Full Review Coming Soon!
A new hotel has come to New York, hoping to to be the first 5-star luxury hotel in Times Square. The Chatwal, the first hotel in a new luxury brand from the owners of the Stay and Dream hotels, is housed in an historic building and harkens back to an era when Art Deco ruled America. Stanford White built this building in 1905 for The Lambs, the prestigious theatrical society that was founded in 1874 and has included the likes of Fred Astaire, John Barrymore, and Irving Berlin (the second half of the building was added in 1915 in the same style, as an extension). Several parts of the hotel are considered landmarks, including the facade, a few fireplaces, and the Stanford Suite (shown in the photos below), all from the original 1905 building.
Below we’ll show you 14 more photos and will tell you more about this hotel than you could ever hope to know. So read on, or… just look at the pretty photos.
Designer Thierry Despont revived the building’s storied past by focusing on Art Deco decor. While interiors are clearly Art Deco, they’re designed in a very timeless way, putting a modern spin on the glamour and grandeur of the 1920s.
Rooms here mix the modern — Frette linens and towels, comforters and pillows by Down Etc, phones with big screens, framed flatscreen TVs — with fun 1920s “cards and cocktails” touches. Guests will find a backgammon set on the coffee table, copies of The Great Gatsby and American Eve (about Evelyn Nesbit and Stanford White) for sale in the minibar, and postcards adorned with Vargas Girls in the desk. The closets are designed to resemble steamer trunks, the outside covered in pebbled leather and adorned with brown leather handles.
Bathrooms sparkle (literally – there are specks of something shiny in the floors and walls) with Asprey toiletries, robes by Kashwere, a TV subtley embedded in the mirror (you can’t see it when it’s off!), and a huge, walk-in shower with an oversized rainfall shower head. Consider another hotel if you don’t like to see yourself naked — there are mirrors everywhere.
The living rooms of the one-bedroom suites feature a Murphy bed, or what the hotel is so delicately calling a “descending bed.” Come evening, the chaise-like sofa can be moved and the bed behind it is pulled down from the wall, and then made-up to look like any other bed in the hotel (same mattress, too). There are even bedside reading lights! Because these suites have two full baths (one with a shower; the master bath with a tub/shower combo), the room can easily function as a two-bedroom suite.
All rooms on the Seventh Floor have a terrace that looks like this one, which is attached to a one-bedroom suite. This suite is flanked by junior suites, each of which has its own terrace, but the walls between terraces can be removed to create one large outdoor space for those who want it.
The 10th floor of the hotel is considered the Penthouse Floor, and is home to two two-bedroom suites. One is the Producer Suite and one is the Director Suite. They can be combined to create a four-bedroom penthoue suite, which is then called the Barrymore Suite (named for John Barrymore, who was a Lamb and even lived in the building’s dormitory at certain points).
Chef and restauranter Geoffrey Zakarian opened The Lambs Club Restaurant and Bar inside the hotel, which is already wildly popular (we visited the hotel around lunchtime and guests were flowing out of the restaurant and into the lobby). The restaurant has a clubby feel, with a huge stone fireplace from 18th-century France, very dim lighting, and red leather chairs and banquettes.
The bar, which is one level up from the restaurant, is pictured here. Neon lights and mini Empire State Buildings give the space a fun, modern, kitschy feel. The bar area has pleny of booths and tables, all outfitted in bright red leather — the perfect spot to talk business over a few cocktails.
The Standford White Studio, named for the building’s designer, is on the second floor and is considered a landmark, as it existed in the original building in the early 20th century. Today it can be used as a small event space or can be used as the parlor area for the three guest rooms on the floor (they connect to become one suite). The room can even be rented as a guest room, if requested.
The rooms really impress with their details: The leather desk, which is also meant to look like a steamer trunk from the outside, lifts up to reveal a vanity inside.
Another example of the hotel’s attention to detail: Every toilet has a control that allows the guest to turn the toilet into a bedet. Heated seats, too!
The hotel has partenered with Kashwere to create a small spa. It includes the relaxation area seen above, three treatment rooms, three private changing rooms (basically mini locker rooms instead of one main one), a mani-pedi room, a small fitness center, and the pool room seen below.
The hotel has a small “lap pool” plus two plunge pools, one hot and one cold. The pool has a jet that allows swimmers to swim in place.
The neon colored lights in the pool room (and in the pools!) change constantly, providing a soothing-yet-funky feel.
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