The Bowery Hotel experience

As a bit of a Tripadvisor fan, I checked out its reviews of The Bowery before we left for NYC but they didn’t go into enough detail so I shall do the honours here. The hotel is fabulous. Our corner room with dramatic double aspect windows was a king room but on the small side as all New York hotels are so that didn’t bother us (although maybe a few drawers for clothes storage would have been handy).

We loved the chirpy reception staff from their patient emails answering all our inane questions before arrival, to their nothing’s-too-much-trouble attitude during our stay. The ambience is one of homely comfort, the roaring fire in the lounge was most welcome after a hard day’s shopping in the rain.

The room decor is classic 1930s Gotham with great finishing flourishes like the velvet tub chairs, ceiling fan and red-trimmed bedding. The bed was an absolute dream to sleep on. The white brick-tiled bathroom with old-school brass fittings was a comfortable size with a good shower and generous C.O.Bigelow products.

You get the works here – soap, shower gel, shampoo, body lotion, bubble bath. (Our room didn’t have a bath but you can request one.) The bathroom is also well- stocked and replenished daily with cotton buds, cotton wool pads and tissues so no need to pack these staples. I dunno about you but these are the essential details I need to know about when I’m staying in a hotel! There are plush his n hers Bowery monogrammed bathrobes and matching ‘B’ slippers which of course came home with me as a souvenir.

Even the chambermaids carry Bowery-monogrammed LL Bean tote bags – how chic! I decided not to stalk them for a photo though, that would be a bit too sad. There’s a good selection of magazines in the rooms – Interview, Time Out, Paper – and there are Apple MacBooks available to borrow from reception which are free for three hours and then charged which I think is a pretty fair deal. We didn’t touch the mini bar or snacks as we knew the prices would be sky high, but if we had got peckish there was a huge basket of luxury nibbles and drinks to satisfy every craving. Room service was expensive but worth it. I could happily have eaten my French toast and berry compote breakfast morning, noon and night for the duration of our stay.