As our yellow cab turns right off Fifth Avenue, down a quiet, tree-lined residential street on the Upper East Side, a gold-painted white awning beckons and a porter wearing a buttoned-up white uniform stands smiling. Welcome to The Lowell.
Refined, elegant, and classic, The Lowell is a hotel so timeless that a stay here makes you nostalgic for a time you didn’t experience – New York in the 1920s. Inside, old-world New England marries Parisian glamour, and modern luxury – with interiors by an ex-designer of The White House – make for a hotel akin to a Manhattan pied-á-terre.
While standing proud as a landmark hotel on the Upper East Side for nearing 100 years, The Lowell exudes a luxury beyond its material charm. Inside find glimpses of New York‘s golden age and old-school hospitality, where guests are part of the affluent Upper East Side, if only for the night.
The Vibe
As soon as the porter opens the bronze, glass-panelled doors into the spacious lobby, a calming atmosphere descends, shielding guests from the animated streets of Manhattan. Set in a residential enclave between Manhattan’s sacred three – Fifth Avenue, Madison Avenue and Park Avenue – The Lowell attracts a crowd of guests who are familiar with the refined elegance of the Upper East Side, and who appreciate how The Lowell’s sophistication hasn’t given way to the realms of modern, flashy luxury over the years. Opened in 1927, The Lowell has remained an independently owned hotel, preserving the refined glamour and sophisticated way of 1920 New York life, where commuters sip on martinis at the historic Jacques bar after work and ladies convene on Sunday morning for the Lily of the Valley afternoon tea in collaboration with Dior Maison.
A recent $25 million refurbishment, commissioned by co-owner and design director Dina Se Luca Chartouni shines throughout the hotel’s interiors. Led by Michael Smith (who designed The White House for the Obamas) and Mark Pinney (who boasts projects for Harrods, Armani, and Burberry on his portfolio), the result feels like the abode of a New Yorker who has called the Upper East Side home for years. Regal marbled floors and coffered ceilings with handcrafted mouldings add a Neoclassical flare, which carries through to the 50s and 60s gilded glamour of the glass bar trolleys topped with iced champagne, bowls of lemons, and pop-art prints of Marilyn Monroe.
Downstairs, a full-service lounge, The Club Room, is akin to a private collector’s personal front room, where built-in shelving is filled with art and antiques including statues of philosophers, black and white framed photographs, and countless coffee table books. Mis-matched seating includes grey armchairs, leather lounges, and leopard-print stalls – all atop a large Georgian rug and next to a crackling fire. The landscaped bunches of fresh, seasonal flowers in Oriental-painted vases and warm light from porcelain lamps add to the refined, home-like ambience.
The Rooms
Seventy four rooms and suites are split across 17 floors, and each offer a different layout and design. The smallest, measuring an impressive 400 square feet comes with a seating area, a desk space, a kitchenette and closet space – large for such a central New York hotel. The stylish, eclectic vibe of The Club Room continues upstairs (this is not a ‘one look fits all’ kind of hotel): antique oak chest of drawers with marble tops meet glass coffee tables and many rooms also offer balconies or terraced adorned with potted geraniums. The bathroom is just as impressive, decked floor-to-walls in marble tiles and featuring a bath, a walk-in shower and a vanity space stocked with magnolia-scented toiletries by The Lowell’s co-owner (Dina De Luca Chartouni) brand DDC28.
Despite sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline – with some extending across the leafy plains of Central Park – the rooms are so quiet you’ll forget you’re so close to New York City’s busiest streets. Our butler explains that guests often check in for a weekend and then stay for the month. We don’t need to ask why.
The Food + Drink
Breakfast is served from silverware in the chandelier and mirror-clad Pembroke Room, and includes baskets of fresh pastries and homemade jam as a prelude to the New York-style smoked salmon bagels or eggs, as you like. Downstairs, find The Lowell’s restaurant Majorelle – where Lily of the Valley afternoon tea is hosted by day in collaboration with Dior Maison – and bar Jacques. Both uphold an elegant art-deco style, with marble floors and columns sourced from a quarry in Botticino, Italy.
Majorelle (named after Yves Saint Laurent’s gardens in Marrakech) serves seasonal, French-inspired dishes to the tune of poached salmon with asparagus and filet mignon with peppercorn sauce (each with wine-pairings). Opt for a table in the light-filled Majorelle Garden, an intimate terrace at the back of the restaurant, amongst the greenery and to the relaxing tune of nearby water fountains. Next door, Jacques’ glass and wood-panelled bar calls for an elegant white cosmopolitan to sip on bar side, or in a quiet corner of The Club Room.
The Little Extras
The Lowell make the stay so special and home-like all at once. Upon check-in, the butler and concierge will ask you which newspapers you’d like to have delivered to your room in the morning – hot off the press – to divulge over breakfast. Fresh flowers just like those that decorate the whole hotel are paced in your room; we had beautiful white roses next to potted orchids, alongside a platter of fresh peaches and bottle of Bordeaux red wine. The majority of rooms also have working fireplaces which staff can light for you (for an extra charge) on colder mornings and evenings. If you’re staying multiple nights, you’ll be offered to “Go Green” by housekeeping where your bed will be made but sheets won’t be changed as part of The Lowell’s new environmental initiative.
Forget a key card, you’ll be handed an ornate, tasseled iron key on arrival. Leave these at reception when you head out for a shopping spree and collect them from the team – who will remember your name and room number with a natural ease – when you get back. Here, guests are made to feel at home, without the anonymity of a large-scale hotel, but with plenty of privacy.
The To-Do List
Exterior facade of Salon 94 | Salon 94 Design, photo by Elisabeth Berstein. Image courtesy of Salon 94 Design.
Honour The Lowell’s neighbourhood and spend your time shopping and gallery hopping: a right of passage for those who visit or live on the Upper East Side. For shopping head to Madison Avenue and meander between Lanvin, Chanel, and Tom Ford. For a culture fix, independent gallery Salon 94, just off Fifth Avenue, is a beautiful townhouse decorated by artist installations – whether interior design, sculpture, or painting – on each floor. The gallery is soon welcoming an exciting group exhibition of Caddo Nation Raven Halfmoon, designer David Wiseman, painter Dhambit Munuŋgurr and Navajo ceramic artist Christine Nofchissey McHorse, opening on September 18th.
The Met is also only a short walk away and is currently showing Collecting Inspiration, an exhibition about the creative force behind Tiffany & Co, on until 20 October. The Lowell also has a concierge on hand to handle any bookings or plan a bespoke itinerary.
All images © The Lowell, New York
We may earn a commission if you buy something from any affiliate links on our site.
Any Questions or Tips to add?