Soho House Rating: 4.0 Pearls

West Village, Manhattan, New York City

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The pool

Soho House New York -- the only U.S. outpost of this London-based members-only club -- opened in 2003 in Manhattan's then-seedy Meatpacking District and helped usher in the neighborhood's transformation. The club and rooftop pool -- and the members, of course -- make regular appearances in New York society headlines: The club practices a version of social engineering whereby members must be nominated and then chosen by the club for permission to pay the $1,400 annual dues. "Creative types" and celebrities make the cut -- Wall Street types, supposedly, don't. (And don't wear a suit, either -- a summer 2009 newsletter instructs a no-jacket, no-tie dress code.) Or at least that was the case pre-recession; these days, it may be easier to get in.

And, in any case, anyone can book one of the property's 24 rooms -- just don't expect much in the way of service. Of the company's six locations, all but New York City's are in England, and New York is the only one with hotel rooms. And, frankly, it shows. The staff scrambles to take care of guests while they're not busy helping members at the front desk, the hotel is short on extra amenities and services for hotel guests, and the rooms could use a general pick-me-up -- the kind the staff gives the pool on a regular basis.

To be fair, Soho House rooms are spacious and well appointed with comfortable beds, great bathrooms, and top-of-the-line technology. But in a neighborhood where hot new neighbors like the Standard and Gansevoort wow guests with super modern design, the once-trendy look of these rooms is feeling dated.

The city's only Cowshed spa, a drawing room and bar, restaurant, and private screening room are spread throughout the building, and are only accessible to hotel guests and club members. The former get to rub shoulders with pool partiers; waiting for the elevator next to three leggy blondes, I smiled to myself as they chattered in thick Russian accents about how they always lose their umbrellas, cell phones, and drunken male companions. But forget about inviting a group of friends to join you for a drink in the lobby -- guests can invite only two people to join them inside the hotel.

Though any trendy guest or member is likely to fit in here, the hotel itself seems best suited to Soho House club members visiting from the other side of the pond, who get a members discount on rooms. For most visitors, however, Soho House doesn't measure up to other neighborhood favorites like he Standard and Gansevoort, which both offer fresher-looking rooms and service that spotlights hotel guests, not exclusive members.

As I stood in the lobby, waiting to hand over my credit card to reception, I was surprised that no one had opened the door for me; that no one was offering to take my luggage; and that check-in involved little more than handing over my key after taking my credit card info. I was practically shoved aside as club members signed in on their way to the rooftop pool. Call me picky, but when I'm checking into a $500-plus-per-night hotel, I expect a warmer welcome. This was what you'd expect at a fashionable YMCA.

The inattentive welcome was followed by next to no service of note during my stay: The automatic turndown service was the most impressive feature. The front desk promptly returned my requests -- a blanket came to my room two minutes after I'd called down for it. And the front desk addressed me by first name when I called down to the desk. But you get none of the over-the-top attentiveness, thoughtful extras, or personalized attention that most hotels in this price range offer.

• Front desk acts as 24 hour concierge; no separate desk
• Bellmen assist guests with luggage, but no doormen
• 24 hour room service
• Automatic nightly turndown service

View on a Larger Map

Soho House is in Manhattan's Meatpacking District, in the northeast corner of the West Village, next to Chelsea. The area's name refers to its recent past as home to hundreds of slaughterhouses and meat processing plants. Later it was a notorious cruising ground for prostitutes. These days, after an astoundingly rapid transformation, it's become a fashionable neighborhood with a lively nightlife scene -- Soho House credits itself for importing cool to the area, while others attribute the start of gentrification to the designer boutique Jeffrey New York or even Soho House's neighbor, the Hotel Gansevoort. In any case, the area became even more trendy when Sex and the City started filming in local bars and restaurants, with Soho House's rooftop pool figuring prominently in one episode.

Fancy shops and expensive, celebrity-chef restaurants abound throughout the neighborhood, and at night, plunging necklines appear and sky-high heels click along the sidewalks until long past the midnight hour. Despite the area's slightly seedy history, it's now perfectly safe at nearly all hours -- but it's not quiet.

• One hour ($45) from JFK International Airport; 30 to 40 minutes ($40) from LaGuardia Airport; 1.5 hours or more ($40 and up plus tolls) from Newark Liberty International Airport
• The nearest subways are the L, A, C, and E at 14th Street and 8th Avenue, about three blocks from the hotel.

