hospitalitystyle.com

(September 2008) posted on Tue Sep 09, 2008 3:55pm EDT
The latest in a series of renovations takes Manhattan’s The Marcel at Gramercy into hip, four-star territory.

By Val Hunt

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Sex in the City's" Carrie Bradshaw would just as soon join the circus as walk out of Barneys New York clad in BeDazzled cargo overalls, pleather and a scrunchie. Likewise, if Midtown Manhattan's The Marcel at Gramercy wants to retain its trendy modeling agency business clientele and weekending Europeans coming through its doors, it has to keep up with the ever-changing fashion industry.

That's why the boutique property just wrapped up its fourth renovation in just over a decade since Amsterdam Hospitality acquired and converted this aging residential building into a hip little three-star hotel. While this pace may conjure images of a fashionista trying to find the right dress for the red carpet, the quick-change artistry that has serially updated The Marcel at Gramercy is strictly about business.

"The hotel industry is a much trendier business now," says George Dfouni, Amsterdam Hospitality's coo. "Every six or seven months, we're going to have to attend to certain design aspects to keep our hotels fresh and new."

The hotel's latest facelift is more than just a change of mode; it's a change of market. "I believe New York is lacking a four-star product," Dfouni says. To move the property upmarket, The Marcel at Gramercy built out its offer with 48 rooms and created an aspiring attraction to New York hotel guests: more spacious rooms. "We constructed four more floors and then enlarged the rooms by combining 24 of the smaller rooms," Dfouni says. The new "executive" suites on the top floors encompass as much as 400 square feet, a generous offering for the Big Apple. But the most-requested suite is booked for its social accessibility right next to the 10th floor lounge and just a saunter away from the hotel's terrace.

Dfouni brought back New York interior design team GoodmanCharlton. "We've been through three renovations, so we knew what was there and what we could work with," says principal Jeffrey Goodman, whose firm also directed The Marcel at Gramercy's 2002 overhaul and the recent four-star renovation of another Amsterdam property, the Bentley, also in New York.

Dark anchors GoodmanCharlton's design. "We wanted to give it an edgier look, so we went darker-smoked mirrors, silver metallic colors, black patent leather furniture," Goodman says. To change the lobby, the designers framed a textured rug with a C-curved patent sofa. Then, they dramatized the public space with a new palette. "Before, the lobby was a very pale blue. We wanted to give it a mood, make it a little more exclusive-looking," Goodman says. "So, we added a lot of black and brought the colors way down."

Intense colors and graphics continue throughout the rest of the hotel. Chartreuse leather headboards replace outmoded wooden versions in the guest rooms. Animal patterns prowl the beds and graphic prints on the walls wash away any trace of The Marcel at Gramercy's former low-key design. "We didn't want the hotel be a cookie-cutter replica of some of the newer hotels in New York that have an eclectic design," Dfouni says.

Although this renovation is complete, Goodman says the process is never finished for New York hotels. "Our clients are very cognizant of that. They understand you have to be fresh," he says.

Dfouni concurs. "I'm very happy with the way the hotel turned out, but there are always little things to add or change," he says. "It's where I want it to be right now, but I have no idea what it might need five years from now."