My upcoming trip to New York City will include a stay at the brand-new Greenwich Hotel in TriBeCa. Owned by movie star Robert DeNiro, the hotel is located in an intimate and quiet neighborhood complete with cobblestone streets and historic brick warehouses.
One of the reasons I chose The Greenwich Hotel is because no two rooms in the hotel are alike, thus giving it more of a residential feel. I think this will be a welcome change from some of the more "standard" hotel offerings in New York. The benefit, of course, is that despite the more subdued residential design, the hotel still has all the amenities of a five-star hotel within walking distance from SoHo, NoLiTa and all the glamorous hot-spots that are distinctly New York.
The Eighty-Eight rooms in the hotel have furnishings that draw from a wide range of cultural influences - from the hand-loomed Tibetan silk rugs to the patterns of Moroccan tile, from the custom English leather settees to the reclaimed pine, oak, chestnut and hemlock wood details throughout. Rooms have Dux beds, oak floors, soaking tubs and small libraries.
The Greenwich Hotel has one signature restaurant, Ago, and the Shibui Spa. The restaurant, as well as the common spaces of the hotel, were designed and crafted by Grayling Design. Ago evokes an Italian ristorante, with exposed brick walls, hand finished wood paneling and a section of the ceiling lined with over 90,000 corks, a nod to the restaurant's extensive wine list. Ago also provides 24-hour room service to the hotel.
Shibui, the Greenwich Hotel's spa is available exclusively to hotel guests. It houses a lantern-lit swimming pool and lounge under the roof of a 250-year-old wood and bamboo farmhouse.
In order to create this home-away-from-home retreat in expert fashion, interior designer, Samantha Crasco, took three years to attend to every single detail and nuance. Additional information regarding the hotel and Samantha Crasco will be available in an article that is due to be published in the September 2008 issue of Elle magazine.
