New York’s Distrikt Hotel opened its doors on Feb. 1, welcoming travelers to a new type of hotel concept: a convergence of culture in one space. The Distrikt pays homage to the various neighborhoods of Manhattan by featuring montages of each neighborhood’s unique personality on various floors throughout the hotel.
New York-based design firm OTTE Architecture designed the hotel alongside local artist Chris Rubino. Each floor of The Distrikt is said to feature a scene that describes one of New York’s iconic neighborhoods including Chelsea, Greenwhich Village, Midtown West, Midtown East, Central Park, Soho, the Lower East Side, Tribeca, Harlem and the Financial District. Located at 342 West 40th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues, the hotel is set in the center of it all: Times Square.
On his recent trip to New York, I sent Gadling Editor Grant Martin into the hotel to explore and check out the new digs. Here is what he found:
“The building is narrow, very narrow,” said Grant. However, due to the size of the narrow building the hotel has only five rooms on every floor, which means a lot less foot traffic and less noise than a bigger hotel.
First stop: The Lobby.
The focus of the lobby is the 11-foot green “living wall”, meant to represent Central Park.
In the lobby, there are three Apple computers connected to the Web, which are free of charge to guests. The green wall was filled with live green plants, adding a nice ‘fresh’ aspect to the hotel lobby.
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The subway themed elevator bank is what makes this hotel so unique. “Special city detailing on the walls and city streets carved into the woodwork behind the desk and around parts of the lobby was probably the most unique and my favorite thing about the hotel. This custom woodwork is also in both elevators.”The Rooms
Each floor in The Distrikt Hotel is designated to a specific “district” of Manhattan. Neighborhoods are divided up roughly 3-5 floors per district, and the only thing that really separates them from the other floors is the collage on the walls. The hotel claims they took 10,000 photos to make these collages, and while we didn’t count, the collages are pretty cool.
As far as the rooms go, they are pretty standard. There is no distinctive difference in ‘districts’ once you enter your room, but Grant gives credit where credit is due: “The beds are big, warm and very comfortable. The iPod/phone enabled clock radio was nice, which I appreciate, as was the giant LCD TV that did not default to the hotel channel every time I turned it on.”
Bathrooms
While the bathrooms are small by American hotel standards, they are pretty average for New York standards. The typical amenities were included in the bathrooms, and the bonus was free toothpaste and a toothbrush (if you walked down to the front desk to get it). The bathroom also came complete with a robe and slippers – a nice touch if you decide to lounge around for a while.
Restaurant
The Distrikt Hotel is home to Collage restaurant, which debuts a menu of New York-inspired food and local beers. As the building is narrow, so is the restaurant, which means seating for approximately 50 or so people.
Additional amenities:
Should you choose to stay at The Distrikt Hotel, you can expect free wifi in the rooms, a business desk with ergonomic chair, and Ecru New York soaps and amenities.
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