Crosby Street Hotel

CROSBY STREET HOTEL OPENS IN NEW YORKSHOWING OFF QUIRKY DESIGN, A GREEN ATTITUDE,AN AMERICAN MEADOW AND BRITISH CHARMThe much-anticipated Crosby Street Hotel, the newest member of Design Hotels in the Americas, is now open. This is the first overseas venture for husband and wife team Tim and Kit Kemp, owners of London-based Firmdale Hotels. Known for juxtaposing genres, combining eras and mixing antique pieces with state of-the-art technology, owner and designer Kit Kemp follows no rules but her own. Kemp has conceived 40 different design schemes for 86 bedrooms and suites, creating a hotel unlike any other in New York City. The 11 story hotel was built from the ground up with the aim to achieve Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification - the result is an eco-luxe gem in the heart of New York's vibrant SoHo.

Convivial Spaces: Indoors and Out
Although a new build, Crosby Street Hotel melds seamlessly with the century-old industrial aesthetic of theneighbourhood. The minimalist façade of brick, stone and glass pays homage to the surrounding urban landscape,whilst the floor-to-ceiling warehouse windows are an obvious nod to the iconic SoHo loft look. Similar to its Londonsiblings, such as the discreet and charming Number Sixteen or the celebrity favourites The Soho Hotel and HaymarketHotel, the new Crosby Street Hotel is set to be the centre of its neighbourhood's social life.

The Crosby Bar offers food and drinks throughout the day and is a convivial place to meet for breakfast, lunch ordinner. Seasonal produce like strawberries, heirloom tomatoes and lettuces will come from the rooftop kitchen garden.In addition, an area of the garden will be rotated yearly with a 10 chicken coop. A patio also provides a green oasis foroutdoor dining. Guests who wish to connect with their "inner Brit" can enjoy afternoon tea, and those who crave aNew York "moment" can head out to the sculpture garden with their 'Cosmo' or 'Manhattan' from the cocktail menu.

Descending the oak stairs from the lobby leads into an area for private event spaces. A boldly coloured open receptionarea with bright Peter Rocklin paintings leads into three interconnecting private dining and meeting rooms. The CrosbyStreet Hotel Screening Room, a state-of-the-art private cinema, is a stunning space with 99 orange leather PoltronaFrau chairs and walls padded in violet wool.

The Design Concept: Idiosyncratic Elegance
Boldly colourful and eclectic, Kit Kemp's signature style strikes the perfect balance between classicism and modernity,elegance and comfort. Each and every one of her spaces is memorable, and no two of her rooms look the same. Theinspiration for this outpouring of creativity comes from the original art selected from Kemp's own collection of worksby international artists. Unusual pieces tend to be the starting point for every new hotel's scheme, and sculptures andpaintings feature heavily throughout the Firmdale properties. No surprise then that the centrepiece in the lobby is anover three metre high Jaume Plensa steel sculpture of a human head created from letters of the alphabet.

But don't expect a transatlantic transport of Kemp's original English style; the Crosby Street Hotel achieves a distinctlyAmerican flair without abandoning its British roots. Furniture, fabrics and finishes are largely American-made, sourcedlocally from homebred designers like Philadelphia-based artisans Galbraith & Paul, who created many of the handblockprinted fabrics.

Rooms & Suites
86 individually designed spacious bedrooms and suites, many with stunning views of downtown Manhattan, come fullyequipped with a flat screen LCD television, DVD/CD player, iPod docking station, WiFi, fully-stocked mini-bar andpersonal safe. Bathrooms are executed in light gray granite, oak and glass, and are outfitted with rain showers - somealso feature oversized bathtubs. The bath products have been created by Miller Harris exclusively for the hotel.

A true American woodland meadow, featuring an array of more than 50 native flowering plants, has been planted onthe terrace of room 203, affectionately called "The Meadow Suite." Though accessible only to those who book thesuite, the meadow provides all guests a soothing view. The flowering plants will blossom in stages throughout theseasons, creating a colourful and vibrant green space. This is not the only green feature of the hotel - Crosby Streetplans to attain Gold LEED certification by the US Green Building Council. The hotel's ecological responsibility rangesfrom use of regional or recycled building materials to green power, water use reduction and education of guests.

ABOUT FIRMDALE HOTELS
Privately owned by husband and wife team Tim and Kit Kemp, Firmdale Hotels comprises six award-winning luxuryproperties in London: The Soho Hotel, Covent Garden Hotel, Charlotte Street Hotel, Haymarket Hotel,Knightsbridge Hotel and Number Sixteen. With the debut of Crosby Street Hotel, Firmdale brings Kit Kemp's fresh,luxurious, European style and the company's longstanding reputation for world-class personal service to SoHo.According to the judges of the "Andrew Martin International Interior Designer of the Year" award, who bestowed thetitle upon Kemp in 2008, "Kit Kemp has redefined the concept of the city hotel. She brings flamboyance to interiordesign without ever sacrificing the essential commandment of comfort."

For reservations, please refer to the webpage: www.designhotels.com/crosbystreet