Baccarat Hotel, New York, USA: review
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Baccarat Hotel is a luxury New York Hotel offering sophisticated service, a basement swimming pool, fine dining restaurant, bar and Baccarat crystal pieces throughout the hotel, near Central Park, the Met, MoMA, Guggenheim and Museum Mile.
The first hotel from France’s eponymous, centuries-old crystal brand, the Baccarat is a sophisticated and refreshingly modish alternative to Midtown Manhattan’s more venerable high-end retreats. Features include a basement swimming pool, chic upper-floor bar, The Bar, and some 2000 glittering crystal pieces dotted throughout. Rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows and toiletries by French perfumer Francis Kurkdjian are gorgeous, but it’s sublime fine dining restaurant Chevalier with its decadent tasting menu (such as leeks with truffle and gruyere) that steals the show.
Location
Cultural acolytes and first-time visitors to New York alike are well served by the Baccarat. It stands directly across from MoMA and Manhattan’s Museum Mile, home to the Met, Guggenheim and many more, is nearby. Sunrise jogs at neighbouring Central Park should awaken the jet-lagged and appeal to keep-fit fanatics, while Downtown’s restaurants and bars are easily reached by subway – frequent trains stop at the station next door.
Style/character
A refreshing alternative to the fusty grande dames that predominate in this area, the Baccarat is awash with agreeably flamboyant features. Among the 15,000 or so pieces of Baccarat crystal strewn across the hotel are 2,000 of the brand’s signature Harcourt glasses, with LEDs embedded in their base, are placed into the foyer wall to form a dazzling light installation that pulsates from morning to night. Elsewhere hand-pleated silks cascade from ceilings, ornate chandeliers sparkle in the light and fresh bouquets of blood-red roses, arranged into perfect orbs, add bold blots of colour to pastel-hued lounges.
Service/facilities
Most, but not all, spruce and youthful staff were switched on and eager to please. Facilities include a subterranean gym that is impressively stylish but lacks some basic components – a clock would have been useful and machines’ built-in television sets were inoperable. The basement swimming pool and four spa treatment rooms were incomplete during my visit but should prove popular. Also sounding impressive is the 1970s Citroën DS that takes guests anywhere within 15 blocks of the hotel on a complimentary basis, though I wasn’t told about this useful service and only discovered I could have availed of it after checking out.
Rooms
Generously sized for Manhattan, and with floor-to-ceiling windows, rooms are beautifully finished and immediately cosseting. Each includes a sofa, cashmere throw and a bespoke Baccarat mini bar in gleaming red enamel. Other touches add character too: pens resemble traditional quills, chandelier silhouettes are subtly embossed on the Mascioni linens, and the Baccarat toiletries by French perfumer Francis Kurkdjian are exclusive to the property. A pity, though, that standard rooms’ amply sized marble bathrooms (if they can still be called such) don’t include a bath.
Food & drink
Supposedly reminiscent of Parisian brasseries but, I felt, offering a far more sophisticated fine-dining experience, Chevalier must be one of the best hotel restaurants in New York. Our tasting menu was a succession of dainty but delicious dishes, such as plump scallops with morels or leeks with truffle and gruyere, flawlessly presented on fine china. The crowds of locals – it was already packed with businessmen and immaculately coiffed Manhattanites when we sat down at 6.30pm – are testament to the interest surrounding it. Upstairs, The Bar lacked comparable buzz but its jumble of artworks, well-stocked shelves and terrace should draw regulars with time. A satisfactory but fairly uninspired a la carte breakfast menu is served in the Grand Salon each morning.
Value for money
Rooms begin at $1,035 (£675), including all taxes but excluding breakfast. Wi-Fi is free. It costs significantly more than many luxury hotels nearby, but the Baccarat’s fresh aesthetic and novel features distinguish it from the competition and the attention to detail here goes some way in explaining the premium.
Access for guests with disabilities?
Yes.
Family-friendly?
Those with children would be more comfortable elsewhere.
The first hotel from France’s eponymous, centuries-old crystal brand, the Baccarat is a sophisticated and refreshingly modish alternative to Midtown Manhattan’s more venerable high-end retreats. Features include a basement swimming pool, chic upper-floor bar, The Bar, and some 2000 glittering crystal pieces dotted throughout. Rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows and toiletries by French perfumer Francis Kurkdjian are gorgeous, but it’s sublime fine dining restaurant Chevalier with its decadent tasting menu (such as leeks with truffle and gruyere) that steals the show.
Location
Cultural acolytes and first-time visitors to New York alike are well served by the Baccarat. It stands directly across from MoMA and Manhattan’s Museum Mile, home to the Met, Guggenheim and many more, is nearby. Sunrise jogs at neighbouring Central Park should awaken the jet-lagged and appeal to keep-fit fanatics, while Downtown’s restaurants and bars are easily reached by subway – frequent trains stop at the station next door.
Style/character
A refreshing alternative to the fusty grande dames that predominate in this area, the Baccarat is awash with agreeably flamboyant features. Among the 15,000 or so pieces of Baccarat crystal strewn across the hotel are 2,000 of the brand’s signature Harcourt glasses, with LEDs embedded in their base, are placed into the foyer wall to form a dazzling light installation that pulsates from morning to night. Elsewhere hand-pleated silks cascade from ceilings, ornate chandeliers sparkle in the light and fresh bouquets of blood-red roses, arranged into perfect orbs, add bold blots of colour to pastel-hued lounges.
Service/facilities
Most, but not all, spruce and youthful staff were switched on and eager to please. Facilities include a subterranean gym that is impressively stylish but lacks some basic components – a clock would have been useful and machines’ built-in television sets were inoperable. The basement swimming pool and four spa treatment rooms were incomplete during my visit but should prove popular. Also sounding impressive is the 1970s Citroën DS that takes guests anywhere within 15 blocks of the hotel on a complimentary basis, though I wasn’t told about this useful service and only discovered I could have availed of it after checking out.
Rooms
Generously sized for Manhattan, and with floor-to-ceiling windows, rooms are beautifully finished and immediately cosseting. Each includes a sofa, cashmere throw and a bespoke Baccarat mini bar in gleaming red enamel. Other touches add character too: pens resemble traditional quills, chandelier silhouettes are subtly embossed on the Mascioni linens, and the Baccarat toiletries by French perfumer Francis Kurkdjian are exclusive to the property. A pity, though, that standard rooms’ amply sized marble bathrooms (if they can still be called such) don’t include a bath.
Food & drink
Supposedly reminiscent of Parisian brasseries but, I felt, offering a far more sophisticated fine-dining experience, Chevalier must be one of the best hotel restaurants in New York. Our tasting menu was a succession of dainty but delicious dishes, such as plump scallops with morels or leeks with truffle and gruyere, flawlessly presented on fine china. The crowds of locals – it was already packed with businessmen and immaculately coiffed Manhattanites when we sat down at 6.30pm – are testament to the interest surrounding it. Upstairs, The Bar lacked comparable buzz but its jumble of artworks, well-stocked shelves and terrace should draw regulars with time. A satisfactory but fairly uninspired a la carte breakfast menu is served in the Grand Salon each morning.
Value for money
Rooms begin at $1,035 (£675), including all taxes but excluding breakfast. Wi-Fi is free. It costs significantly more than many luxury hotels nearby, but the Baccarat’s fresh aesthetic and novel features distinguish it from the competition and the attention to detail here goes some way in explaining the premium.
Access for guests with disabilities?
Yes.
Family-friendly?
Those with children would be more comfortable elsewhere.
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