As you may have gleaned from my Instagram and Twitter feeds last week, I have just returned from New York – my favourite city in the world. I just can’t get enough of it, and every time I visit it gets harder and harder to leave!
I am accustomed to staying on the Upper East Side where my father used to have an apartment, so I was very excited to stay somewhere new this time: Ace Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. I had already fallen in love with the Ace in Shoreditch a month or so back – the furniture and interior design of the London outpost are exactly my cup of tea, and the hotel restaurant Hoi Polloi serves up brilliant breakfast smoothies and Eggs Royale.
It was therefore a dreamy experience to enter the lobby of the Ace on W 29th Street on the other side of the Atlantic. The historic, turn-of-the-century building is pretty impressive in itself, and the interior design perfectly complements the ancient bones of the building and the culture of the city.
Full of local art, thoughtful details and more hipsters with MacBooks than you can shake a stick at, the lobby was buzzing when we arrived, and whenever we passed through it (including at 4am when we returned from a night of dancing!)
At check-in, I was excited to be informed I was being upgraded – from a small to a medium room. This was fantastic news – this is NYC so bedrooms are tiny by default – any upgrade in space was going to be a bonus. The hotel booking been made less than a week in advance (on Booking.com), which had worked in my favour because the prices were very low – only £120 for the night, whereas the website advertises an RRP of £220.
The rooms themselves feature clever usage of space, and are fresh and young in their décor – checked woollen bed blankets, graffiti-like wall art, a Smeg fridge minibar, and delicious smelling designer toiletries in the bathroom. I’d recommend the Ace for younger travellers, who appreciate good design, great service and a perfect location, but don’t mind the tightness on space.
With marginally sore heads on the morning after our stay, we hit the hotel’s restaurant, Breslin, for brunch. It was Mother’s Day (in the U.S.) so the place was buzzing with families dining, but we snagged a seat at the bar, and ordered iced coffees and Bloody Marys. The Breslin interior is great – dark and classic, with trendy touches and animal figurines and statues (mainly deer, cows and pigs…!) adorning every available surface.
Whole wheat pancakes with pear butter, candied walnuts and maple syrup ($16) were exactly what I needed. Chris had poached eggs with curried lentils, yogurt and cilantro ($15), which seemed to sort his hangover too.
Before checkout, we explored the rest of the hotel, discovering Stumptown Coffee Roasters just off the lobby, serving up great coffee with beans from their Brooklyn roastery. I loved that they served an iced latte made with almond milk – my favourite!
Also off the lobby is an uber trendy Opening Ceremony fashion store – as Chris so accurately put it, “Where a pair of pants will cost you a month’s rent”.
Fuelled by breakfast and caffeine, we hopped in a cab and headed West to our next destination: The Standard High Line hotel. Stay tuned for details of this next gem…
Ace Hotel
20 W 29th Street, New York City, NY 10001
Read reviews, compare prices & book on TripAdvisor
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