Soho Grand Hotel, New York City

.../> I stayed at the Soho Grand in the October of last year, for just one night, but it left such a wonderful impression on me and came up in conversation only moments ago, and hence I thought I'd review the place, if only to recommend it!

I must say before anything else, that I was not responsible for either booking, or paying for the room, as it was part of a business trip, and therefore I can't comment on things like ease of booking, ...
...questioning the quality of the Soho Grand though; from start to finish, it was a marvellous, easy, friendly experience. I'd highly, highly recommend a stay here, again, it's not going to be the cheapest of places, but for comfort, luxury, security, and something a little different, as well as being located in a fantastic area, I'd say you'd be hard pushed to find much better!

Further details and pictures can be found at www.sohogrand.com ... more

I stayed at the Soho Grand in the October of last year, for just one night, but it left such a wonderful impression on me and came up in conversation only moments ago, and hence I thought I'd review the place, if only to recommend it!

I must say before anything else, that I was not responsible for either booking, or paying for the room, as it was part of a business trip, and therefore I can't comment on things like ease of booking, nor, really, value for money, although it's patently obvious that the hotel is one of the more expensive around, even on NY terms. I also couldn't really comment on if this place was family friendly or not, having visited with my partner, although I can say I didn't see any children during our stay.

What I can comment on, though, is the service, the building, the rooms, the food, all of which I remember as well as if I'd just come away from them, and I, well, I can have the sievelike memory of a goldfish sometimes, so there must be something striking about them all!

Speaking of goldfish, in fact, one of the first things you're asked on check-in is, if you'd like goldfish in your room.

Naturally I said I'd love some, and by the time I got up there, there they were, two little black fish in a bowl, that I promptly named, and, well, was rather appreciative of their presence. Nice touch, I thought!

The hotel is also pet-friendly, for smaller pets at least, and we did indeed see the odd chihuahua being shipped about the place in designer bags and that.

A little ahead of myself though, first impressions, the porters that greet you and collect your bags are very well suited, polite and friendly, and this set the standard for all the staff we encountered during our stay.

The interior of the building is glorious, unusual, as well, perhaps the best way of describing it is like an overhauled art deco warehouse - indeed, that might just be what it is! It has a pleasant atmosphere to it, not so quiet that it seems imposing, nothing obtrusively loud to it, very calm and welcoming. It prides itself on being a little "trendy" and does have a stylish, modern sense about it, very much, I think I'm trying to say, the opposite of 'stuffy'!

Check-in was very simple indeed, and we were easily shown to our room.

The room itself wasn't the largest hotel room I've ever stayed in, but it was certainly very comfortable. A large television - quite old, as it happens, but a fully working television nonetheless! - some good storage, and a devastatingly comfortable king-sized bed. I lay down and just didn't want to get up again! Everything was extremely clean and the bathroom had both bath and shower, new towels, soaps, shampoo, dressing gowns, all the usual.

Hunger dictated that I did, though, and though it was mid-afternoon and out of conventional eating hours, the hotel were more than happy for us to go to the bar and brought us out a 'snack menu'.

Alas, this was the only truly disappointing thing for me, lots of various 'sandwiches' and the like, and, it being one of my favourite things, I went for a BBQ steak sandwich, which came with fries, and nothing else. All I can say about that? Urgh! The steak was wonderful, but slathered in a sauce so thick and plentiful and unpleasant that I couldn't stomach it, and the bread was dry, stale, and far too thick to even get in the mouth! I ate the fries, which were maize, I think, rather than potato, and left rather unsatisfied.

We decided to eat out that evening, partially inspired by this, and asked the hotel if there were any places they'd recommend, to which they said that any of the restaurants in the local area were all very good, and we could essentially take our pick depending on what we wanted.

Turned out that the hotel is within walking distance (in the manner of much of New York, I imagine) of just about every eaterie one could imagine, not to mention a fantastic shopping district that distracted me from the afternoon for quite some time! We settled on a Greek place just literally down the road and that was wonderful, though I won't go into that here! You very much have the feeling of being a part of the area, though, not just visiting, and the accepting, homely feel of the hotel extended right across everywhere we visited.

The staffing was excellent at all hours, and the general area seemed so pleasant that my partner and I went for another walk later that night, just to get a breath of air and make the most of our very short stay. On our return, we investigated the mini bar in our room, which contained everything you'd expect from a mini bar, the practical and the luxurious, and the prices seemed reasonable, although I can't be exact on anything! Most notably for me, was a wine from Francis Ford Coppola's estate that I absolutely loved, again, an unexpected thing to find, for me at least.

But, back to the hotel. We both slept fantastically, very peaceful, no disturbance whatsoever, and awoke to a fantastic view across NYC, that I'll remember for years to come. The wake-up call we received was prompt, and the staff were once again excellent at booking us the required taxi for after breakfast.

Breakfast, thankfully, was far better than the previous day's lunch (poached eggs, if you're interested, my partner had spinach and ricotta pancakes and proclaimed them the greatest breakfast they'd ever had!), and the restaurant service was extremely swift, but never felt rushed or suggestive that we should be rushing ourselves.

The clientele seemed very fashionable, a lot of New Yorkers, apparently, according to the woman who got chatting to me over breakfast ("You're from London, aren't you? I could tell by your fashion!" So, not my accent then? ;) and I find it always a good sign of the quality of the place, if it's the choice of local professionals as well as visitors.

Apparently it's also the choice of celebrities as well, Jessica Simpson was doing an interview in the restaurant whilst we were having lunch, and our host, a regular at this hotel, said you do tend to find all kinds of random, unexpected people around.

There's no questioning the quality of the Soho Grand though; from start to finish, it was a marvellous, easy, friendly experience. I'd highly, highly recommend a stay here, again, it's not going to be the cheapest of places, but for comfort, luxury, security, and something a little different, as well as being located in a fantastic area, I'd say you'd be hard pushed to find much better!

Further details and pictures can be found at www.sohogrand.com with, I imagine, better details of pricing!

 

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