant and industrial-sleek: long, flowing curtains cover floor-to-ceiling windows and dark mahogany furniture offsets exposed piping and white brick walls. While all have C.O. Bigelow bath products and fantastic Manhattan views (there are, after all, very few tall office buildings down here to obstruct them), only the seven private terrace suites contain the hotel’s famous outdoor showers, which allow you to literally soak up the view. A standard starts at around $425 while the private terrace suits start at $1,200.