New York: Where to Stay: Boutique: Crosby Street Hotel

Crosby Street Hotel

79 Crosby Street, Soho
212-226-6400; fax: 212-226-0055
www.firmdale.com

Vibe: Homey, chic design, colorful

At a Glance: Thanks to designer Kit Kemp’s inspired vision, the Crosby Street Hotel is a handcrafted, ultra-luxe retreat whose whimsical interiors bring out the inner child in all who stay.

The Crosby Street Hotel is the New York addition to London-based Firmdale hotel company, which includes the Haymarket and Dorset Square. The very-British company’s first foray into a U.S. city, the Crosby sits on a relatively quiet side street in SoHo, occupying a modern eleven-story building, which Firmdale built from the ground up. Interiors are classic Kemp: a contemporary mélange of fabrics, textures and eye-catching hues that are combined with an expert eye. The best part about Kemp’s vision is that it’s decidedly about the fantasy of staying in a beautifully conceptualized hotel that has absolutely nothing to do with your own living room. Walking through one particularly exquisite suite that boasted lime green fauteuils, wildly patterned, bespoke wallpaper and multi-hued silk drapes, I could not help but think, don’t try this at home.

Each of the 86 rooms is different in decor and color scheme, giving the accommodations a personal, handcrafted feel. Hand-chosen antiques and custom-designed light fixtures abound, as well as original art and a life-size dress mannequin in the corner—a Firmdale signature. Even the smaller-category rooms feel spacious thanks to the building’s high ceilings and amazingly huge warehouse-style windows. If you’re on one of the upper floors, you have marvelous city views spanning the East Side and down to the Brooklyn Bridge on one side and across SoHo and towards uptown on the other.

Outdoor spaces include a garden on a lower rooftop so that guests can look onto something green, and the lofty bar area that spills into a courtyard facing Lafayette Street is one of the city’s hot spots for an al fresco cocktail and meals throughout the day. Don’t let the name fool you, this is a fully-fledged–and delicious–restaurant. For guests who want to be based downtown in midst of SoHo bustle— Balthazar is around the corner—the Crosby Street Hotel is a stylish option.

INDAGARE LOVES:

— Simone Girner 09/21/2009