4 July 2018

MADE HOTEL NEW YORK

MADE Hotel has only 100 rooms and is, therefore, a small-scale hotel in New York. Created for the creative scene with a rooftop with phenomenal views, rooms with inspiring design and an excellent restaurant, this is the hotel to book now.

Urban Oasis

The taxi drops me off in front of MADE Hotel in the NoMad district. The wooden facade is already picture-perfect with the open windows and many plants in front of it. You won’t notice it immediately. And that’s exactly the intention says Tobias Lindvall, director of strategic development at MADE Hotel because it is like a hidden gem. A green, urban oasis in the heart of Manhattan.

The lobby

When I walk into the lobby, I understand the idea of a city oasis. Of course, we are in Manhattan, perhaps the busiest piece of earth in the world, but I have a flashback to The Slow in Bali. Lots of wood, a lot of green, many pieces of furniture developed primarily for the hotel. The temperature is almost similar to Indonesia, but instead of men with surfboards under their arm, you will see people with a cocktail in one hand, while working on their Macbook.

Coffee at PAPER

On the ground floor, there is a coffee bar where you will see locals queuing. PAPER serves coffee from Devocion from Brooklyn, who recently opened a new café in Brooklyn. It’s a unique coffee concept because the people behind Devocion excel in their superfast connection with the plantations in Colombia. And that results in the freshest coffee at MADE Hotel.

Ferris restaurant

In the basement, you’ll find Ferris, a restaurant set up by chef Charles Seich, together with Greg Proechel. Seich previously worked at Ruschmeyer’s in Montauk, The Leadbelly, and Dirty French. Proechel worked at Eleven Madison Park and opened Le Turtle a few years ago. Together they present the New American kitchen at Ferris. Hits on the menu are for example the Grilled Scallop, Iberico Katsu Sando, and Duck on the Crown.

The rooftop on the 18th floor

Seich is also in charge of the other restaurant concepts at the hotel. Like PAPER, but also the cocktail bar in the lobby and the rooftop bar Good Behavior. Once, Lindvall says, the NoMad district was a neighborhood you didn’t want to go because it was full of brothels. So that historical fact became the starting point for the bar on the 18th floor because every cocktail is named after a former brothel from that neighborhood. Like the Abode of Venus or, the most popular, the Dirty Finery with mezcal, Morita pepper, pomegranate, and passionfruit. The bar opens at five o’clock and attracts a relaxed crowd. Funny detail: the DJ booth is not located somewhere on the side, but in the middle so that it looks like you are at a party at someone’s home.

The design

Studio MAI from Los Angeles did the design of the hotel. They are also behind the inspiring designs of Gjelina and Verve Coffee among others. The owner of MADE Hotel, Sam Gelin, found their work so inspiring that he decided to work together. At a time where the focus is on the functional layouts of small spaces, the hotel rooms are real works of art. The beds are on a wooden platform, including storage space underneath. The wall racks are also sublime: here you can hang your clothes, have a table to work from, and even the television is hidden inside. Lindvall tells me that most people ask for the sweet smell in the rooms and whether they can buy it downstairs. He always has to laugh about that, because that is the real smell of the wood. (There are also other hotels with a strong wood scent such as Santa Clara 1728 in Lisbon and the room on the top floor of The Artist Residence in London).