NYC & Company Highlights New York City’s Newest Hotels
October 20, 2017
The Grand Ballroom at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, the borough’s largest hotel.
In celebration of New York City’s hotel development pipeline, the nation’s most active, NYC & Company invites travelers to explore the diverse range of new, refreshed and soon-to-open five-borough accommodations. With an active inventory of over 113,700 rooms appealing to varied demographics, NYC’s lodging landscape is constantly evolving.
“New York City expects 139,000 total rooms in our inventory by the end of 2019 based on the current robust pipeline,” said NYC & Company President and CEO Fred Dixon. “Our five-borough destination continues to attract new and return visitors, from business and meetings delegates to leisure travelers seeking authentic, live-like-a-local experiences to ‘bleisure’ travelers who combine both.”
Aligned with the current global movement toward experiential and immersive travel, properties that have undergone transformations and new hotels in the City are going local. Thoughtfully incorporated design choices, plus regionally and internationally renowned gastronomic collaborations, enhance the originality and authenticity of the extensive hotel choices available to visitors.
New and re-imagined hotels that have opened as of 2017 or are projected to open in the current hotel development pipeline include:
Meet By Design
Firmdale Hotels’ The Whitby Hotel is a boutique, design-centric property opened in Midtown Manhattan as of Q1 2017. The ideal venue for intimate meetings has 86 rooms plus a 130-leather-seat theater well suited to corporate presentations. Two sumptuously appointed private event spaces on the ground floor add to the event capacity and The Orangery restaurant hosts receptions of up to 100 guests.
In June 2017, Public, an Ian Schrager Hotel, opened on the Lower East Side, offering 367 luxury rooms at affordable rates. Public Arts is a 100-capacity screening room on-site, doubling as an avant-garde multimedia performance space. Fifty-seven hundred square feet of meeting space on the 17th floor, an expansive outdoor terrace, plus menus by Jean-Georges Vongerichten, are more amenities of the cutting-edge, design-oriented option in the NYC meetings and events landscape.
Conventions and Events
New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, part of the Marriott Convention Resort Network and the borough’s largest hotel, recently underwent a $45 million three-phase dramatic transformation. Partnerships with local food and beverage purveyors and artwork commissioned to convey the vibrant local feel contribute to the property’s design and experiential revolution. It boasts 47,000 sf of flexible meeting space including the expansive 18,105-sf Grand Ballroom. The 667-room hotel celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2018.
Q1 of 2017 also held openings notable for business and convention travelers. Four Points by Sheraton Manhattan Midtown West is uniquely situated in the developing Hudson Yards neighborhood. Near the Javits Center, it is easily accessed, thanks to the extension of the 7 subway line to Hudson Yards.
The Times Square EDITION, upon projected opening in 2018, will be a 452-room property in the heart of Midtown. Of note to meetings planners, the highly anticipated NFL Experience Times Square will ground the new property, offering a logical expansion opportunity to any itinerary in need of excitement.
1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge is well suited to the sustainability-conscious traveler and offers varied meetings spaces including Meadow Rue ballroom, a 10th floor hospitality suite and bar, seasonal rooftop bar with East River and Manhattan skyline views, screening room and more. The Doubletree by Hilton New York City – Times Square West, also opened in February, has a 612-room capacity.
Airport Accommodations
The ibis Styles New York LaGuardia Airport and Aloft New York LaGuardia Airport opened in July and August, respectively. The sister properties are less than a mile from La Guardia Airport, which is currently undergoing an expansive $4 billion public-private rebuild, to result in a new, unified airport.
At another NYC metro area airport, the highly anticipated TWA Hotel at JFK Airport is currently under construction. JetBlue and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey are partnered with MCR Development to fulfill the 505-room hotel, with a flight observation deck, museum and rooftop pool, projected to debut in January 2019. The design hotel will be housed in two buildings at the former Trans World Airlines terminal. TWA Flight Center, originally designed by architect Eero Saarinen and vacant for over a decade, will serve as the lobby.
