Inside what was once the world’s tallest building sits the latest creation from hotel guru Ian Schrager, with parties aplenty set to mark the opening of the hotel in the coming weeks.
The 273-room hotel is in the old Clocktower building by Napoleon Lebrun & Sons - originally opened in 1909 as the headquarters for The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, the historic 41-story building was the world’s tallest until 1913.
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Inside what was once the world’s tallest building sits the latest creation from hotel guru Ian Schrager, with parties aplenty set to mark the opening of the hotel in the coming weeks.
The 273-room hotel is in the old Clocktower building by Napoleon Lebrun & Sons - originally opened in 1909 as the headquarters for The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, the historic 41-story building was the world’s tallest until 1913.
These days, it sits in New York’s cool NoMad neighborhood, close to Madison Square Park - it’s also at 5 Madison Avenue, once the HQ of the country’s advertising industry and inspiration for successful TV series Mad Men.
The show is now into its last few episodes, which take place in the 1970s, an era that is reflected somewhat in some of the styling of the hotel, with faux fur throws on the beds, plus this seems like a place where it will always be cocktail hour.
“I’m always interested in upsetting the status quo and going off in new directions,” Schrager said, adding that the hotel is inspired by “New York City’s turn of the 20th-century private clubs, Fifth Avenue’s Gilded Age Mansions and Stanford White’s architectural masterpieces”.
“It is impossible to label this look,” he claimed. “And, rightly so. We are never out for a ‘look’. We are out for a feel and an experience.”
The lobby area and bar features Jean-Michel Frank-inspired pieces; Christian Liaigre furnishings; an Erik Kolling Andersen-inspired lounge chair; white oak floors and ivory Venetian plaster walls; hand tufted silk rugs and silver silk drapery fabric by Christian Liaigre; while Alvaro Aalto lounge chairs rest in front of a 30-foot long, hand-forged blackened steel fireplace.
Following on from one of the most-photographed hotel spaces of last year - the restaurant at the London EDITION - the 80-cover eaterie at the New York hotel is inspired by the colors of Dutch Masters such as Vermeer and Rembrandt.
Composed of three dining rooms, a parlour with a billiards table and a library serving cocktails, a series of black and white photographs are displayed throughout each space hung in French baroque gold leaf frames. The executive chef will again be Brit sensation Jason Atherton.
Guestrooms have 360-degree views of New York, but the three penthouses on the 29th, 30th and 31st floors will be the ultimate rooms to book. Le Labo bathroom amenities feature in all rooms, as do flat-screen HDTVs, BEATS Bluetooth speakers and specially programmed iPods and iPads along with complimentary WiFi.
All design is overseen by Rockwell Group and I.S.C Design Studio in collaboration with Schrager, who is also working on plans for another nine EDITION hotels for Marriott.
Next up - adding to Miami, London, Istanbul and now New York - will be Sanya in China; Bangkok, Thailand; and Guragon, India all in 2016.
Abu Dhabi will follow in 2017, along with Shanghai and Wuhan in China and another New York property, at Times Square. West Hollywood and Bali are also planned in the future.
"We are never out for a ‘look’. We are out for a feel and an experience"
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