30-Hour Date: The Hotel

My Sweets and I just celebrated 12 years of marriage. Crazy, right? According to the record books we were pronounced husband and wife on May 20, 2000... but it feels like a split second ago we were standing in the soaking wet grass at Sonnenberg Gardens whispering to love and honor each other for all time. Our handwritten vows were small stories of us, and I cried all through them. So did most of our guests :)


Fast forward one decade, a bazillion adventures, and three babies in five years... yet there was something we still hadn't done. We'd never left the wee ones overnight, so we called in Grandma DJ and booked a hotel and took off on a 30-hour date.


Funny thing is My Sweets initially wanted to spend our night off in the country and I wanted to spend it in the city. He's a country mouse who endures the city all week; I'm a city mouse who embraces the beautiful country life for the sake of our growing family. But do trust that I will steal me some city time whenever possible.


We settled on a boutique hotel in Manhattan... close enough to get home fast, but not right in our backyard. I looked at several options recommended by friends {see below}, but in the end my heart ached for Gramercy Park Hotel. We did a cover story on it when I was at Interiors magazine, and I'm fascinated with the history, artwork and Bohemian splendor. {Bogart was married on the rooftop, JFK lived there as a child; Babe Ruth hung out at the famous Rose Bar in the lobby}. It's just a cool place in a quiet neighborhood easily accessible to everywhere. Originally it was sold out, but we spied a room on Quikbook and snagged it.


So Saturday morning we took the train into Grand Central, dropped off some artwork at Tom's office and then walked down to GPH on Lexington and 21st. The hotel was dark, moody and super luxe all around. Our room was smallish but perfectly suited for us. I especially loved the color scheme.


Here are a few pics I sneaked during our brief stay.

























P.S. The neighborhoods I miss the most are the East + West Villages, Soho, Chelsea, Bryant Park, and Central Park South. Tom loves Wall Street and Battery Park City as well. We have friends who claim Tribeca, the Upper West Side, Spanish Harlem, Astoria and Williamsburg to be the best spots to live/work/eat/stay in New York. I'll go anywhere except for Times Square, Herald Square and the Chinatown fish markets.


If you're interested, here's a list of other rad accommodations in the city {according to our friends}: Soho Grand, Andaz Wall Street, Dream Downtown, The Standard, Smyth Tribeca, 60 Thompson, The James, Ritz Carlton Battery Park, Crosby Street, The Dylan Hotel, Cooper Square Hotel, Bowery Hotel, Hotel Giraffe, and Ace Hotel.