The Royalton
44 W. 44th St., between 5th and 6th Aves., New York, New York 10036, USA
Why We Like It
There’s something quite unexpected about the Royalton. It’s those room interiors that put the roaring into Deco twenties—golden-lit settees, sinuous slate fireplaces, velvet club chairs, and drapery room dividers. Sure, there’s schmaltz and glitz in the clientele and hotel’s past of favoring a very one-sided look at seduction, but now it’s a place where women can hang and corporate businesses have their holiday parties. It ain’t kid friendly, but there’s a professionalism to the Royalton that makes it perfectly inspiring for business travelers while still sexy enough for those in town on the weekend to play. Midtown maybe midtown, but 44th Street has something special, and the Royalton certainly thumbs the pearl-clutching snootiness of its neighboring Yacht Club.
Fodor's Expert Review
The thing is, this place used to have a reputation. The kind implied by velvet seating and ultra-warm, ultra dim globe lights. Still unsure? Perhaps its wood-paneled cocktail bar packed with older men and their younger ladies is a clue. But gone is Ian Schrager’s vision of sex, money, power, even though its gorgeous interiors haven’t been touched since Philippe Starck undertook the guest rooms and Roman + Williams refashioned the restaurant as a sensuous take on a Deco-era Club Row dining hall in 2007. Instead, this old hotel with new management has found a sense of service. The bones are the same, but perhaps one could say, there’s a bit more of a heart around there than in decades past.
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Room
Seemingly with near all hotel on the 44th street stretch called Club Row, the Royalton too is designed with the Yacht Club (its northbound facing neighbor) as inspiration. Philippe Starck chose shades of blue invariably named Spinnaker and Tidal for a classically cool (almost Old Hollywood) ambiance, with curved walls, wood-burning fireplaces, full-wall suede sofas and warm, ambient lighting. Its low-lying mahogany beds (with porthole cutout in the headboard) are nicely squishy with firm support. The mood of the room is certainly sexy, but stately and refined—or even stark (jk, though that is a Starck signature) but ever evoking the spirit of the original building as turn-of-the-century gentleman’s quarters. As they say, if these walls...
Tip There are 37 rooms with working wood-burning fireplaces, New York City’s only hotel that offers such a service.
Bathroom
Be prepared to cross this one off the bucket list: disco baths. In TK# of suites are huge round bathtubs mirrored like a disco ball that are a left over from Schrager’s malice palace. But all bathrooms have metal bowl sinks in thick glass countertops with large mirrors, and the pièce de résistance: a candle. Yep, a real one that can be lit with a match. Is that a fire safety? Nah, this is an adult hotel.
Lobby
The Royalton’s lobby is equally discreet and garish—and it works wonderfully. Spanning the width of the block, with entrances on both 44th and 43rd, the lobby houses both the hotel’s meeting spaces, its notorious bar and American brasserie, each designed as distinct vignettes but all heavy on allure. Wild tropical plants and black sculptural wall-paneling contrasted against mahony slatted walls and cognac leather couches—there’s both a timelessness and a sense of historical glamour in these spaces.
Gym
Imagine a European gym—with skinny, short-short long-legged Europeans lifting 5lb weights—and that’s what you get here. No frills, but certainly it’s something
Dining
The Roman + Williams-designed restaurant, 44, certainly conjures the Royalton’s previous history as a gentleman’s quarters. One can only imagine the steak dinners once served here—though the restaurant still favors club classics, like hamburgers, club sandwiches and melted cheese on everything. Legend has it that the Royalton was always famous for its tomato soup, cooked by the same chef who’s been in-house for decades, and new management took it off for a while and saw sales drop. Surprise, surprise: the creamy delicacy is thankfully back on the menu!
You Should Know The hotel doesn’t offer room service, and the restaurant in only open on weekdays until 11pm. Breakfast is served at the bar from 7am-12pm.
Drinking
The bar at the Royalton has long been a banker and baller hang out, beginning with Schrager’s 1988 reopening as a hotspot. It remains such, but it has also garnered accolades from critics and customers for its classic cocktail program, spearheaded by Joshua Brandenburg who’s one of those mixologists to know, and whom knows his clientele well.
What's Nearby
Getting Around
Wedged between Times Square and Grand Central Station, the hotel is easily accessible by all Subway lines, as well as Metro North (at Grand Central)
Restaurants
The area serves mostly office workers during the day, but nevertheless landmark eateries exist in the Great White Way. This wine temple and Alsatian haute cuisine, Gabriel Kreuther (5-minutes walk) from the namesake chef has long been regarded as one of New York’s finer tasting-menus.
Bars
Though it might seem, there isn’t a door list for the Bar Downstairs (5-minute walk), in part because it’s discreetly hidden beneath the Fifth Avenue Andaz. Loungey and lively, it’s an unexpected spot round these parts. Toss elbows if you must, for getting a seat at the wonderful Aldo Sohm wine bar (10-minute walk) can be a mighty task. Still, it’s the classiest joint for an interesting glass of Viognier or Primitivo in mid-Midtown.
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Quick Facts
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