The Beekman Hotel Offers The Best Of Both Worlds

When it comes to New York City hotels, there’s two kinds of luxury: Uptown classics and downtown newcomers. Speckled along the Upper East Side is a range of palatial icons of Gilded Age New York like the Sherry Netherland and the Mark Hotel. Downtown are modern minimalist locales like 11Howard or The Standard. It seems as though you’re forced to pick a side when deciding between hotels in New York between what’s cool and what’s truly of New York. That is, until now. The Beekman Hotel, a downtown luxury hotel is somehow both steeped in the city’s rich history while still standing out as a modern, relevant destination for travelers and staycationers alike.

The Beekman, a Thompson hotel, is just a few years into its New York City tenure of hospitality, though the site has a deep background in New York. Before the current building was constructed, the site was home to one of New York University’s first buildings, as well as the Mercantile Library Association that brought in members like Edgar Allen Poe and Henry David Thoreau regularly. The current building, known as Temple Court, was one of New York’s first skyscrapers before buildings were able to tower into the sky as they are today. The signature atrium, reaching up nearly ten floors, is perfectly preserved in the hotel, and looks down onto the dining options at the restaurant and bar, located on the lobby level. The exterior of the building is still considered a New York City Historical Landmark.

The entire hotel from lobby to bathroom boasts a gilded age look in keeping with the hotel’s history. While uptown hotels may feature a similar kind of opulence in design, the Beekman does so with the nuanced edge of a hotel looking to match regal luxury with modern appeal. A stay at the Beekman is the best of both worlds without having to sacrifice the feeling of a hotel that’s significant to the city’s culture. Not to mention, the downtown neighborhood the Beekman sits in places travelers in perfect proximity to great dining and entertainment options.

The hotel is also a perfect place to stay for the quick staycation for locals though. The dining options within the hotel are two of the best restaurants in the city—Manhattan restaurant guru Keith McNally’s Augustine, and Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio’s Temple Court. The French eatery and incredible cocktail and bar program at each makes it a perfect place to eat in the winter months while the weather outside is frightful.

In the guest rooms, plush pillows sit atop soft sheets ready to give any New Yorker their best night’s sleep in weeks. Rooms are tastefully decorated with just the right amount of flaring pops of color to shake up the monotony standard issue hotel room interiors, whether that be with original, interesting lamps of a vase streaked with color to bring that desk in the corner to life.

The crown jewel of the hotel though may be the newly unveiled rooftop penthouses. Situated on the towering turrets of the building, the penthouses are also available to reserve as luxury guest rooms, and offer a beautiful view of City Hall and the downtown plaza.