A Playroom

Large, well-appointed rooms range from 325 to 950 square feet -- pretty large for New York, in other words, even at the bottom of that range. Great beds, couches, desks, plenty of storage and closet space, and up-to-date technology in even the smallest rooms make them feel like apartments. They all feature huge bathrooms with a huge range of Cowshed bath products and luxurious stand-up showers. All rooms have Sony Bravia flat-screen TVs, equipped with "Dream" surround sound systems hooked up to DVD players, radios, CD players, and iPod docks. Catch phrases like "cool Britannia" and "urban sophistication" crop up in articles describing the design, by Ilse Crawford, founder of British Elle Decoration. But since the hotel's opening in 2003, furnishings like shiny red plastic desks and tropical print sofas are starting to look dated.

• DVD rentals can be ordered until 9 p.m., and pay-per-view movies can be ordered; 70 channels are available, including British channels, sports, family, and cable entertainment channels.
• Complimentary Wi-Fi is available throughout the hotel, including in the rooms.
• Beds are comfortable, with down pillows and smooth, white Italian cotton sheets by Fili D'oro. The mattresses, custom-made for the hotel, are very comfortable and have pillow-top covers.
• Bathrooms are spacious, clean, and well designed. Tiled shower stalls with rain showerheads are in every room, and all but the smallest rooms have bathtubs in them, ranging from built-in units to standalone egg-shaped marble tubs.
• Rooms are stocked with a full range of Cowshed products in full-size bottles, any of which are free for guests to use, but guests are charged the full price ($24 to $30 a bottle) of the bottles if they take them upon departure.
• A drawer full of complimentary items like razors, tampons, and cotton swabs was stocked, which was a nice little extra.
• The Monarch robes and Pima collection towels are comfortable but they feel kind of worn, like they're about due for replacement.

The screening room

You might already be familiar with this hotel-hidden-in-a-club from this Sex and the City pool scene. The rooftop pool, especially during sweltering New York summers, is an enviable hangout spot, with a great view of the city from the pool deck, bar, and poolside service (with a food menu available, too). Seating is first come, first served, and guests have no priority over members. The pool is open 7 a.m. to midnight between May and September and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. during the rest of the year (though it shuts down completely during the coldest weeks of winter). The pool deck furniture is replaced every year to create a new atmosphere (would that the rooms got the same treatment).

When guests aren't partying poolside, they're usually crowded into the Drawing Room & Bar. It's first come, first served here too, and when it's crowded, good luck on the "served" part. Members hold business lunches and work from the deep, plush chairs during the day. At night the place becomes a busy, see-and-be-seen kind of bar where members come to network. For knackered travelers, this could be overwhelming and annoying -- but if you thrive on exclusive party scenes, you'll have a ball.

• Soho House also houses Cowshed, a spa chain started in Babington's Soho House in 1998. The spa has what it calls a "Chill-Out Room" with free drinks and lounge chairs that's open to guests and members using the pool and gym. The spa offers a range of massages, body treatments, facials, and waxing and nail salon, for fairly normal Manhattan prices ($150 to $200 per hour for most massages and treatments).
• The hotel's small and minimally equipped gym is located next to the pool deck. It's in decent condition, but the small space looks like an afterthought.
• The 4th-floor Screening Room has 44 black leather seats and a daily schedule of screenings and events that are free for guests and club members; the schedule is posted throughout the building and is provided in guestrooms.
• Free Wi-Fi access is available throughout the hotel and club. The speed and connection were good, but I was surprised to find social networking sites blocked on their network.
• The hotel also features a number of private event rooms.
• No photos are allowed at all in the common areas; club members sign a contract promising not to take photos, and anyone taking photos will be escorted out of the hotel (hence our abnormally slim photo coverage).

The hotel's sexy club atmosphere and loud surroundings put this low on the list of great family hotels in New York. That said, the rooms are very spacious; the (small) pool is fun in good weather; and cribs and rollaway beds are available. (Cribs are free, but guests are charged $75 extra per adult per stay; the number of people allowed depends on room type.) And the room-service menu has decent options for kids. But families who really want to stay in the neighborhood would do better at the Gansevoort Hotel, just steps away, where rooms and amenities are better suited to kids.

Quite clean; the hotel was opened in 2003 and has been well maintained. The bedding and furniture aren't brand new -- the hotel has yet to be renovated in the six years since it opened -- but everything is clean and well maintained.

Despite recently procuring chef Neil Ferguson (who left his own restaurant, Allen & Delancey, to head up Soho House's kitchen), Soho house's kitchen serves surprisingly unexciting fare in the restaurant, Drawing Room & Bar, and poolside. Mains like steak and salmon start around $25. The restaurant doesn't take reservations, and it tends to get crowded, so planning a calm, sit-down dinner here is wishful thinking.

A full room-service menu from the same kitchen is available from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., and a limited late-night snacks menu is available from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. Prices range from $10 for small plates to around $30 for main dishes.

Thankfully, the hotel's Meatpacking District surroundings offer plenty of great culinary choices, including the well-known French bistro Pastis and Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Spice Market, both within a block of the hotel.