Inside Manhattan’s best new luxury hotel: Aman New York

There are few places where you can breathe, and the newest Aman luxury hotel here certainly cannot: it has created a true oasis in the middle of one of the busiest intersections in the United States. When one passes through the velvet rope and enters through the double doors on the ground level before heading to the elevator to the lobby on the 14th floor of the new Aman New York, which just opened in August, all the noise is gone—cars honking, people shouting, chattering endlessly. boundless and mindless. Here, you can really get away from it all from just a few meters away.

The third Aman property in the United States and the 34th worldwide, Aman New York, located in the Crown Building, has 83 suites—and they are spacious because of the starting square footage of about 750, almost double the average studio apartment in the area. – and 22 houses as well as private member clubs of the hotelier’s global brand center.

The doors to the Crown Building—originally known as the Heckscher Building, as it was named—first opened in 1921. But it wasn’t until 1922 that the tenants finally moved out. York City—second to the Woolworth Building downtown in the Financial District—and the tallest building in Midtown Manhattan. It wasn’t until the completion of the Chrysler Building in 1930—and later the Empire State Building in 1931—that it surpassed the neighborhood.

And the city really grew around Midtown at that time. After World War I, it was still mainly a residential neighborhood, with very little commercial presence. Quite a contrast to today as the intersection of 57th Street and Fifth Avenue now includes the flagship stores of Louis Vuitton, Bulgari, and Bergdorf Goodman.

When the Heckscher Building first went up, 57th Street was known as Marble Row because of the large marble mansions that lined the street. (With its skyscrapers, designer stores, and luxury condominiums, today it is often referred to as Billionaires’ Row.) The grandest houses on Marble Row are the Vanderbilt mansions, across the street from where Bergdorf Goodman sits today. Around this time, inspired by European culture (and wealth) the matriarchs of the Vanderbilt and Rockefeller families assembled a collection of 101 works of art to build and found the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the first in Heckscher. building. The collection resided in the building for six years before moving to Rockefeller’s townhouse, which is now MoMA’s garden area, and the current structure built around it. Many of those 101 works still remain part of MoMA’s permanent collection, and Aman New York offers special tours for guests here led by PhD-accredited art historians.

For the first few years, the building was occupied by gallery dealers, fashion designers, shoemakers, and leather goods artisans. And representing stone and other European cultural influences, the French fashion house Christian Dior opened its first location in New York and the United States in the building in 1948. The structure went to the Crown House in 1983, when the lighting designer Douglas Leigh was commissioned to pack and illuminate the facade with 30 gallons of liquid gold.

When renovating Aman New York after the site was selected in 2015, the designers painstakingly restored both the facade and the gilded interior, which was largely made of marble with a nod to Marble Row. One architect Jean-Michel Gathy of Denniston Architects is known for creating intimate spaces in larger spaces, usually using light. So lighting really makes up about 50% of the design plan. The team also balances East Asian and Southeast Asian design influences by using mostly Western materials as well as contemporary artists. (Some of the original artwork in the corner suite, for example, was made from materials found in North and South America.)

And in tradition with other Aman properties, the architects drew heavily on design notes from Aman’s portfolio of more than 30 properties worldwide. Upon entering, guests may notice in the second atrium that the lattice pattern on the ceiling and marble floor match, inspired by the shingle roofs of Indonesian architecture. (Aman has five properties in Indonesia.) And the reflecting pools on the outdoor terrace on the 14th floor were built to mark Aman’s first property, Amanpuri in Phuket, Thailand, which opened in 1988.

The East-meets-West theme continues at both Aman New York restaurants. Arva-which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner-is led by Chef Dario Ossola, who moved from Aman Venice to New York for this project. Primarily an Italian restaurant, the restaurant is emphasized as ingredient-centric due to its partnership with more than 900 local food providers and farmers, and 80% of the products used in the restaurant are locally sourced.

