A 24 Hour Staycation in New York City

Anyone who thinks New York is dead clearly hasn't been to The Mark.

I wanted to get a feel for what it was like in Manhattan right now, and on a frigid Tuesday in March, I went to visit four different hotels in Midtown, the Upper East Side, and Soho. I didn’t realize I would end up feeling like the Mars Rover, searching for signs of life.

Walking from 42nd Street through Times Square at 8:30am was like being on a movie studio lot. The stage was set and the lights were lit, but where were the cast and crew? Restaurants have been boarded up for months (a whole year?) with tables and chairs stacked like awkward Jenga bricks in the windows. There were posters and garbage cans still advertising Broadway shows that will never return. I swung by the Today Show only to find the plaza empty and I was the lone person waving to Hoda and Savannah through the windows.

The museums and restaurants are now operating with greater capacity and with the warmer weather, the crowds on the weekends have been much larger than during the middle of the week. My first stop of the day was on 56th Street just off 5th Avenue.

The Whitby Hotel reopened over the summer and is still one of the only luxury hotels in Midtown currently operating. The surrounding office buildings are still empty with everyone working from home. I sat in the restaurant with a French press coffee waiting for my site appointment and was delighted to overhear business conversations over breakfast. The first welcome sign of life - the business bro talking a little too loudly on his cellphone.

The hotel is part of the Firmdale Group by Kit Kemp which has 8 hotels in London (like everyone’s favorites The Soho and Ham Yard). The lobby and restaurant are full of the whimsical, colorful designs you can expect from all of their hotels. This one was a nice crossover, feeling equal parts New York and London. With only 86 rooms, the hotel will never feel as busy as some of the other giants of the area. The starting room size is decent at around 330-350 sq ft and the floor to ceiling windows, all with city views, make them feel lighter and larger. Kit Kemp’s signature is to play with colors, patterns, and textures, and all of that is on full display. Some rooms can interconnect for families and to make multi-bedroom suites. There is a small gym on the underground level and a 130 seat screening room that can be rented out.

The Carlyle Hotel has been undergoing a renovation for years and it is finally almost complete with the main restaurant set to reopen in the early Fall. They have used the same designer as some of my other favorite Rosewood hotels in London and Hong Kong. My favorite thing about the Carlyle is that feeling of being instantly transported to a previous, more glamorous New York. The rooms and suites have been transformed from a classical style to art deco with mid-century-modern design elements. The bathrooms are spacious and beautiful with black and white marble. Bemelmans Bar, the famous jazz club, has been closed since last March, but the piano player comes in every morning to practice and it was a joy to hear him through the doors.

My overall sense is that the hotel has to stay open for the many residents who call it home, but the services are incredibly limited at this time.

Anyone who thinks New York is dead clearly hasn’t been to The Mark. After lunch at Serafina on Madison, I walked into the Mark’s lobby and was shocked by how it was bustling with people. Both the indoor and outdoor seating at Jean-Georges’ restaurant was as busy as legally allowed. It was exciting, it was fast paced, it was New York. I was ready to call it a day and plant myself in the bar with a martini and make some new friends. The rooms and suites are spacious with my favorites being on the higher floors with city views.

As one of the only luxury hotels operating at full service with restaurants, gym, and salon all open, it’s no wonder that it’s the place to be. The shops outside on Madison Ave are all open and the nearby restaurants have expanded to 50% indoor capacity. It was so fun, I really did not want to leave.

I’m used to the small streets of Soho being overly crowded and noisy. That was not the case on a Tuesday afternoon. It was fairly quiet without much traffic at all. The Crosby Street Hotel is just a block off Broadway in the heart of Soho. This is the other Firmdale Hotel in New York and it is very similar to the Whitby. The lobby is small, again decorated with whimsical art installations. The restaurant and parlor have that great blend of NY and London with a beautiful outdoor courtyard, and downstairs, there is a small gym and a screening room. The rooms are in the same style as the Whitby with high ceilings and bright windows, and my favorite were the terrace suites. The dinner I had was delicious with a small starter of popcorn shrimp and an entree of seared salmon with creamy truffle polenta. The cocktail list has 16(!) unique creations, but I decided to stick with my faithful, a slightly-dirty martini.

What I saw made me miss the New York of 2019, but excited for what is to come in the rest of 2021 and 2022. The recovery will be slow and the city will certainly look different on the other side. With Spring finally in the air, the signs of life are actually all around, you just need to look a little harder.