Hilton New York Fashion District

Like several recent hip hotel openings in the Big Apple, Fashion 26 debuted in spring in the North Chelsea/Garment Center districts, the latter from which it draws its identity and style, making the full-service property unique within the brand for its fashion theming and design.

According to Steven Kassin, managing partner of Infinity Real Estate LLC, which owns the property, “Fashion 26 was created with the goal of carefully blending style, comfort and value. We sought to celebrate the inspirational style and edgy character of our Garment District neighborhood, while perpetuating the quality and comfort of a modern, full-service hotel.”

Designed by Glen & Company/Glen Coben Architecture & Design, owner Glen Coben incorporated design elements that would be understood by the fashion industry guests the hotel is looking to attract, and appreciated by those outside the sphere as well.

In the lobby, Coben created a wooden reception desk reminiscent of a cutting-room table in a fashion studio. It features iron legs similar to those found on the base of antique sewing machines. “We focused on telling a story about the specific neighborhood where the hotel is located. By looking into American garment-making we sought to create a sense of place that evokes a simple, uncluttered spirit, much in the way that American garments did in the turn of the 19th/20th Century in this neighborhood,” said Coben. “Our inspiration came from the tools used as well as the patterns created and used.”

In the guestrooms, the furnishings are all custom designed and Coben used texture, décor and patterns, such as on wallpapered accented walls, to create a relaxed atmosphere while keeping the fashion theme.

Infinity’s Kassin said in terms of meeting market/guest demand and being operationally efficient while delivering design impact, his primary vision was to provide a unique guest experience, in an accessible and efficient manner. “We challenged ourselves to constantly think about the progressive traveler, and to establish ourselves ahead of the curve with our property features,” said Kassin. “We ultimately ensured that our design evokes inspiration, our technology is efficient and progressive, and our beds are super comfortable.”

Coben indicated the design fits the district. “The hotel was a beautifully designed building that was satisfactory by the upmost standards, it just didn’t have an interior “concept.” Our job was to create a destination that would resonate with the guest and provide a personality.”

-Stefani C. O’Connor

Fashion 26 hotel stitches together a variety of design elements that strongly mesh with its Garment District home.
By Matthew Hall

Lots of hotels make the claim that their architecture and interior designs are interwoven with the look of the
surrounding neighborhood. But the new Fashion 26 hotel in New York’s fabled Garment District takes that
concept to a whole new level.

That 280-key Fashion 26 locale sits at 26th Street and 7th Avenue, across the street from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). And from top to bottom, interior designer Glen Coben of Glen & Co. infused the 22-story space with features that reflect and reinforce its locale.

The lobby, for example, houses Coben’s custom-designed wooden reception desk, which is modeled after a fashion studio cutting-room table, including iron legs like those found on old-fashioned sewing tables. Hanging over the desk is artist Devorah Sperber's “After Mondrian (Fashion 26)” installation, an homage to Piet Mondrian’s city-inspired scenes. From a distance, Sperber’s piece looks like a painting, featuring a bold array of squares and rectangles that are interlinked with a strong black line that suggests an urban grid of streets and intersections. However, the piece is actually composed of 1632 spools of thread.

“As someone who has been involved with this project since its inception over two years ago, it is wonderful to see this unique combination of fashion, hospitality and exemplary service come to fruition,” said Paul Celnik, founder of Mode Hospitality Hospitality, the property’s manager.

Just like a model donning couture while walking down a runway, the look of Fashion 26 had to be fashionable and stylish. Dressed up by New York-based designer Glen Coben of his namesake firm, the 22-story hotel, which is set to open in January with a glass façade in Manhattan’s Garment District, took cues from its environment (the hotel is just stops away form FIT). We sought to create a unique guest experience which is completely location-based,” says Coben.

