Sofitel New York is a boutique
hotel on
West 44th Street in
Midtown Manhattan in
New York City, owned and managed by the
Sofitel
Sofitel Hotels & Resorts are a French hotel chain of luxury hotels based in Paris, France, and owned by Accor since 1980.
Founded in 1964 in France, Sofitel quickly developed worldwide to reach more than 200 properties. In 2008, Sofitel became a ...
corporation. It is two blocks north of
Bryant Park and the
New York Public Library Main Branch and next to the
New York Yacht Club
The New York Yacht Club (NYYC) is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. ...
. The hotel is inspired by French traditions in furnishings and theme, and the hotel staff are bilingual in French and English. Completed in 2000, the limestone and glass building is tall with 30 stories and 398 guest rooms.
History
Construction on the hotel began in 1997, and it opened in 2000.
The
International Monetary Fund (IMF) was reportedly responsible for funding the project after a design by Brennan Beer Gorman was chosen in an architectural competition which included entries from architects such as
Michael Graves & Associates.
After construction the building was awarded the 2000
Emporis Skyscraper Award
The Emporis Skyscraper Award was an award for architectural excellence regarding the design of buildings and their functionality.
The award was presented annually by Emporis, a real estate data mining company with headquarters in Hamburg, Germany ...
.
Strauss-Kahn rape allegation
On May 14, 2011, a 32-year-old housekeeper at the hotel, Nafissatou Diallo, an immigrant from
Guinea, alleged that IMF Managing Director
Dominique Strauss-Kahn raped her in his hotel room. She had walked into his room as he was having a shower although he had not yet checked out.
Strauss-Kahn was at a New York airport where his plane was ready to take off when airport police asked that the plane be stopped a few minutes before takeoff. He was escorted off the plane and placed under arrest. The criminal case was dismissed and he settled out of court with his accuser in a civil case.
Architecture
The hotel is tall with 30 floors and has 398 luxury guest rooms including 52 suites.
The architectural design by
Brennan Beer Gorman features
limestone and
glass, with a T-shaped base.
The
facade was architecturally inspired by
Parisian Moderne limestone buildings.
The facade is bronze and depicts three flying geese above in a large portal.
DeSimone Consulting Engineers were the structural engineers for the building.
Ground floor
The ground floor contains the French restaurant ''Gaby'' and a gift shop selling French perfumery and cosmetics.
''Gaby'' is
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
inspired and is overlooked by head chef
Sylvain Harribey. ''
The New York Times'' describes the hotel's front desk as being positioned on the opposite end of the lobby, "which gives the entrance a serene quality".
The hotel staff are bilingual in French and English.
The lobby contains a double-height rotunda at its center, which has a wooden sculpture, a
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
-themed mural, and a round staircase.
The hotel contains a Grand Ballroom with 2.5-story windows and 8 meeting rooms with a capacity of 10 to 60 people.
Rooms
Frommer's describes the hotel rooms as "spacious and ultra-comfortable, adorned with art from New York and Paris".
[ The rooms also have king beds; bathrooms with showers and tubs; and soundproof walls and windows.] The majority of the beds are cream or white or white with maroon trimmings and feature large paintings above the headboards. The bathrooms have Roger & Gallet bath amenities.
References
External links
*
{{Hotels in New York City
Hotels in Manhattan
Hotels established in 2000
Sofitel
Midtown Manhattan