Desk and lamp in our room.

Shortly after I spent the night at the Crosby Street Hotel, I came across the April issue of Elle Décor. Inside I spotted the London townhouse of Kit and Tim Kemp, owners of the Crosby. Gazing at their fancifully sophisticated, color-drenched house awash in bold florals and even bolder stripes it seemed I’d never left the hotel. In fact, a shiny lamp base comprised of stacked silver balls looked like the one in my room.

I love hotels that flaunt the owner’s style. To my eyes, Kit Kemp boasts the most singular vision of any British hotelier this side of Anouska Hempel, creator of Blakes, the original boutique hotel.  But what different styles. (more…)

As fans of the Crosby Street Hotel’s Sunday Night Film Club (a club in name only) we perked up when we

Crosby Street screening room.

learned the hotel’s stylish basement screening room – orange leather chairs, state of the art equipment – had launched a new series.  Planned for four Mondays sprinkled throughout 2011, “Under the Influence: Writers on Film” pairs celluloid with lit, featuring a movie chosen by a prominent writer followed by a discussion with said writer and screenwriter Michael Maren.  A reception with wine and nibbles wraps things up.

It’s a 92^nd Street Y, Film Forum, private screening mash-up, in other words. And it’s yours for $35 (they also toss in popcorn and Voss water). (more…)

The theater with 100 orange leather seats.

Almost as many New York City hotels have screening rooms as spas. But it’s a lot easier to visit a hotel spa than to settle in with a bag of popcorn for a movie in a hotel screening room. Though chic abodes like the Bryant Park Hotel and the Tribeca Grand have suitably eye-catching movie theaters, as rental spaces they’re the domain of invited guests.

Which is why the Crosby Street Hotel’s 100-seat movie theater is so cool. Every week, the Crosby Sunday Night Film Club screens a movie and a short feature at 8 pm. Admission to the “club” requires neither dues nor hazing: you either book the three-course movie dinner ($50) or the movie bar plate for two ($25 a person). (more…)