Jumeirah Essex House

Essex House has an iconic status thanks to its recognisable super-high sign standing proud on Manhattan’s skyline since it first opened in 1931. This 40-floor building is a landmark, but by the dawn of the millennium it was crying out for a new lease of life. A Central Park South stalwart, it wasn’t the most obvious outpost for Middle Eastern hotel group Jumeirah to introduce itself to the States.

It was taken under Jumeirah management in 2006 as part of Jumeirah’s plans to develop its portfolio of luxury hotels and resorts to 57, from its then seven-strong array including Jumeirah Carlton Tower and Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel in London, and among those in Dubai, Madinat Jumeirah. A stumble from Fifth Avenue and a few blocks north of Times Square, Essex House is perched on Central Park, now the focus of its mantra ‘Always In Touch With The Park. Never Out Of Touch With The Park.’ In the words of Jumeirah’s Chief Operating Officer, Frank van der Post, the aim was “...to consolidate the hotel’s position as one of New York’s few remaining truly original hotel experiences.” Offering world-class quality yet reasonable rates within this top-end market, the hotel is attracting leisure travellers at roughly 40 percent (about a quarter of whom are families) and the remainder business – clearly positioning it as a serious player in New York’s busy hotel market.

Renovated floor by floor in only a few months, the construction at Essex House took place from January to October 1997. It resulted in most of the rooms being made bigger, and a soft-goods refurbishment including most of the 183 condominiums (a few floors, including the business centre and penthouses, outstanding). Hirsch Bedner Associates, the Atlanta-based design company, were at the helm of its refit and the result is a chintz-free, muted colour scheme with an aura of transatlantic cruiseliner suggesting the golden era of travel. Soft, dimmable mood lighting, highest-quality linen-covered Sealy Posturepedic Palatial Crest mattresses, and sophisticated phone-controlled in-room technology are just some of the enhancements.

The bathrooms have been given a contemporary glass basin-style facelift rather than a total tub-and-tiles transplant, and while critics could remark this detracts from the overall luxing-up, it could equally be argued that it retains a flavour of its classic New York heritage.
There’s an undeniable opulence, which the Jumeirah properties have also lavished on their London hotels, transposing a taste of the United Arab Emirates in the West. To temper any accusation of luxury-by-numbers, Jumeirah has gone that step further than a simple five-star boost – and the hotel has been given a serious injection of cultural credibility by enlisting Katherine Gass to oversee an ‘Artists in Residence’ programme. The intention is that specially commissioned art, and well-researched exhibitions are the ideal complement to Jumeirah’s brand philosophies of innovative luxury, beauty and second-to-none comfort.

Renowned Korean photographer Atta Kim was enlisted to create two incredible eight-hour exposure photographs of Central Park landscapes which are what grab your intention as you enter this five-star grand dame’s lobby. They look a little incongruous within the art deco entrance, but as works within their own right they pack a powerful modern-day punch. The display of black-and-white images from the archives of the Museum of the City of New York has proven so popular with guests that these photographs from the 1800s to the present day remain the highlight of the main lobby hallway. Not only has the reception area got inspiring masterpieces celebrating its parkside position, but Jumeirah’s resident art curator can also arrange private views at many of the city’s galleries. This isn’t the only area where Jumeirah has channelled its creative energies, and an imaginative extra for guests is the offer of MP3 audio tours of Central Park from the concierge.

The undeniable jewel in all-new Essex House’s crown is its recently opened super-glamorous restaurant, South Gate. New York-based Tony Chi, himself a resident of Central Park South, was very focussed on how the destination restaurant and cocktail lounge should look. “I wanted to create a place that works for the neighbourhood as well as for guests who have travelled to try it – a tavern of sorts, but with a sense of intimacy and cultural synergy.” Soon to be airbrushed from the hotel’s history is the stuffy, dark ex-Alain Ducasse restaurant at the back of the hotel making way for sleek South Gate’s service round the clock. This bright, elegant space is a chic rendezvous for cheery breakfast meetings, see-and-be-seen social brunches, intimate, relaxed lunches and of course special-occasion dinners. Ensuring that this is anything but a style-over-substance situation, executive chef Kerry Heffernan channels his modern American/classic French dining expertise into creating an imaginative locally sourced menu that is entirely seasonal – another doff of the cap to Essex House’s parkside location. Enjoy culinary surprises such as cider-enhanced pork with a side of kohlrabi, or cannelloni of kabocha squash under custom-made David Singer-designed, Neidhardt-made lights and on pale-wood Norman Cherner chairs.

The perfect metaphor for Jumeirah Essex House one might say – enough presentation flourishes to wow and tempt, but when it comes to the actual product, there’s lots to get your teeth into. South Gate and Jumeirah Essex House deliver good old fashioned everything-you-need American hospitality, in the context of modern luxury courtesy of the Middle East’s experts in the field.

JUMEIRAH ESSEX HOUSE
160 Central Park South, New York, New York 10019, USA
Tel: +1 212 247 0300
www.jumeirah.com

515 guestrooms and suites
Food: South Gate, The Restaurant at Essex House
Drink:  Lobby Lounge
Health:  Health Club & Spa
Leisure / Facilities: Conference & Banqueting Facilities