‘Renowned’.
This is how ‘The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel’ in New York is described (in my suite information packet).
And fair enough. After all, every American president since Truman has visited it, as have the late Princess Diana, Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, and stars including Jeff Goldblum, Naomi Campbell and George Clooney adore it – the latter three even appearing in a 2018 film about the property called Always At The Carlyle.
In addition, Billy Joel once appeared at the hotel’s Bemelmans bar and played the keys of the grand piano.
So we’ll let this 35-story, 192-room institution on the Upper East Side of Madison Avenue, a block from Central Park, make its name.
Ted Thornhill checked into The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel to find out why the rich and famous love it. Ted writes: “The lobby (upstairs) sets the tone, and the tone is one of unabashed Art Deco sophistication.”
Every American president since Truman has visited The Carlyle, as have the late Princess Diana, Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, and stars including Jeff Goldblum, Noami Campbell and George Clooney adore it – the latter three even appeared in a 2018 film about the property called ‘Always At The Carlyle’.
But what is the experience of staying there really like?
I spend two nights in one of its Carlyle Suites, dine at Dowling’s restaurant and drink cocktails at Bemelmans to find out.
The lobby sets the tone, and the style is one of unabashed Art Deco sophistication. Here I am enchanted by the black marble floor and elegant mustard yellow furniture.
My room on the fifth floor doesn’t offer much of a view, but it does offer plenty to captivate the eye from inside.
The 800-square-foot suite consists of a bedroom, private bathroom and living room that can be individually closed off, giving the space an apartment-like feel.
And what an apartment: an exercise in timeless Art Deco elegance, worthy of Hollywood royalty and royals alike.
The king-size bed is incredibly comfortable and features a pillow embroidered with my initials, a touch all guests receive (not my initials, but theirs); the private bathroom is covered in marble and features a sunken tub large enough for a Hudson River pilot whale to frolic in, a rainfall shower so powerful it must surely have its own nuclear-powered bomb, and silver double sinks.
At Bemelmans Bar (above), Ted enjoys a “delicious” champagne-based Jackie O cocktail “as a pianist’s ninja fingers scurry across the keys” and soaks up the “seductive speakeasy atmosphere.”
Dowling’s at The Carlyle: “the glamorous, art-adorned main restaurant” where “guests receive Rolls-Royce service”
LEFT: The ‘herb-crusted rack of lamb with mashed potatoes’ that Ted enjoyed at Dowling’s restaurant. RIGHT: Dowling’s New York cheesecake
Ted’s rooms: The Carlyle Suite, “an exercise in timeless Art Deco elegance, worthy of Hollywood royalty and royal royalty”
Above is the living room of Ted’s Carlyle Suite. Ted says the accommodation makes him feel as if he’s “stepped back in time and stepped into an Agatha Christie novel.”
Then there is the living room, with its gilded ceiling and plush sofa, worthy of a matinee idol, and everywhere, lots of beautiful dark wood. They are adorned with paintings on the walls and form the impressive round table in the living room. In this part – and here we reach the top of the Carlyle hotel – there is a wooden box that discreetly hides a series of electrical outlets.
The 1930s style lampshades add a feeling of having stepped back in time and being inside an Agatha Christie novel.
Modern details transport me to the present: large TVs in the bedroom and living room, incredibly fast free Wi-Fi and intuitive touchscreen air conditioning control panels.
The magic continues downstairs, where the staff casts a spell on each guest, making each and every one feel like a Hollywood star.
At the Bemelmans bar I am offered a delicious champagne-based ‘Jackie O’ cocktail while the ninja fingers of a pianist run over the keys and I soak up the seductive clandestine atmosphere.
And at Dowling’s, the glamorous, art-adorned main restaurant, guests receive Rolls-Royce service that is not only effortlessly charming, but surprisingly efficient.
Ted writes: “The staff casts a spell on each guest, making each one feel like a Hollywood star.” Above – Cafe Carlyle
At the beginning of my dinner at Dowling’s, the dining room captain introduces himself. He should be promoted to colonel: he is the very definition of a first-class waiter. He makes every guest feel as if he or she is the most important person in the room.
As for the food, Dowling’s also hits the mark.
I’m impressed by my Maryland crab cake starter with charred corn and pickled red onion, and I’m willing to heap praise on the main course: a drool-worthy herb-crusted rack of lamb with mashed potatoes so creamy they belong in a cone.
Ted describes the service at The Carlyle as being so good it’s almost like “a magic trick.” Above – The Gallery
Elegant mustard-hued furnishings populate The Carlyle’s public spaces
Is there room for dessert? Not a chance. Oh wait, there’s New York cheesecake. And it’s so good I almost waved to the captain on my way out.
At breakfast both mornings my table is set with a newspaper, a delicious pot of coffee, a deliciously warm and fluffy croissant, and eggs Benedict ready in six minutes.
And nobody is in a hurry.
It’s a service so well organized that it seems like a magic trick.
Recognized? He must have been famous.