Travel Tuesday: Gramercy Park Hotel, a no Ikea zone

I got a little heads up email today from Sara Blask who writes a blog for Oyster Hotel Reviews blog. She wrote was writing to give me a heads up about a post she'd written about an Icelandic couple - formerly wealthy residents of the swank Gramercy Park Hotel in New York - who were being sued for renting out their private residence that had an Ikea kitchen installed. Apparently, the renters weren't thinking Ikea was good enough for the $312k annual rental. Anyway, you can read the whole story here. It's pretty funny.

Meanwhile, I thought I'd post pics of the rest of the hotel, that includes 23 private residences, hotel rooms, restaurants, bars, gym, spa...  The hotel has played home to notables such as Humphrey Bogart and the Joseph P. Kennedy family (pre-Ambassador to England days), and Babe Ruth hung out at the bar. In the 1950's Herbert Weissberg turned the hotel into a Bohemian inspired establishment known for its low prices and privacy. Notable guests included Bob Marley and Bob Dylan, the first cast of Saturday Night Live and Madonna.  In 2003, following Weissberg's death, the hotel was sold to Ian Shrager, whom National Geographic Travel referred to as the "Iventor of the boutique hotel". The hotel was designed by artist Julian Schnabel and still reflects its bohemian past. Here's a link to a New York Times article on Julian Schablel "The Reluctant Decorator".

 

 

 Michael Weschler for The New York Times

 Michael Weschler for The New York Times

  Michael Weschler for The New York Times

 

   

  

Mr. Schnabel designed the public spaces in the hotel, the in-house design team tackled the rooms (according to the Times story, he had trouble translating his big vision to the intimacy required for the private rooms). Clearly, the private rooms are designed in the manner of the public rooms - using the same saturated color palettes and bold furnishings. But they certainly all look very comfortable and significantly more "real". A perfect combination, I think!

  

  

Blogger's convention anyone?




 Subscribe to ::Surroundings::