The hotel’s 280 rooms boast custom furnishings, accent walls and colors drawn from classic style icons, and of course, fashion magazine, which are left during turndown service. Stylish touches are further found in the lobby – Coben’s custom-designed wooden reception desk resemble a fashion studio cutting room table complete with iron legs found on an old-fashioned sewing table; an art piece by Devorah Sperber entitled “After Mondrian,” which pays homage to the artist’s city-inspired paintings, is made from multicolored spools of thread; there will be an art exhibit from FIT students; and American tailoring, woven textures, and classic pattern-making are found on furnishings and accent pieces throughout. ”[We] weaved together elements of U.S. garment-making references such as classic pattern-making weaves and textures,” explains Coben of the suggested fashion elements.

The fashion-forward hotel will feature Rare, a burger spot designed using deep wood accents and bold colors, and rooftop lounge, Rareview, which looks out toward the Empire State Building. “Garment making in the U.S. was about relationships that were built upon trust and respect; about honoring the past while looking toward the future….these are the foundations of Fashion 26,” he adds. “An appreciation for style and elegance, with a return to understated luxury and built-in value.”

To open a hotel in 2010 – when the industry is in its worst slump in decades – requires chutzpah.

Who’s got chutzpah? Donald Trump, for one. The Trump SoHo www.trumphotel.com, a 391-room hotel in Lower Manhattan, is expected to open this spring, towering over its low-rise neighbors with a lot of razzle-dazzle.

Oh, and Kelly Wearstler has chutzpah. The former playboy centerfold is putting the finishing touches on the Viceroy Snowmass in Colorado and the Viceroy Anguilla in the Caribbean www.viceroyhotelsandresorts.com. Both have the kind of glamour that have made Ms.Wearstler a top interior designer and Bravo TV star.

And Giorgio Armani has chutzpah, or whatever it’s called in Italian. This spring, he plans to unveil the first in a much-hyped chain of Armani Hotels www.armanihotels.com. Where? In the Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world. The hotel features lots of dark leather and wood and – given Dubai’s economic troubles – will stand either as a symbol of rebirth or of hubris.

It won’t be the only  new hotel in the emirate. One and Only Resorts www.oneandonlyresorts.com is set to open a new resort on the tree-shaped Palm Jumeirah Island. So What if there’s already One & Only (the Royal Mirage) overlooking Palm Jumeirah Island? Call it the Two & Only.

Another desert emirate sprouting new hotels is Dubai’s oil-rich sister, Abu Dhabi. The biggest surprise there may be the Yas www.theyashotel.com. Designed by Asymptote, the hot architecture firm based in New York, the 499-room Yas Hotel is covered in a shell of diamond-shaped glass panels, like a high-tech veil. Even more surprising, it bridges Abu Dhabi’s new Formula One racetrack.

While new hotels in the Middle East are making bold architectural statements, European hotels seem to be slipping into older buildings unobtrusively. In Venice, Phillippe Starck designed the modern, 26-rrom Palazzina Grassi www.palazzinagrassi.it to disappear behind a 15th century façade. In Amsterdam, the 23-room Canal House Hotel www.canalhouse.nl is set to open in a group of charming old houses on the Keizergracht,

In  London, the Dean Street Townhousen www.deanstreethouse.com – a 39-room hotel in what was once the Gargoyle Club – has four-poster beds, hand-painted wallpapers and other retro-chic touches. And in Portugal, the Palacio do Freixo www.pusadas.com, in Porto, occupies a magnificently restored Baroque palace and former factory next door.

Closer to home, the hotel boom doesn’t seem to have slowed much in New York City. Vikram Chatwal, the hotelier behind the Dream Hotels in New York and Bangkok, is opening the Chatwal www.vikramchatwalhotels.com in the former Lambs Club on West 44th Street designed by the great Beaux-Arts architect Stanford White. An outpost of the Mondrian Hotel (  HYPERLINK "http://www.mondrianhotels.com" www.mondrianhotels.com) is coming to SoHo, with design based on the 1946 Cocteau Surrealist film “Beauty and the Beast” and the “Top Chef” alum Sam Talbot manning the kitchen.

