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Hotel Plaza Athénée
New YorkUnited States
Hotel Plaza Athénée
37 E. 64th St.
New York, New York
Tel: 212-734-9100
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149 rooms incl. 35 suites
The Experience
Hidden on a tree-lined street in the tony Upper East Side, the 17-floor Plaza drips with sophistication. Hand-painted murals? Check. Antique furniture? Affirmative. Marble-lined lobby with Louis XVI furniture? Certainly. This French-flavored lodge’s hoity-toity trappings attract power-broker businessman and moneyed European travelers, who’d rather fly under the radar than make a fussy scene. Shopaholics will be thrilled to learn that Bloomingdale’s and Barneys New York are a few blocks away. Also close are cultural riches like the Whitney Museum, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Central Park.
The Rooms
New York City is known for Lilliputian living quarters, but the Plaza’s standard rooms (averaging 320 square feet) fitted with cherry-wood furniture are spacious enough to spread your arms and sit down on a tasteful sofa, though the dated bathroom can be cramped. In addition to more space, the suites include decorative touches such as marble entranceways, glass-enclosed terraces and even a dining room for six. The sweeping city views aren't too shabby either.
The Service
From the personalized, conversational check-in to free shoeshines to twice-daily housekeepers that iron the shower curtains, the service is flawless and faultless. Navigating New York can be a challenge, but the thoughtful concierge is a fountain of info on theaters and sizzling downtown boites.
The Highlights
If you’re weary of pounding the pavement, relax in the leather-floor Bar Seine. The straight-from-Casablanca lounge is adorned with Asian and African art, velvet curtains and red-lacquer walls, chichi trappings that prepare you to sip the bar’s signature “Crystal Cosmopolitans” and “Bergdorf Blondes”—cocktails as strong as they are sweet. Savory bites are found in Arabelle, the Plaza’s gold-domed restaurant that’s decked out with brass chandeliers, sumptuous banquets and pagoda murals. Morning-to-evening meals include a Sunday-brunch steamed lobster, lunchtime cardamom-dusted diver scallops and maple-glazed duck breast for dinner. Oh, and Sex and the City buffs: The bar and restaurant once starred in the show.
