SoHo Suite

NEW YORK'S SWANKY NEW CROSBY STREET HOTEL

Crosby Street in Manhattan’s SoHo district was, in recent memory, a dark, menacing alley with mostly rats for pedestrians. In the post-Chanelification of SoHo, it has become the most prestigious thoroughfare in the neighborhood—all cast-iron charm and cobblestones, slightly off the beaten track, lined with independent boutiques. Since New York needs a few more world-class non-chain hotels to go alongside the Carlyle, the Mercer, and the revivified Mark, the arrival of the Crosby Street Hotel (on the block between Prince and Spring Streets) will be welcome, even if it does bring a logjam of black S.U.V.’s and Mercedes S-Classes to the tranquil block. The hotel, housed in a newly constructed and brutishly faux-industrial brick box, is the work of Kit and Tim Kemp, owners of the Firmdale Hotels group, famous for six popular London hotels, among them the Covent Garden, the Charlotte Street, and the Haymarket. The Kemps have a valiant aversion to value engineering in their projects. Kit, who does the decorating herself, treats the places as if they were her own homes. “I wouldn’t have anything in the hotels that I wouldn’t have at home,” she says. “They have to look artless, as if they were always there. We have all the furniture made—literally everything.” David-Hicks-Does-the-Mad-Hatter’s-Apartment-onAcid may be the best way to describe what Kit has created here: a rich environment with a full color spectrum, including chartreuse, aubergine, and persimmon. Walls are lined with textiles ranging from free-spirited paisleys in suites fit for loopy heiresses to upstanding gray flannel pinstripes for the City-banker bedrooms. There is a sally-port entrance on Lafayette Street, perfect for the arrival of your illicit lover or a movie star. Above it all, you can watch the privileged neighbors on Crosby through floor-to-ceiling factory-style windows. Down below: two gardens which, says Kit, “are my favorite part” of the hotel.

MATT TYRNAUER