Mandarin Oriental, New York
Midtown
COST: $$$$$
As sumptuous and plush as the Four Seasons (a few blocks away) is slick and modern, the popular MO occupies the 35th through the 54th floors of the Time Warner Center at the southwest corner of Central Park. The hotel is accessed via a special elevator in an entryway decorated with a giant, fiery-looking Dale Chihuly sculpture. Of the 248 rooms, many of them are on the small side, and some have views that are compromised by neighboring high-rises. Still, all are furnished with opulent Asian-inspired details, including silk bedspreads and pillows in rich colors of scarlet and gold, Japanese brush paintings, and in some suites, cushy Oriental rugs. The 14,500-square-foot spa (which includes a glassed-in 75-foot-long pool and Espa treatments like ayurvedic scalp stimulation and Thai yoga massage) is quite possibly the city's best.
Tip: Although the in-house restaurant, Asiate, serves lovely French-Asian fusion cuisine, a meal at Thomas Keller's Per Se (just an elevator ride away in the Time Warner Center) is worth maxing out your credit cards for.
Room to Book: Premier Central Park View Rooms, on floors 43 and above, have unimpeded park vistas (which makes them feel much bigger than their 425 square feet).
As Featured In...
From Travel + Leisure, Jun 2006
“Joey thinks one advantage of hotel living is 'you never know who you're going to see. We've seen Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake in the elevator, and bumped shoulders with Brad Pitt. They are constantly redecorating and fixing up, like they had to the time Paris Hilton put her candy wrapper in a plant....” MORE>>
From Travel + Leisure, Dec 2005
“For a mere $7,500 a night, the Mandarin Oriental offers a dizzying vantage from its two-bedroom, 2.5-bath Taipan Suite, hovering 54 stories above Central Park....” MORE>>
From Travel + Leisure, Aug 2005
“The Mandarin Oriental, New Yorkis giving guests a reason to hit the books with its Bedside Reading program. Rooms are stocked with fiction and nonfiction titles (yours to keep) and a pair of Morgenthal Frederics glasses ($150). Luggage Express is even throwing in a $50 shipping credit to help get those novels home....” MORE>>
From Travel + Leisure, Jan 2004
“It's not often you can lay the transformation of a Manhattan neighborhood at the foot of one building. But with a media company and a luxury hotel as tenants, the Time Warner Center is turning one of New York's most contested pieces of real estate into a destination....” MORE>>
From the T+L 500
Asian-inflected hotel in the Time Warner Center, with commanding Central Park views .
- Stats:
- 248 rooms; 1 restaurant; 2 bars.
- Competitive Edge:
- The city's best hotel spa, with treatments designed by the venerable Espa.
- Rooms to Book:
- Premier Central Park View Rooms, on floors 43 and above, for unimpeded park vistas.
- Don't Miss:
- A plunge in the 75-foot lap pool, overlooking the Manhattan skyline.
lastArticle = 6/2006 and lastAward = 01/2008
