If you’re looking for a hotel for Valentine’s Day, why not stay in the brand new Knickerbocker Hotel, a landmark historic hotel built in 1906 that is reopening on 12 February?
Once considered one of the best hotels in New York City and the birthplace of the original Martini, the Knickerbocker Hotel is about to open its doors to the public again. On February 12, 2015, a brand new incarnation will reopen in the very same location.
The hotel, which overlooks Times Square, was originally opened by John Jacob Astor the Fourth in 1906 but when it closed 15 years later, it became an office block. Now the newly reburbished Knickerbocker has been restored to its former glory. The brand new Knickerbocker, which cost $240 million to renovate, will be home to 330 sumptuous guest rooms, as well as two restaurants and a rooftop bar.
Despite only being open for 15 years, the original hotel had an excellent reputation and it’s likely that in its new incarnation, The Knick, as it’s been nicknamed, will have even more notoriety. Meticulous restoration was undertaken to keep the building’s historic elements in its sleek new interiors
The Knickerbocker is a member of the Leading Hotels of the World and each of its 330 rooms, which include 27 Junior Suites and four Signature Suites, has been decorated by interior design firm Gabellini Sheppard using bespoke pieces of furniture. The design is contemporary, modern and functional, but MD Jeff David insists that the hotel’s “original DNA” will remain, combined with “intuitive service and relevant luxury”. The Beaux-Arts façade of the building will also remain.
The rooms will all feature state-of-the-art technology and modern conveniences, as well as ultra-luxurious toiletries in the en suite bathrooms. Guests will also enjoy the in-room salon services of celebrity hairdresser Ted Gibson.
MD Jeff David David is adamant about keeping the hotel’s history. He believes that this is what will set The Knickerbocker apart from other new Manhattan hotels and will attract both local and international guests. One of the most fascinating historic elements of the original Knickerbocker Hotel is an underground door in the Times Square subway that is topped with a Knickerbocker Hotel sign. This doorway, which has been locked for almost a century, once led to a plush underground restaurant, but this will not be part of the renovation. Instead, the doorway, which has been restored and still looks much the same as the original, will now lead to a storage room that will remain locked.
The kitchens of the three new Knickerbocker Hotel’s restaurants will be overseen by chef Charlie Palmer – they include a full-service bar and restaurant called Charlie Palmer at The Knick, a coffeehouse and artisanal café known as JAKES @ The Knick and a rooftop bar and cigar lounge serviced by tobacconist Nat Sherman.
The landmark hotel building changed hands numerous times over the past decades, until it was bought in 2012 by FelCorLodging Trust. We can’t wait to visit the brand new four-star luxury establishment when it opens on 12 February.