The Chatwal is adding a dose of golden-age glamour to New York City’s hotel scene.
Once a 1930’s hangout for the likes of Fred Astaire, Irving Berlin, and John Barrymore, the Lambs Club, originally designed by Beaux-Arts architect Stanford White, has been reinvented as the new 83-room Chatwal. A decade in the making, the hotel is named after Indian entrepreneur Sant-Singh Chatwal (father of hotelier Vikram Chatwal). For the interiors, Thierry Despont put an updated twist on Art Deco: from the red-leather banquettes and a limestone fireplace to the terrazzo floors and leather-wrapped closets. Bellhops wear pillbox hats, and rooms are stocked with backgammon sets and copies of The Great Gatsby. And a former library has been converted into the Stanford White Studio, a lounge and event space complete with original bookshelves and wood paneling. The hotel’s restaurant, appropriately called the Lambs Club, is Manhattan’s next hot spot: chef Geoffrey Zakarian serves modern American fare (olive oil and lemon-infused chicken, buttery poached halibut) while the bar turns out retro cocktails by Milk & Honey mixologist Sasha Petraske, who pioneered the city’s speakeasy trend. 132 W. 44th St.; thechatwalny.com; 888/524-2892 or 212/764-6200; doubles from $626; dinner for two $95.