Stadium-Centric Stays
Beyond the City’s airports, global sports enthusiasts are drawn to its athletic venues. Three recent Bronx hotel developments add accessibility to Yankee Stadium. A Comfort Inn & Suites debuted in May, Holiday Inn Express followed in August and a Hampton Inn is to be completed by year’s end. Meanwhile, a Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott in Fresh Meadows, Queens, is projected to open this month near Citi Field—ideal for Mets fans.
Art and Aesthetic
A number of artistic retreats are new to the City. On October 2, the 189-key 20-floor Mondrian Park Avenue debuted. Named for Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, the property offers a luxury lifestyle experience. Serving as a vibrant hub for art, Ara Starck contributed a City-inspired statement piece, among others. The unique, on-site subterranean nightclub Yours Truly has a hidden entrance.
The Moxy Times Square, Moxy Hotels’ New York City debut, opened in late September. Featuring smart, playful design by Yabu Pushelberg and TAO Group, a fresh lifestyle concept incorporates unique bear topiaries. Decidedly millennial oriented, its rooftop space is the largest indoor/outdoor hotel rooftop lounge in the City. It boasts mini golf, a carousel, epic skyline views and more intrigues.
Hotel 50 Bowery NYC opened in May 2017. The Gallery is a 1,500-sf space, hosting the permanent exhibit Heart of Chinatown, created in collaboration with the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA). Introducing visitors to the rich culture of the neighborhood where the property is located, it showcases artifacts uncovered at the construction site. The exhibit is adjacent to Atlantic Garden, a 5,000-sf outdoor retreat ideal for leisure and named for a historic beer hall that once occupied the space.
The James New York – NoMad opened in June 2017. Featuring Beaux-Arts architecture and a legacy dating to the start of the 20th century, its exterior elegance is reminiscent of classic New York City. The 344-room, 28-suite luxury property was transformed by interior designer Thomas Juul-Hansen, whose artful curation of each room includes locally sourced facets to mirror the brand ethos.
Looking ahead, Westin Hotel New York Staten Island will feature 175 rooms upon opening in 2019. The property will be situated in Lighthouse Point, a $250 million waterfront plaza featuring shopping and residences along Bay Street. Guests can anticipate access to a cultural facility, which will be operated by the National Lighthouse Museum, showcasing the locale’s rich history. Additional information is forthcoming about this anticipated Staten Island development.
Tastemakers
The MADE Hotel NoMad debuted in good taste this September, combining a communal urban kitchen with fresh, seasonal ingredients. Upon entry, guests pass through a coffee shop to reach Lobby Bar, offering a fine-spirits selection and beer on tap. Food and Beverage Director Charles Seich oversees and chef Greg Proechel is behind Ferris restaurant, which serves up global cuisines made from local ingredients and “garden-to-glass” cocktails. Good Behavior is the property’s rooftop bar boasting a direct view of the Empire State Building.
The recently rebranded and refreshed Tillary Hotel (formerly The Dazzler Brooklyn) is home to the new Whiskey Bar & Deck, a rooftop imbibing hotspot serving cocktails named for Brooklyn neighborhoods: Bed Stuy, Fort Greene, Park Slope, Bushwick, Williamsburg, Crown Heights and Dumbo. The property’s local partners are: Kings County Distillery, Noble Tree coffee roasters, Mast Brothers chocolate, Salty Road candy company and The Sill garden center.
Four Seasons New York Downtown is home to the first Wolfgang Puck restaurant in the City. CUT New York offers a tableside display of cuts to assist diners in selecting from an expansive menu of Japanese and American USDA Prime and grass fed steaks with varied marbling and flavor profile. Wolfgang and his wife, Gelila Assefa Puck, collaborated with Kimberly Brown, Strata Architects and celebrated French designer Jacques Garcia resulting in bold, tasteful interiors.
For more information, click here for the latest Hotel Development Report.