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Crosby Street Hotel NYC Review (with Video!)
Overview
The Crosby Street Hotel (CSH) is located in New York’s SOHO area, within convenient walking distance to prime shopping areas and the Prince Street and Spring Street subway lines. It opened a little over four months ago, and was one of only sixteen properties in the world to receive one of Andrew Harper’s 2010 Grand Awards.
Design
Kit Kemp, is the owner (along with her husband Tim) of the Firmdale group of hotels, which are notable for their London properties, including the regarded Covent Garden and Charlotte Street Hotels. Kit is also the design director of the hotel, and has a unique contemporary English style. She was named the Andrew Martin International Designer of the year in 2008. The Crosby Street Hotel is Firmdale’s first US property.
The hotel is new construction, having been built on the site of a former parking lot. It is 12 stories tall, and has 86 rooms (two more than the Mercer). It has a fitness center and private screening theater. It does not have a pool.
Arrival
I arrived in the late afternoon by town car and was assisted immediately with my luggage. I was escorted to the front desk where I had to wait several minutes for service. I was helped by Jenny, who was very friendly and efficient. She is from the Charlotte Street property in London. Jenny provided me with vouchers for two complimentary cocktails or glasses of champagne at the Crosby bar and informed me that I had been upgraded one room category to a Deluxe room on the 8th floor of this 12 floor hotel.
Lobby
The lobby of the CSH is intimate and curated by Kit Kemp with an elegant and contemporary collection of artworks. The collection is eclectic with a modern steel sculpture of a human head made of letters of the alphabet by Jaume Plensa matched along side a paper lamp shaped like a dog. Kit must be a dog lover because dog portraits fill the public spaces, along side Warhol-esque portraits of the Queen.
Deluxe Room (350 square feet)
New York hotel rooms are small. I except that. CSH is no exception. My deluxe room was 350 square feet, but felt much larger due to the floor to ceiling windows that dramatically amplify the space. The room itself is well planned and functioned well during my two night stay.
Furnishings
Kit Kemp has said in interviews that she doesn’t work with a formula and that her work seeks to have a sense of quirkiness and fun. I have to admit I was a bit worried by photographs of the furnishings on the hotel’s website that portray the rooms with almost gaudy fluorescent colors. I have to say I was relieved to find the colors in real life are very pleasant and elegant. The furnishings are of exceedingly high quality and they do indeed provide a sense of surprise. A nightlight the shape of a dressmaker’s form must be Kitt’s homage to the fashionable shops that make SOHO their home.
Bathroom
The bathroom is very small, but well appointed. Fixtures are by the English firm Lefroy Brooks. I’ve never seen so much nickel and chrome polished to perfection. The shower is brisk if not brutally strong and instantly hot. The towel warmer keeps the bathroom comfortably toasty at all times. Amenities are house-branded Miller Harris.
Bathroom Amenities
Shower Gel
Hair Conditioner
Shampoo
Soap bar (two)
Lotion (two)
Hair Dryer
Bathrobes (two)
Work desk
The work desk is very small, but adequate for a laptop computer. I give a big plus for the bedside electrical outlets for iPhone/laptop chargers. I’m glad to see hotel designers incorporating these intelligent and thoughtful practical matters into their designs.
Turndown Service
Turndown service is rather basic, no mood music or mood video program is available or played. Toilet cover left up and TP was not foiled or folded.
Turndown Amenities
Voss 330 mL bottle of still water and glass at Bedside
10 ml bottle of Sleep Well aromatherapy spray
Service in General
The service in general was good, but not excellent. I attribute this to their new staff, but that may be generous on my part. The members of staff I encountered were previously from the Mercer and Mandarin Oriental hotels in NYC or one of Firmdale’s properties in London—ostensibly well trained. I will note Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas has achieved World-class service levels in a shorter period of time, so this is an area where Firmdale should strive to improve.
While the staff were very friendly, guest recognition by greeting was conspicuously absent. Nobody seemed to have bothered to remember me or my name. And I do love being greeted by name. Telephone service calls were also answered without greeting me by name, and several times they got my room number wrong (ostensibly hotels have telephone systems that track this sort of information when a guest rings).