Modern marvels or renovated monastery, all of them new and luxe.

Also expected to open are the W Downtown www.whotels.com, with view of the World Trade Center site, and Fashion 26 www.f26nyc.com that takes its cue from the Fashion Institute of Technology, its 26th Street neighbor. The Kimpton chain, known for its affordable, boutiqueish hotels, will open the Eventi www.eventihotel.com in the Chelsea neighborhood. And Patrik Horstmann, the longtime manager of the Gansevoort Hotel, will open the Nolitan www.nolitanhotel.com, a boutique hotel just north of Little-Italy.

Not all the openings are in Manhattan. The 321-room Sheraton Brooklyn  www.sheraton.com/brooklyn, near the MetroTech Center, is expected to open in March, and will be one of the borough’s largest new hotels in decades. Elsewhere in the Americas: In Cartagena, Colombia, the Sofitel Santa Clara www.hotelssantaclara.com is opening in a former monastery that dates from 1621. And in Mexico, in another sign of of Acapulco’s  rebirth, Banyan Tree and Hotels Resort , the Singapore’s chain, plans to open the Banyan Tree Cabo Marques www.banyantree.com/en/cabomarques.com.

Asia, meanwhile, continues to add hotels at a furious pace. In Thailand, Ritz-Carlton Reserve opens Phulay Bay www.phulaybay.com, a 54-villa resort in the southern town of Krabi that offers private butlers and meditation classes taught by monks. Not far away, W Hotels is planning to open the W Retreat Koh Samui www.whotels.com/kohsamui.

Anatara, a resort chain based in Bangkok, is opening the Anantara Kihavah Villas  in the Maldives www.kihavah-maldives.anantara.com, a secluded 82-villa resort with private swimming pools, thatched roofs and an underwater restaurant.

Don’t confuse Anantara with Aman – the ne plus ultra chain that is set to open Amanfayun www.amanfayun.com, a spectacular 42-room resort that evokes an ancient Chinese compound, about 20 minutes from Hangzhou, China. It’s just one of hundreds of hotels expected to open in China in 2010, including three hotels from Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts www.shangri-la.com, in Beijing, Guilin and Shanghai.

Another growth market is India, where Starwood has more than a dozen hotels in the pipeline, including three Aloft hotels www.alofthotels.com and the Westin New Delhi Gurgaon www.westin.com/gurgaon, scheduled to open in July.

The St. Regis is set to open its first hotel in Japan, in the heart of Osaka www.stregis.com/osaka. In Tokyo, the Tokyu hotel group plans to open the Capital Hotel Tokyu www.tokyuhotelsjapan.com near the Imperial Palace. This is no capsule hotel – the smallest room will be more than 400 square feet.

Singapore is also bucking the global hotel downturn. The Wangz Hotel www.wangzhotel.com on Tiong Bahru Road occupies a futuristic cylindrical building (the shape is said to induce relaxation). Even more spectacular – or gaudy – is the Marina Bay Sands www.marinabaysands.com, a giant park resort composed of three 55-story towers, with a giant park on their shared roof. When it opens, the hotel-casino-resort is expected to feature a production of “The Lion King,” and restaurants by Mario Batali, Wolfgang Puk and Daniel Boulud. All three are known for their cuisine and for their chutzpah.

One of New York City's newest hotels, the Fashion 26 offers stunning design, meticulous service, and four-star amenities. Located on West 26th Street in one of Manhattan's most remarkable neighborhoods, the Fashion 26 is steps away from the Fashion Institute of Technology, The Empire State Building, Herald Square and the renowned Macy's flagship, and of course, the food and shopping of Chelsea.

by Melanie Nayer  on Apr 13th 2010 at 12:00PM

New York revealed its newest fashion accessory today: Wyndham Fashion 26 hotel, a luxury hotel in New York's Chelsea neighborhood. Following a few months of delays in opening the trendy hotel, Fashion 26 finally greeted guests into the new art-and-style space.

