View from Nolitan room

A visit to New York City often leaves even the most wander-lusting among us fantasizing about settling down in an apartment in the sky. Perhaps it’s the realization that you will  never be able to do, see, and eat everything the city has to offer during a single vacation, or maybe it’s the assertion that making it here is evidence of being able to make it anywhere. Whatever the draw, the dream of at least feeling like a New Yorker for a short period of time is definitely an attractive one. At The Nolitan, New York City’s newest luxury boutique hotel, that dream comes as close to a reality as possible without signing a lease.

Location, Location, Location? Welcome to Nolita

The Nolitan is located in “Nolita”, a neighborhood name you’ll only find on Google maps and in the property’s hip marketing materials. It is “north of Little Italy” or, more accurately, smooshed up to the eastern border of Chinatown. It’s a short walk to one of the seedier neighborhoods of Manhattan, the Bowery, but an equally short walk in the other direction to super hip and generally safe SoHo. Whether anyone outside of the tourism industry has heard the name or not, Nolita is clearly an “up and coming” neighborhood and a surprisingly convenient location for a New York City visitor looking to experience the city from a more local perspective. Just don’t let the graffiti scare you off as you walk Kenmare street looking for your hotel; you’ll soon find a sleek, contemporary oasis in The Nolitan.

Hip Edge with a Soft Touch

Lobby at The Nolitan

The lobby of The Nolitan says “welcome, Hipsters!” loud and clear with it’s concrete surfaces and IKEA-inspired decor. The lounge sofas appear better suited for a SoHo loft than a hotel lobby, which may be why you’ll actually find people working on them during the day and drinking wine on them at night. The large, wooden bookcase separating the lobby space from the restaurant echoes the loft vibe, a theme that continues upstairs in the guest rooms.

Manhattan hotel rooms are notoriously short on space, and The Nolitan rooms are no exception. However, these rooms make clever use of design elements to make the small space both useable and beautiful. Clean lines add to the hip atmosphere, while a cashmere throw and plush robe invites you to actually relax. What would normally be considered a tiny bathroom – another staple of NYC hotels – is instead a luxurious retreat featuring body products from a local boutique and a stunning view of the city available from inside the shower. Can’t get enough of the view from the shower or bed? Step onto the balcony.

Yes, a hotel room with a balcony you can actually get onto in a modern hotel. No locked doors and windows here, perhaps hipsters aren’t consider a jump risk. And oh, boy, the view. The morning and evening glimpses of the city alone make the price of a night at The Nolitan worthwhile.

Felix - one of the happy staff at The Nolitan

In addition to the cashmere and slippers, the urban edge is softened further by an accommodating staff with only 55 rooms of guests for which to account. The staff to guest ratio must be atypically high, and I’m certain every Nolitan employee has gone through extensive hospitality training. It’s the only explanation for such eager, pleasant, back-bending service from every staff member I encountered. The doorman doubles as concierge and the elevator operator and lobby security could just as easily be considered “Official Welcome Wagon.” While I’d normally be put off by an uber-contemporary hotel, I felt welcomed and at home at The Nolitan, thanks in part to a happy staff and a complete lack of thumping club music.

And that’s the real charm of The Nolitan. The free skateboard and laptop rentals are interesting, the in-room yoga mats and free wifi are nice, but it’s the feeling that you’re living in a cool New York City neighborhood during your stay that makes The Nolitan worth recommending – and at the top of my list for hotels worth revisiting.

All photos by Britt Reints

Teach your dog how to surf on vacation!

I came across this article on ABCNews.com the other day written by Jeryl Brunner, and some of the information regarding weird hotel amenities made me laugh. Dog surfing? Really? Ok, ok. I have two dogs, and I might actually try that one out.

I can’t take credit for any of the info below, but I wanted to share it with you all. Hope you enjoyed learning about this stuff as much as I did. I think the common theme here is that in this economy, hotels are struggling more than ever, and it’s imperative that they come up with creative ways to keep old guests and attract new ones. Emphasis on the word creative. Here are three of my favorites from the list.

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Looking for a hotel room with a view in London? How about a boat on a rooftop? That would be Room for London – a one bedroom hotel shaped like a boat on the roof of Queen Elizabeth Hall at Southbank Centre, London.

Room for London

From the upper and lower decks of this rooftop boat, guests can enjoy the extraordinary views of London, from Big Ben to St Paul’s cathedral.

It’s a good bet, though, that there will be a lot more people staring at the boat stuck on the rooftop than the other London attractions in the South Bank.

It’s a temporary installation that’s going to be part of the London 2012 Festival. Living Architecture and Artangel, in association with Southbank Centre, ran a contest where they invited designs for the instllation. The winning Room for London: Roi des Belges design, chosen out of 500 submissions, was sent in by David Kohn Architects and artist Fiona Banner.

Their concept of this boat left stranded on top of the building is that it came to rest there, grounded, perhaps, from the retreating waters of the Thames below.

David Kohn architects explains that “The idea evolved from narratives of travel and displacement in literature, in particular Joseph Conrad’s novella ‘Heart of Darkness,’ a story that begins beside the River Thames. The boat takes its name from the steamboat that Conrad himself captained on the Congo. Visitors to the boat will be invited to create their own narrative by recording their experience on board.”

The inside of the ‘hotel’ consists of one double bedroom with a view of London and an ensuite bathroom. In addition to the balconies on the upper deck, there’s also a library on board. Guests will be expected to raise a ‘nautical flag’ when they come aboard, and write about their stay and the whole experience in the logbook.

You can book the Room for London starting Sept 8, for stays from January to June 2012. For those who want a stay during the 2012 London Olympics, reservations can be made starting January 2012, for stays in between July-Dec 2012.

On top of the guests who will pay to stay, there will also be some ‘thinkers-in-residence’ invited to come and stay at the boatel on the roof and encouraged to write about it and the city.

Photo courtesy David Kohn Architects and Fiona Banner

More info and booking: living-architecture.co.uk

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Boggsville Boatel Offers $50 Hotel Stay in New York
Spend a Night in the World’s Smallest Pop-Up Hotel

Recently, I came across this article regarding a new virtual concierge program at the JW Marriott in Chicago, Illinois. I haven’t been to the Marriott, I personally love the idea of a virtual concierge. Why wait in line to ask a simple question when you can have all of the information you’re looking for at your fingertips? Plus, you don’t have to worry about taking up too much time at the front desk when all you want to do is go relax in your room or go out and see the sights. I still don’t understand why I see long lines at check-in and check-out at hotels; can’t this mundane necessity be taken care of completely at kiosks? The virtual check-in and check-out experiences I’ve had so far have been great – quick and easy.

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