By John O’Ceallaigh
It’s been a long time coming, but finally the launch date of Aman New York has been confirmed. The long-awaited hotel will welcome its first guests on August 2, 2022. To celebrate the news, Aman has now shared a number of new images from the property, alongside new details on what those initial arrivals can expect.
First, though, here are the basics. The hotel will open in spring in Manhattan’s century-old Crown Building. That landmark is found at the crossroads of 57th and 5th Street, which an earlier Aman New York press release described as “one of the finest corners in the world”. I found this statement dubious for two reasons:
- It’s subjective enough determining ‘the finest streets in the world’ so ranking specific corners seems to take things just a bit too far.
- The building is directly across the road from the residential complex Trump Tower. When I walked past the building on my way to the Peninsula hotel two blocks south in summer 2019, I passed crowds of tourists jeering at and middle-finger saluting the property. As street corners go, this one could actually be considered somewhat controversial.
But while the corner claim was contentious, the location more generally and the property itself appear to be pretty stellar. The hotel is minutes from Central Park, Carnegie Hall and MoMA, alongside lots of high-end boutiques, and is ringed by upmarket restaurants and other notable hotels including The Plaza, St. Regis and The Baccarat. For fans of modern interiors, the hotel itself could well be one of Manhattan’s most beautiful addresses.
Those interiors were conceived by Jean-Michel Gathy of Kuala Lumpur-based Denniston, a designer who has reliably good form when it comes to creating impressive, imposing big-budget spaces for ultra-luxury brands. (His designs for the Chedi Andermatt and Cheval Blanc Randheli were instrumental in placing each on my list of favourite hotels in Switzerland and the Maldives respectively.)
The hotel incorporates 83 bedrooms and suites alongside the first ever urban Aman Residences, 22 private apartments that might feature outdoor terraces and private outdoor pools, and which include a five-storey penthouse. Regular rooms will start at 70 square metres – mammoth for New York of course – and will each have a working fireplace. Each suite will also feature a large-scale mural by contemporary Japanese artist Ryoko Adachi, inspired by the 15th-century masterpiece Pine Trees (Shōrin-zu byōbu) by Hasegawa Tōhaku. One of Japan’s most celebrated works, Pine Trees was designated as a National Treasure in 1952.
More generally, there will be a cluster of dining venues: Japanese restaurant Nama will serve Aman’s interpretation of the nation’s washoku cuisine, and will feature a Japanese hinoki wood counter for omakase-style fine dining, alongside a wine library, all linked by a wraparound garden terrace. That outdoor space will feature reflective pools and dramatic firepits, and will be covered with a retractable glass roof in colder weather for year-round access. There’ll also be a jazz club hosting live music performances; Arva will be the property’s Italian restaurant.
Perhaps more attractive again will be the hotel’s wellness facilities, which could well be among the best to be found at any property in the city. (For now, however, the best wellness facilities I’ve encountered at any hotel in New York remain those offered at Equinox Hudson Yards). Stretched over three storeys and 2,300 square metres, the Aman New York spa will be the brand’s new flagship wellness centre in the western hemisphere. Among the amenities on offer will be private Spa Houses incorporating banyas and hammams and featuring outdoor relaxation terraces with hot and cold plunge pools; a 20-metre indoor pool, a sprawling gym, a yoga studio, a hydrotherapy centre and a beauty salon. As New Yorkers slowly rediscover their city after enduring the ravages of the pandemic, the facility is certain to be high demand.
Aman New York room rates have yet to be confirmed. Bookings open on 25 July, 2022.
LUTE is a luxury-travel consultant and content agency that works with hotel groups, tour operators, tourist boards, airlines and more. You can learn more about LUTE here. For frequent luxury-travel updates, follow LUTE and LUTE founder John O’Ceallaigh on Instagram.
Aman New York room rates have yet to be confirmed.