NYC Hotels: Uptown (The Lowell) vs. Downtown (The Bowery)
It might be a sign of age or that I've become spoiled and attached to certain conveniences, but as the years have gone by, I've found myself gravitating more and more towards hanging out in the Upper East Side. Back when I was an intern at Barbara Gladstone Gallery in my college days, back when the gallery was still in SoHo rather than Chelsea, when SoHo wasn't overrun by chain stores and when Dean & Deluca was hardly itself a chain, I rarely ventured beyond Midtown (and that was only to stay with a friend who was living there).
Fast forward a decade and some years later, and now I can barely leave the comfy confines of the 60s. I've been spoiled by MH's hospitality, where I've not had to venture more than a few blocks for my morning yoga or Central Park run and Starbucks. If I'm feeling more Continental, I head to Le Pain Quotidien and there's also Alice's Tea Cup, which serves up more hearty breakfasts. There are at least 3 yoga studios that I know of within a 2 block radius (Some Like It Hot and Jivamukti are my favoured studios). As for shopping, there's Banana Republic, Gap and Club Monaco when I'm in need of extra T-shirts and jeans or Madison Ave for gifts and more fashionable fare. All my doctors are nearby as well. For dinner, there's Daniel (the lounge is MH's canteen), Jo Jo, Fig & Olive. I can walk to all the museums I like to visit: MoMA, Met and Guggenheim.
So this time around, I decided I would try to find a hotel in the 60s. The closest I've stayed is Four Seasons (on 57th/58th). While I love the Four Seasons for the experience within the hotel (their signature scent, the VIP treatment and the roomy rooms), I'm not so keen about stepping out the front door and being in the thick of the hustle and bustle of Midtown Manhatten. MH had suggested Affinia Gardens, just off 3rd Avenue on 64th Street. But then I decided to check out The Lowell, just off Madison Avenue on 63rd Street; I thought it would be nice to be closer to the park. I had been hoping that The Lowell would be a more intimate (only 70 rooms and suites) Four Seasons in the 60s. Suffice it to say, I was disappointed. While the King-bedded room (US$550++/night) was spacious and comfortable, the hotel felt lifeless. This feeling was exasperated by the rather listless front desk staff who would barely acknowledge my presence as I walked by, dropping off or picking up my room key. The exception to this poor show of congeniality was the waiter at breakfast in the Pembroke Room and the bellman. But in general, I did not feel a warm welcome, let alone any real hospitality. Compounded with the grown-up, fussy Frenchie decor (think an abundance of silk fabrics, Louis XV-style furniture, canopied beds etc.), checking into the hotel was akin to visiting a very old family member where joy and smiles are checked at the door. This was actually one of the very, very few hotel rooms where I couldn't bear to stay in the hotel because it just felt like the life of me was being drained. And usually, I love staying in hotels.
Fortunately, my love of hotel living was restored when I checked into The Bowery Hotel. Interestingly, after my stint in Gramercy Park Hotel last summer, I had actually expected to enjoy Lowell more and not be too impressed with Bowery. But it was Bowery that made me smile this time. As expected, the staff at Bowery were better-looking than the staff at The Lowell, but they had none of the "I'm just doing this to bide time and pay the bills before my big modelling/acting/super-stardom break" air of Schrager hotel staff. They were all very sociable, friendly and helpful (when the bellman saw that there was some lighting equipment that did not belong on the rather large terrace to my room, he was very apologetic and arranged for maintenance staff to clear out the equipment despite my protests that it was not a bother since it was raining and I would not be using the terrace). The decor of the Bowery is mod-Vic, but in no way feels old. It's all done with a wink. There's some great details like the swirl of colours inside the closet and the crackle-glazed celadon tile in the bathroom. It was raining hard the next morning, and I didn't mind just hanging out in the room till check-out. It was a shame that the terrace was left unused, because it would have been great to have had breakfast on the terrace.
And I was amazed that the room, being only US$375++ per night, actually had such a sizeable terrace! Location-wise, it's not the Upper East Side. And when I asked for directions to La Esquina, I was actually told me to walk down Lafayette instead of Bowery, because the Bowery gets "a bit dodgy" in parts. Had it not been raining, I could have easily walked to SoHo. The gym in the hotel is not yet open, but there are gyms and yoga studios nearby. Granted, the walk around the neighborhood is nowhere near as gentrified as the 60's; you don't have the tree-lined, clean, wide sidewalks of the Upper East Side. There isn't anywhere I'd really want to run to. Barney's and the museums aren't within walking distance, but I suppose the amount I save in room rate can more than pay for countless taxi rides uptown and back down. More importantly, though, staying at the Bowery is actually a fun experience. But most important is that I don't feel as old as I feared I might be, that I can still enjoy life in the Bowery.
