The Bowery

Walking into the dark-and-sexy reception of this white-hot 135-room addition to the hotel scene in the hippest of New York ‘hoods the East Village, it’s hard to believe The Bowery hasn’t always been a part of the very fabric of this most-colourful quarter of Manhattan. Not bad for a property that was once part gas station / parking lot and part dormitories for NYU. Created and designed by the hoteliers behind The Maritime hotel but without the chrome, sharp edges and cutesy porthole accents, Eric Goode and Sean MacPherson have conjured up old-school chic for this bohemian retreat. Around the corner from where that birthplace of punk, CBGBs,  once stood, that too is a sign of the times.

Gone is the skid row music club, instead occupied by rock-star-beloved designer John Varvatos. The new kid on the block is the New Museum of Contemporary Art, an indication of just how fashion-forward and culturally significant this Lower East Side section of the city is today.

Don’t be deceived by The Bowery’s hand-carved wood panelling, heavy beams and iron chandeliers in its lobby lounge, or the top-hatted red-jacketted doormen – the livery which provides the logo for the hotel and a doff of the cap to the Bowery’s raffish reputation of old. This is a 19th-century-inspired destination decked out to cater to 21st-century sybarites’ wildest whims. A clever blend of eras and accents, the end product is one that elicits a passionate response from all visitors – what Brits might call a Marmite love-it-or-hate-it reaction.

Black ceiling fans, pretty Mexican tiling and faux-nicotine-stained lamps lend a colonial air with Gangs of New York-reminiscent painted murals packing an extra punch. The barely lit, louche sitting room with its olive- and sienna-hued sofas, hand-picked by Goode and MacPherson, and roaring open fires unexpectedly give way to a bottle-filled snug bar at the back and also a cute bamboo and ivy framed brick-wall, tiled floored terrace with modern wicker-style seats and tables and rust-coloured cushions.

Follow the monochrome mosaic flooring from reception in the other direction and you’ll find two dusk-lit wood-panelled elevators to take you to cosy hallways bedecked in oriental-rug-style carpeting, a world away from long soulless corporate vestibules leading to hundreds of cookie-cutter bedrooms. Heavy, red tasselled keys grant you access to a refreshingly light white-washed brick world of timeless yesteryear details and hi-tech enhancements. It may not look techno, but every switch and socket has been considered so as to keep it stylish but simple. No need to dazzle with any futuristic gadgetry and gizmos, other than the requisite iPods and flatscreens. Sure the intelligence is there in the dimmable lighting, but the look is one of unfiddly, refined elegance.
Black leaded industrial-style windows afford occupants views up the Bowery to the Empire State, from hardwood floor to whitewashed ceiling. Lampshades and Turkish Oushak rugs are in golden tea-stain shades. Sixties-accented floral graphic drapes and unexpected whimsies such as Edie Sedgwick-worthy chocolate-brown leather hippos soften the otherwise plain palette. Linen headboard hangings and velveteen armchairs with old-fashioned cream lace headrest coverings are a welcome antidote to the glitz of many modish design hotels.

400-threadcount bedding is trimmed in the simple signature russet-toned stripe and complemented by name-embroidered flannel Hudson River blankets. Grey marble bathrooms are modern in their simplicity and old fashioned in their trimmings. The antique iron towel rails and showerheads are more salvage chic than Starck. And CO Bigelow, America’s oldest apothecary is a fitting supplier of the olde worlde-look toiletries, which are in perfect keeping with the whole hip-but-historical image.

The first-floor event space and terrace is where the Bowery really comes into its own. Not open to guests or the public at the moment, it has its own entrance and has hosted headline-grabbing fashion parties, movie premieres and celebrity gatherings. It’s a sprawling, but lots of cosy corners lend it intimacy. There are medieval hanging tapestries, barn-door bar hatches, and the foliage-filled hanging baskets and moss-softened decks give those NY scenesters used to schmoozing in photoshoot-worthy environments a rare warmth.

The one word of complaint this hotel reviewer has heard from regulars at Manhattan hotels has been the fact they can’t stay here on business – the hotel doesn’t do corporate rates.  Not wanting to affect the intimacy of the lobby, which would be compromised by events and groups it’s not possible to block book more than four rooms. The management just doesn’t feel this 135-room hotel is big enough to risk damaging its casual, homely ambiance. Even so, you can tell lots of the guests are there for work.

It’s just that the creative types lingering over long lunches alfresco in Gemma – its rustic, theatrically decorated corner Italian restaurant – are mixing business with pleasure. Gemma was opened last summer and was instantly a hot favourite with the hardest-to-please food critics. As with its adjoining accommodation, the anything-but-traditional trattoria balances style as well as substance.

What must also be a hurricane of fresh air on an air-kissy circuit is the super-friendly, down-to-earth attitudes from the Bowery’s personable staff. The hotel is run and managed by a young, energetic team who live by the mantra ‘happy staff, happy guests.’ And that they are.

THE BOWERY
335 Bowery New York  NY 10003
www.thebowery.com

135 guestrooms
Food:   Gemma
Facilities:    Event Space & Terrace