Travel

How this stylish New York hotel borrowed a surprising element from cruise ships


New York has been hailed the best city for 2019 for tourists, who flock to the Big Apple and all its sky-high delights craving a taste of all-American life. Whether its retail therapy in Bloomingdales or Macy’s, an Instagram-worthy horse drawn carriage in Central Park or a trip up the Empire State Building, it’s easy to see why Britons jet away to the US city in their hordes. Yet in a city famed for being big – big skyscrapers, big pancakes and big hotels – the Moxy brand believes it’s “cracked the code,” with smaller, budget rooms. Noting a huge competition for hotel real estate, they decided to harness the character of New York districts, with a sense of style and splash of common sense for their new venture, Moxy Chelsea.

The 349-room hotel, in Chelsea’s flower district, opened its doors earlier this year.

It comes hot on the heels of Moxy’s Times Square establishment yet, with the second of five planned hotels, Mitchell Hochberg of property developer Lightstone, told how they were savvy about architecture – with the help of life at sea.

He spoke exclusively to Express.co.uk about how the 35-storey budget offering, which is priced around 159dollars per room, had harnessed the company nature of cruise life.

He said: “We were inspired by cruise ships, where rooms are often less than 100 square feet but thoughtfully designed with clever use of space and high-quality finishes.

“The guest isn’t hanging out in their room – they are enjoying their time on the ship or ashore.

“Although the rooms at Moxy Times Square range from 150 to 200 square feet, we know that our young-minded guests are out exploring rather than spending time in their rooms.”

Therefore the focus was on a top notch bed, and high quality shower, for the very competitive price.

Mitchell said: “The key elements people want in a hotel room are a great bed and a great shower.

“We’ve ensured the beds are the same quality as a five-star hotel, and the showers are luxurious with huge rain heads.

“Everything else is compact with clever functionality. For example, we put up pegboards instead of closets to hang clothes, and the collapsible furniture can be hung on the wall when not in use.”

Mitchell added different Moxy’s would appeal to different travellers, yet all chime with the fabric of the neighbourhood.

For Chelsea, guests enter through the stunning flower shop, Putnam and Putnam in what makes for a truly memorable welcome.

He added: “We think we’ve really cracked the code. We’ve created something that’s truly different and appeals to a very broad audience.

“We’ve designed for a state of mind – a psychographic rather than a demographic – for people who both appreciate design and want value.”

Meanwhile, Express.co.uk recently reported how New York is the most coveted city to visit for holidays in 2019, according to the Time Out Index 2019.

The home of the iconic yellow cab came top of the charts for overall lifestyle experience, including diversity and culture, pipping Melbourne in Australia to first place.



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