The Redbury New York

The Redbury New York unveils a grand redesign including a newly opened lobby lounge and plans for reimagined guestrooms slated for 2020. Spearheaded by Brooklyn-based design firm Home Studios, the renovations pay homage to the building's legacy incorporating a century's worth of style - an evolution that incorporates subtle visual and experiential elements that weave into the building's history. Boasting a nod to the past and a playful approach to the present, the new spaces introduce a sophisticated, creative environment for modern travelers, influential creators, and savvy locals.

The 29 E 29th Street building has a storied past as a bustling haven for progressive women. Originally opened as The Women's Hotel in 1903, the building was the first hotel in NYC exclusively for women, where men were not allowed above the first floor during an era where many hotels refused entrance to single women after 6 pm. The design nods to the history from an eye-catching art gallery of diverse female forms to a logo representing an imaginative gesture drawing of a woman's profile sketched within a musical note.

Muse-Inspired Social Center: The Renewed Lobby Lounge

The lobby lounge is the social center of the hotel where guests can sip coffee, cocktails, and enjoy a selection of light bites. Curated by Union Square Hospitality Group, the all-day menu featuring bites and cocktails that pay homage to the hotel's history. Cocktail highlights include Lulu's Pajamas named after famous actress resident Louise "Lulu" Brooks; Elevator Girl, a cocktail inspired by an early 1900s photo of an elevator operator at the Martha Washington; and The Nitty Gritty a cocktail inspired by the first single recorded by Shirley Ellis, a Bronx-born soul singer of West Indies descent.

Located adjacent to the elevators of the hotel entrance, the aesthetic pays tribute to sought-after design elements from previous decades, creating an energetic juxtaposition of shape and texture. Shaker-Esque chairs tower next to low, Bellini-style sectional sofas that echo the relaxed worldliness of the 1970s. Birch-armed "easy" chairs harken to midcentury design, while their warm tones highlight the wooden accents in surrounding shelves. Luxurious, relaxed seating invites guests to disperse throughout the room to enjoy this renewed cool, calm heart of the hotel.

The lobby walls are bathed in a complex, sultry blue, affixed with reading lights in blackened steel, and brass rounded mirrors. Strategically placed stained-glass screens heighten seating areas noting a palette of light green, yellow, and white. Creating visual interest, large vitrines house a range of eclectic art books, ceramics, and curiosities. The marble-topped bar serves as the pièce de résistance: a black tile wall provides a backdrop with rich walnut accents and bold neon that leads the eye throughout the room.

Reintroducing: The Peaceful Guests Quarters

While the lobby aims to excite and intrigue, the 259 guestroom quarters of The Redbury will exude sophistication to provide a restful space where one can find tranquility from the vibrancy of NYC. Neutral gray will cover the walls, contrasted with elegant black trim. Custom minibars, desks, and nightstands will elevate the spaces along with dramatic headboards above plush, inviting beds. Long, luxe curtains will drape the windows over a dark herringbone carpet, heightening interest without overt distraction.

Corridors outside of the guestrooms will showcase a bolder carpet palette and angular pattern that marries the smaller scale herringbone wall covering hung above wainscot height. The ceiling will be painted in high gloss to reflect the movement of visitors, as well as light diffused from modern chrome and milk glass sconces,  hung along the corridor walls.

Additional guestroom enhancements include Coco-Mat mattresses made with natural and organic materials that are stacked in multiple layers to provide maximum comfort, enhanced Wi-Fi throughout the hotel and upgrades to showerheads to enhance water pressure.

Hotel website