Fouquet’s New York, hotel review: this hotel is lavish in all the right ways, and in a buzzy neighbourhood, finds Adam Bloodworth
“We’re off to f**k its!” my friend exclaimed, prancing down the cobbled streets of the Manhattan district of Tribeca after we’d had lunchtime wine. “Let’s go to f**k its!”
To be fair, if any hotel embodies the spirit of that expletive term, it would be Fouquet’s. The property, which opened just over a year ago, is splendid in almost every way, the sort of design property where you swoosh your head around and notice five or six more interesting design pieces to take in. My bedroom, designed by Martin Brudnizki’s studio along with the rest of the hotel, had a pink marble bathroom, wallpaper custom-designed by Toile de Jouy, and an Art Deco drinks cabinet that was so shiny you could fluff your hair in it. Furnishings are in lavender and green and in tones that look natural but also shimmer.
It is rare for this type of over-stimulation to work, but at Fouquet’s – should that be f**k its – you get carried away with the excess, letting it wash over you like some chaotic circus that’s only in town for the night. Eclectic colours and textures can look cookie-cutter, but not here, where there is an exceptional warmth to the feel of public and private spaces. It’s the latest outpost of the Barriere group; the flagship is Fouquet’s Paris and there are 16 other properties, mainly in France. (We reviewed the Courchevel property last year.)
At 456 Greenwich Street, Tribeca is the sort of grown-up New York neighbourhood that knows precisely how cool it is. It attracts an older crowd, there are no parties, just restaurants, and warehouse refurbishments turned into apartments have intimidating pieces of art framed in the windows. Across the road from my room I could see an evocative pair of lips hung on the wall of the sort of penthouse you assume is too nice for everyday living, the sort of place only protagonists inhabit in films.
For New York, it’s quiet. South of the hum-drum of Greenwich Village’s cafes and bars, and north of Chinatown and the Financial District, Tribeca is one of the city’s rare vacuums. It’s a big selling point: another of the newly opened competition, the Aman, with the city’s highest-priced rooms, has made their sales pitch around offering silence high above Manhattan.
It’s rare to want to stay in your room in New York and not explore, but I could have feasibly stared at the Victorian cobblestones below my window (some of the city’s last cobblestones) and lived my New York writer fantasy.
For a while I considered penning my first tome, but I got hungry. There are three restaurants, but opt for Brasserie Fouquet’s New York, a classic dining room with red velvet chairs and impeccably dressed staff.
In the restaurant, the seating arrangement du jour seemed to be groups of four or six. They were loud, drinking wine, and probably celebrating. In other corners there were smartly dressed couples. The kitchen does the classics well, and dishes are inspired by the French theme running throughout the hotel: we ate dover sole and US beef paired with some excellent red.
There’s a spa in the basement with a pool and jacuzzi, and sauna and steam room, and more casual dining spaces worth visiting if you’re visiting Manhattan but staying elsewhere. They include the Par Ici Café, a decent place for a coffee and pastry if you’re taking respite from a riverside stroll or Downtown mooch.
It’s a great place to feel the changing tides of Manhattan: along the western fringes of the island, the former industrial piers are turning into beaches (yes, beaches), parks and sports grounds in a push to make the crowded island feel more natural. The Empire State Trial runs the length of the waterfront, connecting Battery Park to Upstate destinations like Peekskill and beyond. Hire a CitiBike and explore.
Rooms at Fouquets New York start from £644 per night
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