29 East 29th Street
Neighborhood:
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Midtown East or somewhere between Murray Hill and Flatiron
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Vibe:
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Swanky: Urban sophistication with old school undertones
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My Room/Bed/Bath:
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Superior Queen, private bath
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WiFi:
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Free
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Price:
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$147.60 ($173.87, including tax) in late January 2012. Booked via the company's website Hotel Lola about two weeks in advance.
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The Hotel Lola is the blessed love child of two midtown stalwarts: as cool as the W was a dozen years ago, blended with the simple luxe style of the Grand Hyatt. While not all the rooms are as spacious as my “superior” queen, the hotel is new, comfortable and chic. You’ll find a little bit of luxury here, too. In a good, somewhat quiet, neighbourhood there is no shortage of excellent restaurants, brasseries, steakhouses and pubs within walking distance. You’ll also be about a block from the Subway – and your ticket to everything New York City has to offer. The hotel was recently renovated (in mid- to late- 2011) from top to bottom, and even the name is new; it used to go by Hotel Thirty Thirty. While a few minor (very minor) details have been overlooked, Lola is a showgirl!
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What an entrance! Hotel Lola makes a great first impression
with a lobby that doubles as a swanky cocktail lounge. |
Vibe: Hotel Lola has an air of mature sophistication with a stylish lobby that doubles as a cocktail bar, fine details and a pleasant staff. Comfortable beds with a down duvet above you and featherbed below you are as “high end” as they come. Stylish decor – including simply mod wallpaper in the corridors and bedrooms – felt both old school and contemporary.
I inspected a “Standard Queen” room, as expected all of the comfy details, but scaled down and more typical size for hotels in this price range. The Standard Queen or even a single room would have been quite luxurious for the price, but the extra $25 for the “Superior Queen” – if you can get one, there are not many – is worth the upgrade.
My room (709), like all the Superior Queens, was tucked away in the corner of the building, at the end of the not-too-long corridor. It was well appointed and above all spacious. The sleeping quarters measured roughly 12 feet by 18 feet and housed the queen bed, a couple night stands, an upholstered leather chair and desk with lots of room to spare. For travellers spending more than a couple days, or those who haven’t packed light, a Superior Queen at Lola is a great option.
The bathroom was as wide as the room and about 4 feet deep – long and narrow, spacious and spa-like.
The staff at the front desk was helpful and accommodating. Other perks included vending machines on the 10th floor for late night snacks, a restaurant (Zana) on site, and a gym on the lower level. The lobby/cocktail lounge was tres chic!
Now a couple of nit-picky details that bugged me. As someone who is the process of remodelling a home, I can’t understand why anyone would go through the effort of painting anything without removing or sanding down bumps left from old paint or glue. But there, on every single freshly painted door, was the outline of where the old room number had been, before the number was relocated to the wall. Every. Single. Door. Such inattention to detail cheapens a place. Another overlooked detail was smudged grout in the shower – I don’t fault the hotel for shoddy workmanship, but these are details that would have cost nothing more to do right (or fix). Also the glass shower wall wasn’t ample enough to keep the fantastic showerhead’s spray in the shower area – nothing a bathmat can’t fix, though!
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My room indicated by the red dot
in the upper left is bigger than most. |
Quiet: My room, a Superior Queen, was tucked into the corner on the 7th floor, away from the elevators. I did hear a neighbour’s door slam once during the night – but other than that, peaceful and quiet.
Neighbourhood: A low key neighbourhood featuring the towering New York Life building, apartment buildings, small shops, the ubiquitous Starbucks, and a few oddities, like the Gershwin Hotel and the Museum of Sex. With such close proximity to the wonderful Jazz club, The Jazz Standard, and its upstairs neighbour, barbeque joint Blue Smoke – there is no excuse NOT to spend an evening there.
A few steps away from the hotel, at 419 Park Avenue South at 29th Street, is Bread & Butter, a bakery/gourmet grocery/hot food take-away/salad bar/fruit&veg/flower/deli/beer&wine store and cafe.....and they deliver.
Restaurant: I struggled with my restaurant choice on my recent visit. I was tempted to go to Blue Smoke (again), but was also secretly wanting to check out I Trulli, an Italian place specializing in the food from the Puglia region of Italy, where my mom is from. I scoped out a few local restaurants, the crowded Hillstone, the hip modern Italian SD26, Primehouse steakhouse, modern Mexican Dos Caminos, modern southeast Asian Prana – all seem worth trying, but the place where I’d probably go if I do it again: Resto, a Belgian gastropub. Also, if word of mouth is any indication, also worth visiting (and I hear, suitable for the solo traveller) Eleven Madison Park and the Gramercy Tavern. (I won’t officially recommend any place I haven’t personally experienced....but these two ARE on my list!)
I decided on I Trulli – thinking it might be a place my mom might enjoy on her next visit to The City. I opted to sit at the small, marble bar in the more casual Enoteca off to the side of the regular restaurant. As much as I would like to say nice things about this place, I’m ashamed to admit that both this restaurant and I have Puglia in common. Service was shoddy, everything was overly expensive, the orecchiette was so tough that I thought they accidentally served me gnocchi. (I couldn’t help but think, I would have had a much better meal at a fraction of the price – and served by the stunning barkeep, Oliver – at the lovely and low key Cucina de Pesce, a place I know well, on East 4th Street.) As for I Trulli, I wouldn’t recommend it, and I would never go back. Enough said.
Access to the Subway: The 6 and 4 are just a two minute walk away at Park Avenue and 28th Street
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A parting shot. The back wall of the lift --
stunning late-60s early-70s photo. So chic! |
The staff at the front desk was helpful and accommodating. Other perks included vending machines on the 10th floor for late night snacks, a restaurant (Zana) on site, and a gym on the lower level. The lobby/cocktail lounge was tres chic!
First impressions mean a lot, so I was a little disappointed at the location. It’s not a great block for atmosphere. At the heart of Times Square lunacy and blending well into the background of a busy city street from the outside, the Stay. could easily be missed. Lobby windows are sequestered behind dark glass.
The room was small and overtaken by the queen sized bed. Comfy and cramped, New York style. Peeking out the north-facing window to the bright city lights, I wondered if all the workers had gone home and how pretty Barclays looked in the evening.
