The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - The Telegraph Magazine
New York ancient and modern
Manhattan haunts that make the most of their history
THE LOWELL
IN JANUARY OF the year The Lowell opened its doors, the first official transatlantic phone call was put through, muffled and crackly, between New York and London. We’re talking 1927: skyscrapers shooting up, jazz and Charles Lindbergh in the air. And sitting between Park Avenue and Madison (simply the most convenient location for when you’ve skipped through Central Park from the Guggenheim and are craving a Tanqueray French 75), the hotel has been an Upper East Side landmark ever since.
Prosperous 1920s Manhattan has been bottled, preserved and discreetly diffused through a multimillion-dollar refurbishment by Michael S Smith (of the Obamas’ White House redecoration); the daily papers come leather-bound, no less. But it’s modern, too, with a fitness centre and the beautiful Majorelle restaurant by Charles Masson, where the restaurateur himself does the flowers – from up a stepladder, as we spied him, taming big blooms in wild colours. Delicate dishes of steak tartare and grilled sole mingle with Moroccan carrots and harissa couscous on the menu.
The rooms differ in size and shape, many with balconies, more with wood- burning fireplaces that the staff (all so friendly) will tend. From our terrace, we plotted our route to The Met, and on to seek out smoked fish and bagels at Zabar’s on the West Side. The Wi-fi signal? Crackle-free.
THE BEEKMAN
A 20-MINUTE CAB RIDE away, down in Lower Manhattan, the red-brick turreted building that houses The Beekman predates The Lowell by a little over 40 years and was one of the city’s original skyscrapers. It may now be dwarfed by taller, glassier models, but inside it’s spectacular, thanks to decor by Martin Brudnizki, who transformed The Ivy in London. The lobby is theatrical enough, all dark wood panels and Persian rugs, and that’s before you’ve tipped your head back to gaze at the nine-storey atrium. Wrought-iron railings on each level provide a prop for people-watching once The Bar Room below is abuzz with the cool and trendy.
Afterwards, we headed to Temple Court, where dinner – cheaper than at the top-rung Majorelle but not by much – is served against the sparkle of mirrors and brass. Heritage vegetables and grains abound, as in a hot-smoked monkfish dish with earthy beetroot. Keith Mcnally’s celebrated French brasserie Augustine is in the hotel, too.
You could spend all day splashing in your rain shower, but The Beekman is also well placed for a traipse along Wall Street, or through the Lower East Side to my favourite rooftop bar, Mr Purple.