The hotel is located across the street from the famous Fashion Institute of Technology, and set in one of New York's trendiest districts. The hotel's own accessories are created from fashion favorites including cutting room tables and camera lights, and the hallways will host a rotating art program, including some pieces from local New Yorkers and students at FIT. According to a press release from Wyndham, the hotel will feature luxury amenities including Frette linens, free wireless Internet and Gilchrist & Soames toiletries.

Fashion comes at a cost, though: rooms are currently priced starting at $299/night.

By Rosemary Feitelberg

WITH THE GARMENT CENTER’S REZONING STILL in a state of flux, tenants and other vested parties gathered at Yeohlee Teng’s showroom Thursday night to discuss the neighborhood’s inevitable reinvention.

Billed as “Urban Fabric: creation in the City,” the discussion was an offshoot of the “Made in Midtown” study, an ongoing collaboration between the Council of Fashion Designers of America and the Design Trust for Public Space. Once that research is complete at the end of April, the parties aim to have a better understanding of how integral the Garment Center is to the city and how its strengths might be best utilized to secure its future.

One of the panelists, Parsons The New School for Design’s dean of fashion, Simon Collins, provided the surest signs of confidence by revealing all of his 1,400 fashion students will be based in the neighborhood as of September. Half of them are attending classed on the Greenwich Village campus, which will continue to be used by other New School students. Extending its existing Seventh Avenue location, Parsons has leased 46,000 square feet at 218-232 West 40th Street at what is commonly known as the Katherine Gibbs building, though the two schools have no affiliation. The School of Fashion is already using one of its designated four floors and the others will be occupied next semester.

In response to a question about the need for intervention to avoid Darwinism, Collins said: “We believe very strongly in change, but designed changed so that it is for the better.”

Moderator Deborah Martin, the Design Trust’s executive director, noted the existing zoning that was first put into place in 1987 was supposed to secure 50 percent of the neighborhood’s space for apparel production, but “that was never really enforced for various reasons.”

Collins and his fellow panelists – Teng, urban designer Ken Greenberg, Newmark Knight Frank executive managing director Eric Gural and Vogue contributing editor and landscape architect Miranda Brooks – discussed a variety of ideas including encouraging major designer to return some manufacturing to New York, initiating a Made in New York program, educating shoppers about the upsides of locally made goods and using architecture to attract visitors.

“Consumers need to know that when they buy clothes that are cheap, it’s cheap because it came off someone’s back. There is no appreciation in this country for Made in America, and that’s the bottom line,” Teng said.

Gural questioned why tenants could not move a few blocks west or south, to make way for “hip and cool” destinations. While not addressed Thursday, Fashion 26, a 280-room, four-star hotel with an assortment of fashion tie-ins at 152 West 26th Street will open on April 5th.

Gural emphasized the area’s potential for retail development. “There is all this shopping going on in Times Square – it’s the second-highest real estate in the city – and it’s only five blocks away,“ he said. “No one comes below 42nd Street because no one has a reason to. We have to give them a reason to.”

GUESTS OF THE NEW Fashion 26 hotel, opening April 5 in the garment district, ought to put a stylish food forward when checking in. Fashion 26 will award the Best Dressed Guest of the Day with a room upgrade – from a standard to a deluxe king – their choice of fashion magazine and a mention on the hotel’s Website, bestdressedguest.com.

“I’m looking to celebrate how someone stands out and how they attract attention,” says Zoraida D’Alessandro, the hotel’s “style seeker” and front office director. “It doesn’t have to be a whole outfit; it can be a funky piece of jewelry or fabulous shoes.”

Even though everyone’s got to have a gimmick in this economy, the $90 million property joins an area with few competitors.

The Indigo is located two blocks away, but it’s not considered a full-service. Room rates at Fashion 26 start at $299 for a standard queen and hit $399 for a deluxe king.

