Who's Going
Karl Lagerfeld, Vivienne Westwood, Cindy Crawford
Reason to Stay
Loft Rooms, Gourmet Eatery, Lounge Scene, Fashion Crowd
Hotel Type
Luxury Boutique Hotel
In a landmark red Romanesque brick building of arched-roof details, celebrity hotelier Andres Balazs oversees a stylish boutique hotel with luxury details home to celebrities and fashion icons on their NYC stay. Never opting for trend over substance, a lobby of soaring white ceilings is lined in ebony bookshelves and antique carpet next to a simple reception counter entombed in white brink and three chandelier-lamp detail. Running about is upper-crust New York artists, movie producers as well as Paris-based fashion designer like Lagerfeld and entourage who take the hotel by storm ever fashion week.
The Mercer is a study in meticulous hotel management that balances the line between boutique and luxury hotel. The fact is the Mercer is a bit of both from spot-on concierge with a lot of local pull to sometime too simple furnishings that show the signs of ample wear. The hotel is home to bi-level Mercer Kitchen helmed by Jean-Georges Vongerichten who oversees a casual pan-American menu of steaks and gourmet pizzas from a wood-burning and on-site raw bar. The kitchen emphasizes a communal atmosphere from the street-level cafe located adjacent to the lobby and lower-level dining room with wenge-wood chairs and cloth-free tabletops underneath glass sidewalk.
The Room
Larger than most boutique hotels yet smaller than the grand luxury palaces, Mercer is home to 75 rooms and suites designed in a Soho loft aesthetic defined by floor-to-ceiling windows and distressed hardwood floors. The interior design work was done my Christian Liaigre who marries crisp white slipcovered couches and club chairs with ebony wood furnishing with simple architectural lines. Entry-level rooms are quite compact with French door overlooking an interior courtyard planted in tall bamboo. Rooms don’t become all that impressive until the Studio or Loft Studio categories overlooking Prince Street with marble bathroom upgraded with deep soaking tubs. Suite-level rooms are outfitted in living room and dining rooms with private kitchen and spa-style bathroom of steam showers.
Preferred Room
Studio Loft
Special Features
Fashion Crowd, Kitchen Suites, Soho Location, Celebrity Following
Amenities
Restaurant, Lounge, Bar, Concierge, Penthouse Apartment