Hôtel Barrière Fouquet’s: European luxury meets Manhattan charm
Oscar Wilde once wrote, ‘When Good Americans die, they go to Paris’, and if Manhattan’s Hôtels Barrière outpost, Hôtel Barrière Fouquet's New York, doesn’t epitomise Yankee Francophilia, then we don’t know what does
New York has an uncanny ability to instil a sense of nostalgia, even in those who have never lived there, or even been there. So ingrained is the city in popular culture that it feels familiar: there’s King Kong beating his chest on the Empire State Building. Harry meeting Sally at Katz’s Deli. The Friends crew muddling their way through life in Greenwich Village. I could, of course, go on.
Tribeca (the ‘triangle below Canal Street’), in Lower Manhattan (or ‘downtown’ as our friends across the pond like to say), is very New York. With its cast-iron buildings and Art Deco flourishes, it’s probably exactly what you picture when you experience that inexplicable nostalgia. The neighbourhood is the home of the New York loft, dominated by former industrial buildings that, during the 1960s and ’70s, attracted young artists, filmmakers and creatives due to the volume of space on offer. Today, Tribeca is one of the city’s buzziest districts; a place where trendy boutiques and zeitgeisty restaurants line cobbled streets, and the Tribeca Film Festival takes place every spring.
Hôtel Barrière Fouquet’s New York is very Tribeca: an eight-storey industrial red-brick punctuated by grid-paned windows. Interiors hint at the old-world glamour of the Ritz-Carlton or Waldorf Astoria – think gold-leaf mirrors, deep velvet couches, and a Rococo-inspired lavender and mint colour scheme – while incorporating elements of the architectural heritage of the neighbourhood thanks to the work of Martin Brudnizki Design Studio.
Hôtel Barrière Fouquet’s is also very France. It is a Parisian import, part of Hôtels Barrière, a luxury hotel group that has been in operation for more than 110 years. The result of this fusion? A delicate dance between the industrialism of Tribeca and the classicism of the Barrière brand. The 97 rooms – of which there are two variations and four suite types – feature Toile de Jouy wallpaper dotted with New York iconography, from the Statue of Liberty to women carrying Birkin bags and a pigeon with a croissant in its beak.
There are three French dining options, including the sister restaurant, helmed by Michelin-starred chef Pierre Gagnaire, of the iconic Brasserie Fouquet’s on the Champs-Élysées, which has been going since 1899. There is also a Mediterranean-inspired cafe, Elysée’s; sultry speakeasy Titsou Bar; and Le Vaux, a wisteria shaded rooftop with views of the Hudson River.
Cross-cultural fusion is also manifested in touches like the Cannes-inspired cinema (also echoing Tribeca’s own film festival). Spa Diane Barrière is named after the late heiress to the Barrière group: an underground lair complete with a sauna, hammam and hydrotherapy pool. Even the fact that the furniture in the communal areas is arranged in vignettes, encouraging lingering with a coffee and newspaper, is a slice of Parisian insouciance in the city that never sleeps.
Hotel Fouquet’s is the perfect pied-à-terre for those looking to experience Parisian joie de vivre moments from Soho and the West Village. This is where European luxury meets the effortlessness of downtown Manhattan – and probably the only place where you can get crème brûlée French toast and a Russ & Daughters deli bagel at breakfast.
From £860 per night, visit hotelsbarriere.com