Contributors: Lisa Fickenscher, Matthew Flamm, Alix Strauss

The chain hopes Fashion26 can propel it into the high-fashion world of brands such as W, which recently hired its own fashion director, and the properties opened by brands such as Moschino and soon, Armani.

The 22-story glass and steel tower is the setting for a rotating "art program", featuring photography created by students at the Fashion Institute of Technology, just across the road. Designer Glen Coben took inspiration from the hotel's area, modeling the lobby's reception desk after a fashion studio cutting-room table.

Staff uniforms, of course, have also been subjected to the fashionista treatment. The merino wool knits take inspiration from design houses such as Faconnable, Pink and Ralph Lauren, whilst doormen will be dressed in Kangol knit hats.

"Fashion 26 - A Wyndham Hotel makes an exciting statement about architectural imagination, refined service and unique amenities in one of the city's most vital and vibrant neighborhoods," said Jeff Wagoner, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts president.

The 280-room hotel says that it has paid as much attention to the amenities as it has the style, promising extras such as cupcakes from the nearby Crumbs bakery at check-in, free wireless internet, and premium Frette linens and terrycloth towels for guests. The hotel's rooftop bar, Rare View, will open in late spring.

Symbolically, the hotel is offering 26 percent off its usual room rate until June 31, 2010 - rooms start at $299 (€220).

By Barbara De Lollis, USA TODAY

Fashion 26 opened today a hotel to chase art- and fashion-minded travelers. 
The 280-room, fashion-themed hotel opened on West 26th Street in New York City's Chelsea district with quirky touches such as Crumbs cupcakes at check-in, and radio-frequency guestroom keys that unlock your door with the wave of the card. (No need to put down all those shopping bags to swipe the old-fashioned keycard...)

Glen Coben designed the 22-story, glass-and-steel hotel's interior based on inspiration from the nearby Fashion District. For instance, the lobby's custom-designed wooden reception desk was modeled after a fashion studio cutting-room table. The hotel's hallways will host a rotating art program, including some of the best photography from Fashion Institute of Technology students.
The hotel's restaurant - RARE Bar & Grill - serves specialty hamburgers, and its RARE View rooftop bar will serve up "creative cocktails" along with Manhattan panoramas, according to Wyndham's press release.

Expect some upscale touches, such as daily turndown service, Frette linens, free wireless Internet and Gilchrist & Soames toiletries. Staffers uniforms sound like they could be as fashionable as guests' attire, coming from design houses such as Pink, Ralph Lauren and Facconable. Even the doormen will have designer knit hats by Kangol when it's cold outside.
The hotel's Twitter account - @Fashion26hotel - earlier today tweeted out photos of its general manager,  bellman and front desk staffers. Too bad they didn't tweet out a photo of the lobby.

Interested in checking it out? It'll cost you. Launch rates through June 31 begin at $299 a night, which Wyndham says represents 26% savings.

Written by Jessica Stout on April 13, 2010

At what hotel can you be rewarded with a room upgrade for being the “Best Dressed Guest?” It’s not at Edinburgh’s  Hotel Missoni, nor LVMH’s hotel properties in the Middle East, but at New York City’s newest hotel, Fashion 26 hotel. It’s all about fashion at this hotel, which opens today across the street from The Fashion Institute of Technology (F.I.T.) in NYC’s Fashion District.

Every last detail in Fashion 26—from the cutting room table-inspired front desk to F.I.T. student photography to cupcakes from Crumbs Bake Shop—is fashion-themed. And while the hotel’s “upscale burger joint” diner isn’t exactly fashion-themed,  RARE Bar & Grill will serve as the hotel’s restaurant, with its rooftop bar/lounge, RARE View, upstairs. Break out your stilettos and Fashion Runway-inspired get-ups to stay at this hotel.

While Fashion 26’s opening rates are $289 (a convenient 26% off regular rates), for an extra $10 you can book their “Fashion Insider Package” with a ton of fashion-themed goodies, including: