Like a glittering crown jewel among Gotham’s glass-and-concrete skyline, the historic Jumeirah Essex House redefines hospitality from the heart of midtown. Developed as one of the city’s premier Art Deco masterpieces in the early 1930’s during one of America’s greatest economically historic benchmarks, the award-winning property celebrates and reinterprets its heritage for today’s sophisticated, internationally-attuned traveler— providing an exciting and welcoming setting for distinctive dining and socializing, while offering the finest in amenities and warm, personal service. The Jumeirah Essex House is a hospitality hotbed, conveniently situated at the intersection of Central Park South and 7th Avenue against the backdrop of Manhattan’s vibrant, nonstop, 24/7-city-never-sleeps-energy where cultural, business, and social lives collide!

Central Park Suite Living Room

This mixed-use property, which offers hotel suites and condominiums alike, stands apart from other luxury accommodations with its rich heritage. In September 2007, the Jumeirah Essex House marked its semi-sesquicentennial with an ambitious $90 million renovation. In addition to the plush interiors and technological enhancements; the elegant establishment also boasts a well-edited and distinguished art program, fine dining, private fitness center, spa, awards, and accolades to boot!  The Essex House proves time and time again that the longstanding slogan, “Always in touch with the Park. Never out of touch with the City!” coined during its original advertising campaign is so much more than a motto.

Built in 1931, the Jumeirah Essex House was the tallest Art Deco building at the time and a sister property to Rockefeller Center. Architect Frank Grad designed the building and it is widely believed that the haute haven derives its name from Mr. Grad’s primary residence in Essex County, New Jersey. According to archival plans, the original owner company planned to build two towers, but only completed one after the 1929 stock market crash and subsequent Great Depression. If not for the lighted sign which bears its name, the hotel would be recognized as one of the most preimminent Art Deco architecture buildings in the country. Today, the 43-story building houses 606 hotel rooms and 148 condominium apartments. The hotel's illustrious past has welcomed numerous famous guests, but discretion prevents me from revealing their names…

Central Park King

It’s 2:00 a.m. and I’m awakened by the sound of my vibrating blackberry. Disoriented, my iPod’s party playlist emanates from the flat panel television, as my laptop’s screen saver flashes before me. In the comfort of my lovely suite, I’ve fallen asleep on the sofa; beside a terrace overlooking the city as the sun sinks into the Hudson River. I make my way to the bathroom, stumble lights along the vanity and bedside tables illuminate the pathway in unfamiliar surroundings. A hotel room can feel cold, impersonal, uninviting, and strange, but with a courteous household staff and helpful concierge desk at your service, the Jumeirah Essex House feels more like a home away from home. Usually, I miss my Victorian flat when I’m travelling, but this domicile had me feeling rather spoilt and pampered with attentive butler service meeting my every need—big or small— whether I wanted a mini refrigerator, a DVD Player, extra towels, or a band-aid.  I could get rather used to this lifestyle; although I’m typically more of a bed & breakfast kinda’ girl, there are certain advantageous to having Wi-Fi AND home comforts. This hotel offers the best of both worlds because it blends old-world surroundings with modern enhancements; often you have to sacrifice one for the other.

Last year, the Jumeirah Essex House joined the National Trust Historic Hotels of America, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is one of more than 200 hotels and resorts recognized for preserving and maintaining its historic integrity, architecture, and ambiance. “The trend of cultural travel in America continues to grow,” said Thierry Roch, Executive Director of Historic Hotels of America. “By inviting the Jumeirah Essex House into our collection of distinguished properties, we are continuing to encourage historic preservation while at the same time showcasing this hotel’s rich history. Our goal is to bring these historically special hotels and their authentic experiences to the attention of the traveling public.”

Desk overlooking Central Park

Over the past 23 years, the hotel has sustained many renovations and changes in management companies. “Jumeirah wanted to return the property to its Art Deco-glory and original magnificence, with rooms inspired to look like cabins on trans-Atlantic steamship journeys, emulating the golden age of travel, reminiscent of the Louis Vuitton trunk-travelling era. There are a lot of enhancements in the room, but we wanted to keep the technology as user-friendly as possible,” explained Andres Orta Castro, Marketing Manager, Jumeirah Essex House. According to the company website, reviewing its storied history, Japan Air Lines bought the Essex House in 1984 and made it the flagship of its Nikko hotel chain after a $130 million renovation. In 1999, the building was sold to the Strategic Hotel Capital for $176 million. Fairmont Hotels was in talks to acquire the hotel in 2005, but eventually it was purchased for $440 million by the Royal Family of Dubai.
 
Jumeirah Hospitality & Leisure commissioned Atlanta-based hospitality design firm Hirsch Bedner Associates to create and develop an innovative new design plan that would complement and build upon the hotel’s original Art Deco theme with contemporary 21st century nuances. The primary design philosophy was to merge history with technology, incorporating enhancements that elevate the traveler’s experience while maintaining the integrity of the hotel’s heritage; thus moving forward, while preserving the past. It’s a delicate balance to integrate modern functionalities offering guests the ease and convenience, without compromising the art of exemplary customer service.

Hotel Lobby

As I entered the hotel under the modern black and gold canopy, I surveyed the lobby’s elegant marble décor and 20’ coffered ceiling. I continued on, making my way past arrangements of fresh-cut orchids and calla lilies towards the high-rise elevator banks’ palatial in-laid gilded doors. The rich array of Art Deco detailing also includes fluted columns with bronze capitals, dark mahogany wall paneling, gold leaf moldings, custom wall sconces, and dramatic crystal chandeliers. The lobby’s centerpiece and focal point is a unique Lalique-style glass and polished marble reception desk with backlit hand-carved floral motif panels. Macassar ebony chairs reminiscent of the period and cream leather ostrich-printed sofas sit on lush hand-knotted carpets from Nepal. “The lobby is the epicenter of the hotel, a place where guests’ first impressions are made and their sense of arrival equated,” stated Scott Dawson, General Manager, Jumeirah Essex House. “We wanted our newly redesigned lobby to be more accessible to our guests; an environment where they can enjoy a good meal and relax in a setting that stimulates and promotes conviviality.”

Form truly meets function at the Jumeirah Essex House where high-tech style merges with Art Deco-chic. Business and leisure travelers alike will find the many new high-tech guestroom features appealing from both a comfort and functionality aspect. In-room technology is designed and developed with the guest in mind keeping it “guest centric”, providing guests with the opportunity to control their room features either through the LCD controls or traditional switches. In-room television sets offer guests round-the-clock “real-time” views of both Central Park and scenes looking towards Times Square courtesy of live feeds transmitted from rooftop cameras. Guests can view the kinetic energy and bright lights of the Big Apple and the sweeping vistas of Manhattan’s Central Park on their room’s television sets that will prepare them for the ultimate New York experience! The Essex House gives everyone of their guests a room with a park and city view. All guestrooms and suites feature high-definition on demand in-room entertainment, mood settings with a touch-screen control pad for lighting, background music, environmental controls, and temperature settings. The unique ostrich-print upholstered headboard features a horizontal niche for colorful artwork, which is up-lit with a custom-programmed color-changing LED fixture that modulates on a continual basis to create a variety of different moods in the room.

Lobby Hallway

“Artwork is something that is very near and dear to our hearts,” confided Mr. Castro.  “One of the hotel’s biggest attractions is its proximity to Central Park; it’s a big reason why visitors choose to stay here. In an effort to bring our guests into the park and the community as much as possible, we founded the lobby art program.” The program is overseen by on-staff curator, Katherine Gass, who has not only sought to bring a sense of community and culture into the hotel, but has successfully accomplished this goal by culling photos from the Museum City of New York and Magnum Photos as well as commissioning special pieces by internationally-acclaimed photographer Atta Kim and lithographer Mark Innerst as part of the hotel’s permanent collection.

Ms. Gass proposed an art program that celebrated Central Park’s magnificence in art. This collection appropriately reflects Jumeirah’s “Stay Different” brand positioning. On my lobby tour, I especially enjoyed the archival images, ephemera, promotional brochures, and commissioned artwork on display, spanning from the mid-19th century to early 21st century. Historical images teleport you to the late 1800’s with a Carriage Park Service Rate Brochure (c. 1895) when a roundtrip carriage ride only cost 25 cents; hark back to a time when sheep actually grazed Central Park’s Sheep Meadow (c. 1890); an aerial view of Columbus Circle before the Time Warner Center was built (c. 1930); and the holiday classic favorite, Wollman Rink (c. 1955).

