Inn at Irving Place

Quite the opposite of what the New York hotel world has become, the Inn at Irving Place is like a snapshot of an entirely different era—a pair of 1834 townhouses without so much as a sign to mark its presence, it’s as far as you can get from the shiny glamour of the big-money hotels, and miles more authentic than the mock history of the downtown hotspots, with their carefully applied patina and assembly-line antiques.

The Gramercy location is on nobody’s list of contenders for hot neighborhood of the year, which is as it should be; though blocks from Union Square, there’ll be no revelers queuing up on the street outside. In fact, if you keep your TV cabinet closed, you could easily imagine it’s 1920 or earlier, amongst the sedate antique furnishings and the distant clanking of steam heat. Rooms are luxurious in a simple and old-fashioned manner, with 21st-century necessities like wireless internet and loaner laptops alongside four-poster beds and cherrywood floors, with wooden shutters on the windows to insulate you from the city outside.

Only breakfast is served at the Inn, but the surrounding neighborhood is home to hundreds of eateries, everything from old-fashioned kosher delicatessens to hip noodle bars and fine steakhouses. The Inn at Irving Place does, however, serve afternoon tea, with tables in the parlour prepared with fine china as if for a formal meal, another nod to a bygone era.

Soak up enough of this genteel old-world atmosphere and you may forget you’re in 21st-century New York, but you’re a modest walk from Union Square, Gramercy Park and the Flatiron district, and a manageable cab ride from anywhere else in town. Not for the most dedicated scenester or carouser, perhaps, but your friends at the hip hotels will envy the quality of your sleep.

• 12 Rooms
• Style: Traditional Elegance
• Atmosphere: Quiet
• 10 Guest Reviews

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