[NOTE: I did take photos of the room at The Lowell, but ironically, they all turned out too dark to post!]
Fast forward a decade and some years later, and now I can barely leave the comfy confines of the 60s. I've been spoiled by MH's hospitality, where I've not had to venture more than a few blocks for my morning yoga or Central Park run and Starbucks. If I'm feeling more Continental, I head to Le Pain Quotidien and there's also Alice's Tea Cup, which serves up more hearty breakfasts. There are at least 3 yoga studios that I know of within a 2 block radius (Some Like It Hot and Jivamukti are my favoured studios). As for shopping, there's Banana Republic, Gap and Club Monaco when I'm in need of extra T-shirts and jeans or Madison Ave for gifts and more fashionable fare. All my doctors are nearby as well. For dinner, there's Daniel (the lounge is MH's canteen), Jo Jo, Fig & Olive. I can walk to all the museums I like to visit: MoMA, Met and Guggenheim.
So this time around, I decided I would try to find a hotel in the 60s. The closest I've stayed is Four Seasons (on 57th/58th). While I love the Four Seasons for the experience within the hotel (their signature scent, the VIP treatment and the roomy rooms), I'm not so keen about stepping out the front door and being in the thick of the hustle and bustle of Midtown Manhatten. MH had suggested Affinia Gardens, just off 3rd Avenue on 64th Street. But then I decided to check out The Lowell, just off Madison Avenue on 63rd Street; I thought it would be nice to be closer to the park. I had been hoping that The Lowell would be a more intimate (only 70 rooms and suites) Four Seasons in the 60s. Suffice it to say, I was disappointed. While the King-bedded room (US$550++/night) was spacious and comfortable, the hotel felt lifeless. This feeling was exasperated by the rather listless front desk staff who would barely acknowledge my presence as I walked by, dropping off or picking up my room key. The exception to this poor show of congeniality was the waiter at breakfast in the Pembroke Room and the bellman. But in general, I did not feel a warm welcome, let alone any real hospitality. Compounded with the grown-up, fussy Frenchie decor (think an abundance of silk fabrics, Louis XV-style furniture, canopied beds etc.), checking into the hotel was akin to visiting a very old family member where joy and smiles are checked at the door. This was actually one of the very, very few hotel rooms where I couldn't bear to stay in the hotel because it just felt like the life of me was being drained. And usually, I love staying in hotels.
Fortunately, my love of hotel living was restored when I checked into The Bowery Hotel. Interestingly, after my stint in Gramercy Park Hotel last summer, I had actually expected to enjoy Lowell more and not be too impressed with Bowery. But it was Bowery that made me smile this time. As expected, the staff at Bowery were better-looking than the staff at The Lowell, but they had none of the "I'm just doing this to bide time and pay the bills before my big modelling/acting/super-stardom break" air of Schrager hotel staff. They were all very sociable, friendly and helpful (when the bellman saw that there was some lighting equipment that did not belong on the rather large terrace to my room, he was very apologetic and arranged for maintenance staff to clear out the equipment despite my protests that it was not a bother since it was raining and I would not be using the terrace). The decor of the Bowery is mod-Vic, but in no way feels old. It's all done with a wink. There's some great details like the swirl of colours inside the closet and the crackle-glazed celadon tile in the bathroom. It was raining hard the next morning, and I didn't mind just hanging out in the room till check-out. It was a shame that the terrace was left unused, because it would have been great to have had breakfast on the terrace.
And I was amazed that the room, being only US$375++ per night, actually had such a sizeable terrace! Location-wise, it's not the Upper East Side. And when I asked for directions to La Esquina, I was actually told me to walk down Lafayette instead of Bowery, because the Bowery gets "a bit dodgy" in parts. Had it not been raining, I could have easily walked to SoHo. The gym in the hotel is not yet open, but there are gyms and yoga studios nearby. Granted, the walk around the neighborhood is nowhere near as gentrified as the 60's; you don't have the tree-lined, clean, wide sidewalks of the Upper East Side. There isn't anywhere I'd really want to run to. Barney's and the museums aren't within walking distance, but I suppose the amount I save in room rate can more than pay for countless taxi rides uptown and back down. More importantly, though, staying at the Bowery is actually a fun experience. But most important is that I don't feel as old as I feared I might be, that I can still enjoy life in the Bowery.
[NOTE: I did take photos of the room at The Lowell, but ironically, they all turned out too dark to post!]
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