Aman doesn’t usually design a bar or restaurant based on cuisine, but rather designs with reference to the menu and experience. For example, in Arva, the petrified wood on the ceiling is meant to remind of the sandy bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. And even the bars below the bar cause waves, as seen from a bird’s eye view.

Outside Arva and the lounge is a 6,000-square-foot terrace, built to be open year-round. For the winter, snowmelt floors and heaters on full blast means guests only need a good jacket or maybe a light blanket for a very cozy time. And in summer, the glass walls and ceiling retract for a total open-air experience.

On the other side of the lobby is Nama, a Japanese restaurant helmed by Chef Takuma Yonemaru, serving dinner and specialty craft cocktails, with a dedicated bar next door just for the omakase menu. The designers take the omakase dedication seriously—so much so that the table is made from a single plank of hinoki wood (a type of cypress), which comes from northern Japan. Otherwise, most of the restaurant’s design is very Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired architecture, with central atriums that separate the dining area, speaking of the verticality of the space.

If the kitchen is the heart of the home for most people, then the heart of the home for Aman properties is the spa. And in Aman New York, the hotel has dedicated three floors to a health spa and fitness center, covering 25,000 square feet. And while many of the treatments draw on Eastern health practices, the hotel also wants to add Western medicine to the mix. The hotel tapped Dr. Robert Graham, a Harvard-trained medical doctor who also serves as an adviser to New York City Mayor Eric Adams on food and health policy, to oversee the health assessment program. Doctors are available weekly on site for consultations on nutrition, vitamin mineral composition, blood panels, and more, and they regularly host luncheons and symposiums on topics such as gut health, stress levels, and more in-depth discussions of diabetes and obesity.

From a design aesthetic perspective, the interior of the spa and boutique lobby is lighter in color, which is intended to reveal the aura. Aman touts himself as a spiritual brand, and strongly believes in energy and wants to design a space that helps guests with. The 24-hour fitness center is a bright space with lighter-toned wood paneling and floor-to-ceiling windows, with a variety of Technogym cardio machines—and even a pair of infrared machines (one treadmill and one elliptical) for guests and members alike. can practice in alternative conditions. (For example, even if the thermostat is set at a moderate room temperature in the gym, guests can adjust the settings on the machine for warmer or cooler temperatures with different humidity if they need to train for a marathon elsewhere.) And that’s just outside. fitness center, there is a full-fledged cryotherapy room (not just pods), where guests and members can reserve a three-minute time slot for an extra deep freeze to move the blood.

Below the fitness center is a Pilates and yoga studio as well as spa treatments and locker rooms. And while of course massages and facials are on the menu, that’s at the beginning of what we offer. Guests can book treatments that last anywhere between one and nine hours. (Medium favorites might be the “New York Signature Treatment,” a two-hour session that includes a full-body scrub and a 60-minute massage.) Guests looking for a special spa day might consider booking one of the private suites, which include a private relaxation area, private terrace (built similar to the 14th floor with snowmelt floors and a retracting roof), private treatment rooms, private saunas, and even a private hammam for a full scrub. The private suite also comes with a tasting menu with mezzes, so you can really spend the whole day there.

But as new and luxurious as New York is, accessing the Aman New York facility is quite exclusive. For starters, with the exception of the Jazz Club on the basement level, the venue is not open to the public for drinks or dinner. (One exception may be spas, as customers can make reservations for day passes, treatments, hammam, etc.)

The hotel hosts a number of small corporate events for dinner—or even a full buyout—so locals can get in that way. Otherwise, access is granted to hotel guests, residents, and Aman club members. (Membership rates start at around $200,000, and hotel stays now start at $2,600 per night.) That said, when many of the hotel’s clients come from around the US as well as Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, the hotel management records a lot. The number of guests is actually New York booking short-term staycations, especially during the holidays for those who want a memorable and luxurious experience without the hassle of travel.

And Aman New York is just the beginning for the brand over the next few years. Joining the rustic but still beautiful and luxurious resorts Amangani in Wyoming and Amangiri in Utah, Aman plans to expand its portfolio in Miami Beach in 2024 and Beverly Hills in 2026.