Ace Hotel
The Standard was my new favorite hotel in NY (the views! the gym! the food! the Highline!), until I spent a few gleefully snowbound days at the Portland, Oregon-based Ace. Rooms feature full-sized Smeg refrigerators, Pendleton blankets, original artwork and enough space for a family with a vaguely first apartment/dorm room vibe. We camped in the cozy lobby for hours, splayed across the red suede couches, sipping cappucino from Stumptown Coffee Roasters. Plant yourself and your laptop at the slate lab table that runs the width of the lobby or hang in the bar, fitted out with Chesterfield sofas and panelling salvaged from a Park Avenue apartment. Subliminal messages abound: “Love lifts you up where you belong” in the elevator, “Everything is going to be alright” on the stair riser. Moody and atmospheric, and, according to my daughter, the staff has great hair. Light sleepers are advised to avoid the rooms on the second floor; the party in the lobby runs late. We paid $248 for a ginormous room with two double beds through Quikbook. Bunk rooms start at $139.