Could The Baccarat Hotel Be New York’s Most Beautiful Place To Stay?

Photo Credit: Baccarat Hotel

New York City’s Baccarat Hotel is awash in prisms of light no matter the time of day, all radiating from the plethora of Baccarat crystals that adorn and embrace the Midtown property that is directly across the street from the Museum of Modern Art and steps away from Fifth Avenue’s legendary shopping.

Photo Credit: Baccarat Hotel

The first hotel and global flagship for the more than 250-year-old crystal brand is, to put it bluntly, a stunner in every way possible. The lower levels of the hotel are veiled by a 125-foot wide corrugated crystal-like curtain. Behind the ground-floor entrance, a wall is formed with nearly 2,000 Harcourt glasses, the brand’s most iconic crystal piece.

Each of the 114 guest rooms and suites are chock-full of Baccarat crystal — the design of which was conceived by French design duo Gilles & Boissier, to create the classic elegance of a Parisian hôtel particulier with the contemporary aesthetic of its NYC location. Under their watchful eyes, the hotel radiates and glows with not just crystal (inclusive of 17 custom-made chandeliers), but beautiful parquet wood flooring; woven rugs; hand-pleated silk wall coverings and stainless ribbed ceilings; mica-coated ceilings and mirror and marble wall treatments.

Photo Credit: Baccarat Hotel

The rooms are meant to feel like private, French pied-à-terres, the highlight of which is the Baccarat Suite, with its floor-to-ceiling windows, custom jacquard linens by Mascioni; hand-painted French doors, white marble bathrooms boast glass-enclosed showers with oversized shower heads; exclusive amenities created for the hotel by Parisian perfumer Francis Kurkdjian; tablets equipped with state-of-the-art technology will control all aspects of the room, including temperature, lighting, and room service; and custom-designed Baccarat red enamel mini bars which house Baccarat crystal stemware. Make sure to take note of the telephone handset and the button marked “Champagne,” which allows guests to order a bottle of their favorite vintage to their rooms accompanied by signature Baccarat fluted glasses. Guests of the luxury suites will have the added feature of complimentary La Mer skincare products and nightly salon services.

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Another highlight of the property is its art collection. French curators Stéphanie and Frédéric Chambre have made sure to focus on French artists from important movements over the more than 250 years since Baccarat’s founding, from artists such as Robert Longo, Ellen von Unsworth, Joaquin Ferrer, Slim Aarons, Jean-Philippe Aubanel, Segui, Nan Goldin and Eduardo Arroyo. There is also specially commissioned original art and one-of-a-kind furniture from renowned French artists Francois Houtin and Armand Jonckers throughout the hotel.

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The culinary and beverage programs are just as resplendent as one (or many) 15,000-piece of maxed and match Baccarat crystal glasses you’ll be drinking from. Two Michelin-starred Chef Gabriel Kreuther serves as the hotel’s Culinary Director and oversees the menus in the glamorous second-story lobby salons and bar, as well as in-room dining. The Bar, just off the opulent Grand Salon, is an epic space featuring barrel-vaulted ceilings, a 60-foot bar and the outdoor Le Jardin terrace overlooking the MoMA. Don’t miss it: it was inspired by the stables of Versailles, after all.

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Meanwhile, in the Grand Salon, you’ll find breakfast, all day dining, weekend brunch, and sublime cocktails, as well as a beautiful, supremely elegant afternoon tea each day that can’t be missed.

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Also not to be missed: the hotel’s bar whimsical 60-foot bar, which was inspired by the stables at Château de Versailles and which boasts a dramatic barrel-vaulted ceiling, three glorious chandeliers, tracked stage set lighting, crimson velvets, dark leathers as well as a black-and-white checked floor, as well as the adjacent, seasonal Le Jardin terrace that overlooks MoMA.

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The hotel also features a 55-foot indoor pool, an elite fitness training facility, and the first Spa de La Mer in the United States.

Photo Credit: Baccarat Hotel

Baccarat Hotel New York is located at 20 West 53^rd Street.