Lucky Magazine’s Fashion News and Features Director Dishes on the Hottest Hotels for NYFW

Jen Ford is a serious player in the fashion game, having helmed up Lucky Magazine‘s Fashion News and Features department as its director for about seven years now. Twice a year, Ford packs her bags and spends a month traversing the globe to check out the next season’s latest looks. So there’s no doubt that she not only knows how to pack a mean suitcase, but also knows what to look for when it comes to hotels. Before she jumps across the pond to London Fashion Week, though, she stays local to her home base, NYC, checking out about a dozen shows daily for a week. (She’s most looking forward to the Derek Lam and Preen shows — they make her “weak in the knees.”) We grilled her to find out where the fashion elite dine, drink and sleep during the beast that is New York Fashion Week. Check out Ford’s favorite hotels after the jump, then tell us: Where would you want to stay for NYC Fashion Week?

Q: What are your absolute favorite hotels in New York City?
A: Uptown, I duck into the Royalton. Downtown, the Crosby Street Hotel is my home away from home.

Q: Got a cherished hotel bar or lounge you love swigging a couple of drinks at?
A: Gordon Ramsay’s Maze at The London Hotel — it’s so pretty, you feel like you’re sitting in a Tiffany box! Plus, they serve the yummiest mini burgers when you have time between shows for just….a mini burger. [Ed. note: Having survived NYFW before, you do really only have time for a bite.] And the Mandarin Oriental for the view. It’s stunning.

Q: Best hotel restaurant?
A: The Breslin at the Ace Hotel. That is, if you can snag a table — because it’s well worth it. It’s fantastically cozy.

Q: What about your favorite hotel salon or spa for must-have touch-ups (or the works)?
A: I randomly went to the Bliss Spa at the W on 49th Street for a deep-tissue massage and have been addicted to that service at that spa ever since. If you have a knot, those therapists will find it.