There seems to be only one doorman most of the time. This often results in one opening the very heavy air-locked door by one’s self when the doorman’s attentions are elsewhere. Because Crosby Street is a narrow cobblestone road, taxis have to be hailed from nearby Spring Street by the doorman, and this takes several minutes. Meanwhile, nobody is manning the door.
Sloppiness was also apparent at times, such as when my server spilled coffee while pouring it and then left without apologizing or cleaning up the mess. My coffee cup went empty at breakfast more times than I care to remember. This morning, a server took my plate before I had finished eating.
Food and Beverage (Crosby Bar)
There is no big name chef attached to the dining room at CSH, and that seems fine to me. I don’t need a big name chef, but I do want the food to be good! Their F&B needs work. I had two breakfasts and one dinner in the restaurant. Breakfast was spotty on both occasions. The steak and eggs on my first day were alright, but the hashbrown potatoes were an inedible brick. I’m a hashbrown lover, but I couldn’t enjoy what was served, which was a hardened mass of congealed potato starch. The second day I had eggs benedict which was a very basic preparation of two English muffins, very thinly sliced ham and two perfectly poached eggs. The Hollandaise sauce had partially broken. The dish itself was lukewarm and ungarnished.
Dinner was not much better. I had two dishes recommended by my server. The steak tartar was not spectacular and had several pieces of inedible tendon fibers that greatly decreased the appeal of the dish. On the other hand, the steak on my steak salad was perfectly cooked and flavorful.
The Crosby Bar also has to rework the pricing on its beverages. They are truly ridiculous in Las Vegas fashion. $35 for a glass of Laurent-Perrier's Cuvée Rosé! Cocktails start at $18. Luckily, the two drink vouchers came in very handy!
Fortunately SOHO does not lack for dining options. For breakfast, I would recommend walking half a block to Balthazar on Spring Street.
I also highly recommend trying these new tiny stuffed mini cupcakes from a tiny shop called Baked by Margaret with a pickup windown on Spring @ Mercer (just look for the huge line in the street).
Or, if you are feeling adventurous in a gritty NYC downtown way, you could get some pulled pork tacos at La Esquina a few blocks down in Kenmore Square. Don't expect fancy or even sit down. But it is the best Mexican in NYC.
Checkout
The check-out process proceeded very smoothly and without surprises. My bags were promptly swept away by the bellman. I was warmly bid farewell.
Pluses
Member of TabletPlus hotels, and I received all the extra amenities below:
Welcome glass of champagne/cocktails
Free in-house movies
Upgraded at check-in
Location is prime SOHO while being situated on a quiet street (unlike Mercer)
Welcome gift of Voges chocolates and personalized note
Elegant contemporary English design
Service Issues/Nitpicking
Had to wait for check-in service
Lack of guest recognition with service calls and greetings
Computerized wake-up call
F&B needs work, as noted above
Conclusions
Does CSH live up to the hype? Well, I think so. Kit Kemps interiors are gorgeous in a contemporary English way. The service is good, just not excellent yet. But there is nothing that would prevent me from returning. Indeed, I will be back for another stay in March.
I do feel I need to warn certain luxury forum readers. This is not the Peninsula (we are not in Midtown folks) nor the Four Seasons where everything is pleasingly beige nor the Mandarin Oriental where one can float above the city with expansive views. I will not speak of the Plaza except to say that it is not even in the same league. There is no pool.
This is SOHO. The location will not appeal to everyone. However, for those of us on the luxury forum who enjoy the Downtown area, CSH brings a fresh new luxury property we can call home. I personally try to split my NYC trips between uptown (favoring the Peninsula’s newly renovated rooms) and downtown. The Mercer used to be a favorite, but it is getting a bit long in the tooth and I do enjoy the quieter Crosby street location, gorgeous Kit Kemp designs, and gigantic windows that bring the excitement of NYC into my room.
The last time I was at the MO LV in January, I bought several pastries for A. who just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl (congrats A.!). When I returned today, I found these cupcakes, this one happens to be vanilla. The Red Velvet cupcake was not photographed because it was eaten too quickly. But it is authentically made with vinegar and cocoa powder. Astonishingly, the clerk not only remembered me, but remembered what I had ordered and who it was for. The service at the MO LV is truly amazing. Where do they find these people?
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