GLASS HOUSE

When guests check into the BACCARAT HOTEL & RESIDENCES NEW YORK it’s as though they are moving into a giant jewellery box. Crystal chandeliers jingle from the high lobby ceilings and thickly framed windows mask the sounds of 53rd Street. Beach ball-sized globes of red roses are placed throughout the hotel’s Grand Salon (where pastries and tea are offered) and a handful of museum-like treasures guard entryways. Most of these works (especially the crystal knick-knackery) are designed by Baccarat, a company that dates back to Louis XV. Objets d’art, including Roman busts and ornate vases, are conservatively placed in the hotel’s Parisian-style suites, with indoor and outdoor light zoning in on the treasures. The service is just as inimitable, with an air of royalty (Monaco, not Hollywood) circulating through the vents. A leisurely tour through guest rooms includes a tutorial on the many amenities, including a cherry red Citroën house car with driver (available daily), premium in-room libations and a heavenly spa (which uses La Mer products). Rooms are gigantic by New York standards (the smallest suite starts at 645 square feet) and come with a wall-sized mirror that turns into a TV with the click of a Nexus 5 smartphone, which also controls curtains, lighting, temperature and more. Other standouts are the hotel’s harlequin-tiled lap pool and the art-deco-style bar— undoubtedly the coolest spot. It holds a serious menu of cocktails, which has attracted many artists and curators from the neighbouring Museum of Modern Art. The signature La Vie en Rose is served, of course, in a dazzling crystal tumbler. —E.I.