New York - October 06, 2000

The Hudson Hotel Opens

Hudson Hotel

Got weekend plans?

After months of buzz, Ian Schrager’s Hudson Hotel is finally open to the public. And, there’s some poking aound to be done.

Don’t look for white-on-white, green-apple-on-your-dresser minimalism.

Philippe Starck has taken a Gothic turn: Massive oak tables in the dining hall, mahogany paneling and an antique billiards table in the library bar fill the vaulted, exposed-brick space of a 1928 YWCA that once housed (and, rumor has it, still may house) women boarders.

Strangely reminiscent of bygone college days, the 156-seat Hudson Cafeteria has communal tables, steam rising from the central kitchen area, 40-foot vaulted ceilings, and chicken potpie on the menu. But this is no self-service rec hall: Morcheeba plays on the stereo, seviche is served to sub-lebrities in eighties rocker tees, and somehow we don’t remember double lobster bisque being the soup of the day in our college years.

True to the collegiate feel, the clubby, tucked-away library bar houses a purple felt pool table, roaring fire and deep swallow-you-whole leather couches?all seemingly built for a rainy afternoon tryst. The enclosed ivy-lined garden, deserted in the winter, fits the bill.

Best to make that trek over to Ninth Avenue now, before Hudson suffers a Page Six-induced, Skybar-esque crush.

Just don’t go in Room 237.