PHILLY
EVENTSTravel: City 'Scapes: New York
Three takes on the urban getaway
By Kathleen Fifield, Sasha Issenberg, Jessica Pressler and Meg Cohen Ragas
Posted on June 2007
NEW YORK
Stay: Sleek and minimal, the London NYC (151 West 54th Street, 866-690-2029; thelondonnyc.com) is all-suites, with oversize beds, kidney-shaped sofas, and a cool palette of icy blue and silver. But who even cares? You’ll spend most of your time in the Waterworks bathroom, with hand-cut glass tiles and double rain shower heads.
Eat: The hotel’s London Bar restaurant is elegant and civilized — perfect for drinks and appetizers before the eight o’clock show; its ambient buzz is due to Michelin three-star-rated chef Gordon Ramsay, whose masterful small plates disappoint only in their, um, smallness.
Spa: Head a few blocks north to the Ritz-Carlton Central Park South (or stay here, if your bonus check came in; the park views alone make it dreamy). From the Swiss clinic that brought us $1,000 face creams comes the decadent and intensely private La Prairie spa (212-521-6135; ritzcarlton.com). The clocks run on time here, so arrive early if you want to enjoy a steam before the serious pampering begins.
Stay: Sleek and minimal, the London NYC (151 West 54th Street, 866-690-2029; thelondonnyc.com) is all-suites, with oversize beds, kidney-shaped sofas, and a cool palette of icy blue and silver. But who even cares? You’ll spend most of your time in the Waterworks bathroom, with hand-cut glass tiles and double rain shower heads.
Eat: The hotel’s London Bar restaurant is elegant and civilized — perfect for drinks and appetizers before the eight o’clock show; its ambient buzz is due to Michelin three-star-rated chef Gordon Ramsay, whose masterful small plates disappoint only in their, um, smallness.
Spa: Head a few blocks north to the Ritz-Carlton Central Park South (or stay here, if your bonus check came in; the park views alone make it dreamy). From the Swiss clinic that brought us $1,000 face creams comes the decadent and intensely private La Prairie spa (212-521-6135; ritzcarlton.com). The clocks run on time here, so arrive early if you want to enjoy a steam before the serious pampering begins.
Originally published in Philadelphia magazine, June 2007
