On a quiet stretch of Tribeca, in Lower Manhattan, an industrial redbrick façade now gives way to a world of glamour, where the Belle Époque meets the Big Apple. Welcome—or rather, bienvenue—to the Hotel Barrière Fouquet’s New York, the first US property of the beloved French hospitality group. Designed by AD100 superstar Martin Brudnizki, the new outpost exudes the same spirit and sophistication as the original Fouquet’s, on the Champs-Élysées, first opened in 1899 and a favorite of tastemakers to this day.
Brudnizki, known for bridging the past and present, describes the Manhattan property as “a marriage of Parisian opulence and Tribeca panache.” An abstract diptych by artist Nir Hod hangs above the front desk, clad in antique mirror; an Art Deco–style chandelier dazzles over the steel-trimmed staircase; and the lobby’s plush mohair-upholstered seating invites recline. Meanwhile, 97 guest rooms (including six with terraces and one two-story suite) feature a lavender palette with subtle notes of cream and green—a nod to the Tuileries Garden—as well as quilted headboards and four-fixture marble baths. Soigné elements by contemporary talents subvert any historical underpinnings, a tension best captured in the bespoke toile de Jouy wallpaper. “It sets the scene as soon as you enter the room,” Brudnizki notes of his tongue-in-cheek version, realized by Schumacher, which depicts The Odeon restaurant and pigeons carrying croissants, among other local sights. “You immediately think, Oh, that’s playful! That’s fun!” And there’s more fun to be had in the bar and two restaurants, the spa, and the state-of-the-art screening room. hotelsbarriere.com