Lobby Lounge Banquette

“Always in touch with the park; never out of touch with the City…” this philosophy extends to its dining as well. Famed designer, Tony Chi of Tony Chi and Associates created the sleek interior of South Gate Restaurant. The luxurious dining space is resplendent with cubist angles, a dropped floor of reclaimed lumber, and a large open hearth. As a New Yorker for the last fifty years, Mr. Chi had very specific ideas as to how the space should feel and unfold once welcomed inside. “I wanted to create a place that is for the neighborhood, an urban tavern with varying levels of intimacy and cultural synergies,” shared Mr. Chi. South Gate transitions from a casual morning patisserie to a skylit lunch spot to a night time dining destination with twinkling lights and easy intimacy.

In 2007, the Jumeirah Essex House unveiled its new spa, which exclusively features Australian brand SODASHI. The space is modern yet serene without feeling cold and sterile yet comfortable without feeling clinical, yet another delicate balance.  “The trend of spa-oriented vacations continues to grow, therefore; it was imperative to create a product that would offer Jumeirah Essex House guests the opportunity to enhance their vacation with a variety of high-end spa experiences,” said Mr. Dawson.

Lobby Lounge

Last year, the landmark hotel was honored at the 14th Annual World Travel Awards, often referred to as the “Oscars” of the travel industry, receiving top prizes in three categories. The Jumeirah Essex House was awarded with the distinction of being North America’s Leading Hotel, North America’s Leading Business Hotel and, New York’s Leading Business Hotel. Additional honors have included the 2007 Five Pavilions Award, the 2007 AAA Four Diamond Award, Gayot’s Top 10 Hotels: New York in 2006, Travel + Leisure’s The T+L 500 in 2004, and the Gold List of World’s Best Places to Stay by Condé Nast Traveler in 2002.

Convenience is an invaluable commodity in the New York real estate market. The city is a microcosm of cultural, entertainment, and corporate headquarters. The hotel’s central location makes it easily accessible to Fifth Avenue, where east and west converge; is just a stone’s throw from Columbus Circle, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall; and across the street from the 800-acre sanctuary of Central Park. It goes without saying that guests of Jumeirah Essex House, whatever their interests or purpose in coming to New York, will find the hotel’s neighborhood endlessly captivating, always educational and ever exhilarating. The goal, according to Scott Dawson was to recreate the hotel as one of New York City’s glorious icons—a truly unique hospitality experience, in many ways a destination itself.

Essex Suite Living Room

“New York has a uniquely diverse population that is reflected in its millions of visitors from every part of the country and the world. To be successful here, one needs to understand cultural differences and respect them. One needs to be able to relate to an incredibly diverse set of tastes, styles, and values and to give visitors a taste of being in New York by helping them to get the most out of this incomparable city,” elaborated Mr. Dawson. “At the same time, a hotel needs to stand alone, to stand out as a memorable experience that is at once a reflection of the ideas, styles, history, and energies that make the city, and in particularly, the Central Park South neighborhood unique and its own distinctive being. We believe that Jumeirah brings to the Essex House the perfect set of goals and skills to accomplish this challenge.”

Jumeirah Hospitality & Leisure properties are regarded as among the most luxurious and innovative in the world and have won numerous international travel and tourism awards. The Dubai-based luxury hospitality group encompasses the Jumeirah Carlton Tower and Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel in London as well as the Dubai portfolio: the world-renowned Burj Al Arab, the world’s most luxurious hotel; the multi-award winning Jumeirah Beach Hotel; the Jumeirah Emirates Towers; the Jumeirah Beach Club Resort and Spa; the Madinat Jumeirah; and the Jumeirah Bab Al Shams Desert Resort & Spa. I can hardly wait to visit some of the other Jumeirah Hospitality & Leisure properties!

Large Bathroom

The Essex House’s groundbreaking was a precursor to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal which sought to rebuild our nation after the Great Depression—a time not so dissimilar from our current economic downturn and the politically historic challenges our new administration will face in the months to come. More than three-quarters of a century later, the hotel remains a shining beacon of elegant architecture and decor with unparalleled hospitality; its successful reincarnation has breathed new life into the property and that restoration is a testament to the hotel’s longevity and legacy. With its comprehensive refurbishment program, the Jumeirah Essex House remains focused and steadfast—sparing no expense, no convenience is left unaddressed and no need left unsated. Built upon the foundation of 75 years of tradition, the Jumeirah Essex House has achieved and maintained a unique blend of old and new, historic and modern and truly lives up to its motto “Always in touch with the Park. Never out of touch with the city!”

A special note of thanks to Andres Orta Castro and Colene Jackson at the Jumeirah Essex House as well as Jaclyn Letschert from Harrison & Shriftman. 

For additional information, please visit http://www.jumeirahessexhouse.com/

Images provided courtesy of Jumeirah Essex House