Meet Ian Schrager. He’s the trendsetting designer generally credited for pioneering minamalism in hotels from the Royalton in New York to the Delano in Miami Beach.
Now, his latest hit is a $200 million upgrade of the 82-year-old Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City. Without even seeing it, the press is buzzing that it’s one of this year’s hottest properties. Says Schrager, “It’s really a classical language, but put together in a way that makes it edgy, just like an artist’s studio. It’s meant to evoke the way an artist would live.”
The hotel uses medieal style armchairs, golf-fringed red velvet sofas, cast-resin chandeliers, hand-woven red rugs, black-and-white Moroccan tile floors, dark wooden ceilings, and much more, plus million dollar art works by Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Also, there is the highly touted Aerospa, the Park Chinois restaurant opening this Fall, the hotel’s original Rose Bar and Jade Bar, and a roof club.
W: www.gramercyparkhotel.com.
A: 2 Lexington Avenue, New York City,
T: 866.784-1300.
Rates: Just $250/night through September 3, then $525 and up.
Suites start at $675/night.
It is also important to note that one of the perks for staying at the Gramercy Park Hotel is that guests have access to the much coveted private Gramercy Park.
Traditionally, the gated park only grants a small number of keys to the local residents who live within the prestigious surrounding buildings that face the park. I visited the park once when a friend of mine (who lives in one of those prestigious buildings) took me on a tour. It’s quite tranquil and nice, especially for a Manhattan park (Central Park and others tends to get overcrowded and noisy!).