Gramercy Park Hotel - New York, USA

The Place:
Gramercy Park Hotel

Who's Going:
Marc Jacobs, Winona Ryder, Sienna Miller

Reason to Stay:
Historic Hotel, Interior Design, Celebrity Scene

Hotel Type: City Hotel

The Scene:
It's probably not the only gilded palace in Gramercy Park, but it is the only hotel offering keys to NYC's last remaining private residential park. It's also Ian Schrager's official departure from the utterly successful, and now utterly overdone, boutique hotels he once mastered. With his latest endeavor, Schrager leaves behind uber-hip design partner Philippe Starck for artist Julian Schnabel, who adds a heavy dose of substance to Schrager's once ubiquitous design concepts. The resulting collaboration has taken this once tattered gothic hotel favored by '40s jazz greats and created a crystal-encrusted design palace with regal woodwork and dramatic upholstered furnishings. A million-dollar art collection includes numerous Warhol's, Basquiat's and yes, Schnabel's throughout the hotel's Jade lounge and Rose Bar. The bar simmers with some of the world's hottest names from fashion and indie-film, lingering past 4am for piano solos and the occasional star performance on better nights. Perhaps a line in the sand from Schrager's past, several serial-pop stars have been barred entrance to the hotels popular bar hoping to fend-off memories of other hotspots. A private roof club is set to open in mid-2007, perhaps with a friendlier guest list. In the meantime Schrager unveils Park Chinois, from London-restaurateur Alan Yau, spinning modern Chinese and oriental cuisine.

The Room:
Schrager groupies familiar with weekend romping at the Mondrian and Paramount seem disoriented at this grown-up hotel with its wood-paneled walls drizzled in auction art. Getaways once spent in small and nearly unfurnished rooms are now enjoyed within equally compact accommodations but with heavy wood furnishings and thick velvet drapery in rich shades of emerald and raspberry. Some rooms feature little more than a bed and oversized wingback chair while others offer more formal living accommodations with plush sofas and ornate drinking cabinets. Mini-bars are stocked with top-line beauty products, gourmet chocolates and take-home size candles at $100–a-pop. Bathrooms are more familiar of prior Schrager territory with modern chrome fixtures and shallow sink set in protruding lacquered-cabinets that require rotational movement be kept in the shower-stall. Rooms facing the park should be aware of street noise and construction that’s common in the area, if available go for on off-street room on a higher floor.