Hotel Hugo ★★★★

Ever seen Mad Men? If not, you’re missing out, but that’s beside the point. If Jon Hamm’s Don Draper were a hotel, he would be the Hotel Hugo. Their shared characteristics extend beyond alliterative appellation: both are effortlessly stylish and coolly cosmopolitan, but with a little bit of edge. Though Draper’s is of a more sinister nature, the Hotel Hugo offsets its contemporary glamour with industrial accents from a bygone era. The Hotel isn’t on Madison Avenue, instead occupying prime real estate in the city’s hot Hudson Square, but it doesn’t lack any of the uptown cachet. The Hotel Hugo combines contemporary comfort and retro style, and pulls it off in spectacular fashion.

Arriving on foot to the hotel, you would be forgiven if you walked straight past, thinking it was a trendy Soho brasserie. With its discreet exterior and the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Il Principe Cucina open to the street, the only clue that this is an exclusive boutique hotel is the cheery doorman in immaculate livery. While the neighbourhood’s warehouse heritage is alluded to with the lobby’s exposed concrete and raw leather armchairs, its glossy Italian walnut panelling and stunning marble floor hint at the opulent luxury that characterises this hidden gem.

Surprisingly spacious for a Manhattan boutique hotel, the rooms are well-appointed and luxuriously comfortable. The lacquered panelling continues into the rooms, but offset by warm neutral painted walls and exquisite Egyptian cottons. Monogrammed pillows on the vast king-size bed, full-size Hudson Baby Bourbon in the mini-bar, and Côté Bastide Argan body products; you would also be forgiven for thinking you were staying at an intimate luxury loft, rather than the newest hotel to hit the Hudson Square scene. Ask for a room on a high floor and enjoy excellent views over the city rooftops from vast windows which flood the rooms with light.

Throughout the hotel bright natural light and horticultural highlights offer a contrast to the urban chic interior design. Behind the check-in desk at the lobby is a beautifully maintained vertical garden; adorning one of the walls of the glass-walled private dining room at Il Principe Cucina is a spectacular combination of evergreen climbers. Not only do they give the lobby a calming ambiance, they also help to muffle sound, making this luxurious refuge even more discreet.

Fortunately the service matches the impressive setting: slick and formal, without losing sight of a warm, friendly attention to detail. A well-staffed concierge attend to even the most fastidious of requests with a calm efficiency, and attentive waiting staff make the dining experience at Il Principe Cucina a pleasure. Serving up classic Italian comfort food at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, including an impeccable homemade pasta dish with lobster and black winter truffle, the principal restaurant is an outstanding asset to this stunning hotel. Grab a seat on lively Greenwich Street when the weather is nice, and enjoy people-watching in one of New York’s most up-and-coming neighbourhoods.

Or, if you’d rather beat the crowds, then head up to the Hugo’s exclusive rooftop bar and enjoy Don Draper’s drink of choice, an Old Fashioned, lovingly crafted by chatty and knowledgeable barmen. Autumn in New York may bring showers and grey weather, but the warm ambience of the Bar Hugo offers a cosy, atmospheric respite in the clouds. That said, on a clear day there is nowhere better to watch the sun set on The City That Never Sleeps than from the beautiful, brand new Hotel Hugo.