Billed as ‘a hotel distilled into its most beautiful parts’, Sister City is the newest brand from hospitality trailblazers, Atelier Ace.
Occupying a former Salvation Army building, a few doors down from the SANAA-designed New Museum, the hotel’s interiors, by Atelier Ace’s in-house team, eschews the Ace hotels’ usual bohemian aesthetic in favour of minimalist lines and a muted palette. An understated white brick and terrazzo lobby, liberally lined with potted plants and art books, opens into a birch wood-clad hallway where guests check themselves in on iPads beneath a geometrically-patterned skylight that nods to the work of Robert Mallett Stevens and Louis Barillet.
Absent of the ubiquitous communal work desks, the adjacent lounge area is an oasis of calm, populated by vintage seating, alongside custom-designed couches with whimsically stepped armrests. The sound of co-workers’ clattering keyboards, too, has been replaced by a contemplative lobby score – a collaboration between by electronic musician Julianna Barwick and Microsoft.
The relaxed vibe extends to the 200 guestrooms which range from petite – yet perfectly formed – singles, to bunk rooms and terrace options with sweeping city views. Here, the Italian cherry and ash wood furniture has been smartly devised to make the best of the available space- TV frames, for instance, fold out to become work desks, and collapsible valets offer the ideal setup to lay out one’s outfit ahead of the next day. Lighting is equally pared back and considered, with the occasional handmade Noguchi lantern complementing cast glass wall sconces by Brooklyn studio Rich Brilliant Willing. Also not to be missed are the custom terrazzo vanities, which allows guests to keep all bathroom amenities close at hand.
Perched on the 11th floor, a neighbourhood cocktail bar called Last Light, is an excellent spot to linger and admire Manhattan’s spirited skyline while sipping on beverage director Josh Hanover’s tight edit of cocktails, natural wines and draft beers, which are pared with small plates like the indulgent ricotta toast with sweet pea, ramp and mint. Coming soon, the hotel restaurant Floret – helmed by Joe Ogrodnek, formerly of Greenpoint cult favourite Anella – will serve a seasonal, locavore menu to be savoured either on the vintage German school chairs of the ground floor dining room, or under the warm glow of string lights on the garden patio.
Read more about the 20th anniversary of the Ace Hotel Group in the June 2019 issue of Wallpaper*, on newsstands now. §
