Set in New York City’s famed Gramercy Park neighborhood, Gramercy Park Hotel has 185 rooms that are decorated with bold Renaissance colors and fabrics, often employing green and red velvet for the couches and curtains.
You will not only love the lively scene at the Rose Bar, the bar-turned-private-lounge after 10 p.m., but you’ll find the always-crowded Maialino restaurant headed by famed restaurateur Danny Meyer as a smart culinary detour as well.
Items from the kitchen aren’t the only head-turning qualities about the Forbes Travel Guide Recommended hotel. With rotating art collections in the lobby from famous artists such as Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Jean-Michel Basquiat and the hotel’s creative designer Julian Schnabel, we love surveying the public spaces as they feel like our own private galleries. The visual fun only continues when you get into the rooms, as you will appreciate the personal quarters for their personality and flair.
You will not only love the lively scene at the Rose Bar, the bar-turned-private-lounge after 10 p.m., but you’ll find the always-crowded Maialino restaurant headed by famed restaurateur Danny Meyer as a smart culinary detour as well.
Items from the kitchen aren’t the only head-turning qualities about the Forbes Travel Guide Recommended hotel. With rotating art collections in the lobby from famous artists such as Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Jean-Michel Basquiat and the hotel’s creative designer Julian Schnabel, we love surveying the public spaces as they feel like our own private galleries. The visual fun only continues when you get into the rooms, as you will appreciate the personal quarters for their personality and flair.
Our Inspector's Highlights
- Even with the visual majesty, however, we have to admit that gaining access to exclusive Gramercy Park is one of the main reasons this boutique hotel is so unique. As it stands now, the only people who can enjoy the park — you need a key to both enter and exit — are those who live in buildings that overlook the green space.
- Since opening, it has hosted handful of famous stars from Humphrey Bogart, Babe Ruth and John F. Kennedy. And musicians like the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Madonna and U2, gives it an A-list appeal.
- While the intimate Jade Bar is a stunner, the impressive crystal stemware-filled bar in your room — back lighting helps set the Mad Men-like mood — is the place we really like to show off to visitors.
Things to Know
- The Meyer-helmed Terrace is closed for dinner, but you can turn back to Maialino in the evening for housemade pastas, charred octopus and cured meats while sipping on a bold Italian red wine from the carefully selected menu.
- Access to the popular Rose Bar after 10 p.m. is something many New Yorkers would gladly bribe you for, but, as a guest of the Forbes Travel Guide Recommended hotel, you simply need to give the concierge your name and you and your entourage have access whenever you’d like.
- Breakfast quickly becomes a favorite meal as you can dine on the rooftop of the New York City hotel at the Gramercy Terrace, a spot with a retractable roof that’s open during the warm weather months and filled with greenery and hanging lights to create a romantic and relaxed setting.
The Rooms
- As all of the rooms at Gramercy Park Hotel are unique and decorated with an eclectic, Renaissance-inspired color scheme, selecting the best room would really depend on your needs for the trip. But seeing as how we’re talking about New York City, it’s safe to say having a view is a prerequisite during your stay.
- The 515-square-foot Park View Premier King or the 750-square-foot Park View Premier Suite is your wisest option. Both of these units at the Recommended hotel offer ample space — the suite includes a swanky living area — and remarkable views of verdant Gramercy Park.
- The spacious walk-in closet is exquisite. We had more than enough space to hang our clothing, try on outfits and check things out in the full-length mirror hanging behind the door.
- You will adore the distressed wood floors, dark wood panels and marble counters in the surprisingly spacious bathrooms. While the various-sized light bulbs framing the glass mirror add a funky feel to the space, it’s really the shower/bath combination that will hold your attention.
- The Forbes Travel Guide Recommended hotel's bathroom also provides a separate water closet, making it easy for you and others to get ready at the same time. The Frette bathrobes and comfortable slippers hanging on the wall only make the unique space that much more irresistible.
The Look
- Gramercy Park Hotel has a unique design style that’s best described as eclectic, artistic and swanky. Upon entry through the revolving glass doors, you’ll see a luxurious lobby with high ceilings, wooden beams and thick, red velvet drapes framing the doorway to the Rose Bar.
- The checkered floor has a touch of Alice in Wonderland whim that adds a fun and energetic tone to the lobby. But before falling completely off into an abstract rabbit hole, things are balanced with rich colors and fabrics used on the velvet couches in the center of the lobby floor.
- The rest of the Forbes Travel Guide Recommended hotel follows a similar suit with plush, rose-colored carpeting in the hallways, dim lighting and dark woodwork in the rooms, all aspects that create an elegant yet hip mood.
- Rose Bar is decorated in a similar fashion to the lobby, yet it also has eclectic pieces of artwork on the wall and a Maarten Baas pool table that acts as a table during the day when the bar serves as an extension of the New York City hotel’s lobby.
Amenities
Bar
Meeting rooms
Restaurants
Getting There
2 Lexington Avenue, New York, New York 10010
TEL212-920-3300
TEL212-920-3300
TEL866-784-1300
TEL866-784-1300
NEARBY AIRPORT(S)
JFK (24-35 min)
