Speaking of social spaces, the lobby is completely open to the public and includes a full-service bar—outfitted with a 12-person marble-topped bar, lounge seating, and leather and wood barstools from the interior design firm’s new furniture line, William Gray—a coffee shop, and an Italian restaurant called Nearly Ninth (because the hotel just barely reaches Ninth Avenue).
On the upper floors, the blue-and-white guest rooms, which lack harsh overhead lighting, are a celebration of nature’s most soothing elements. For instance, above the beds is a thick fabric stripe that mimics an agate stone, and under the bed is a custom-designed carpet that, at first glance, looks like a Japanese sand garden. Some of the rooms even have terraces with plush seating, hammocks, and unparalleled views of the city.
A spacious bathroom suite at the Aman New York.
If you don’t work in banking or have an affinity for Broadway, Midtown may not be on your list of neighborhoods to explore. But Aman New York, opening late summer in the famed 1921 Crown Building, which was designed by the creatives behind Grand Central, will certainly make you reconsider. In addition to housing 22 private residences including a sprawling five-story penthouse, Aman boasts 83 spacious guest rooms and suites, all of which feature working fireplaces, a true New York luxury (not to mention in-unit laundry machines).
Plus, staying true to Aman’s Asian heritage, one of the resident restaurants is a Japanese eatery serving freshly prepared sushi and sashimi at its live-cooking counter and on the outdoor terrace. There’s also a wraparound Italian restaurant, Arva, that claims views of Central Park, and a stylish cocktail and wine bar simply dubbed The Bar.
The Asian influence is even more apparent in the hotel’s acclaimed Wellness Centre, a three-story haven with seven treatment suites and banya and hammam spa houses (both of which are complete with their own private outdoor relaxation terraces and hot and cold plunge pools). The Wellness Centre also has a boutique and lounge, a 65-foot-long indoor swimming pool lined with double daybeds and fire pits, a nearly 1,000-square-foot gym, yoga studio, saunas, steam rooms, ice fountains, and sensory showers. There’s even a classic gentlemen’s barber and a ladies’ hair and nail salon, too. Architect Jean-Michel Gathy of Denniston nailed it.
The grand façade of Casa Cipriani, located inside a former ferry terminal.