Its towering glass and chrome presence is something of an anchronism, squeezed between the low brick tenements and storefronts lingering from famed eras past. In an area fast emerging, Hotel Rivington stands at the forefront of hyper-modernity, as the rest of the neighborhood struggles to catch up. Walk in and you traipse a red carpet that bleeds down a hallway with sculpted, spherical white walls that impart the feeling of a giant artery. You could pulse down to the elevator taking you to your room or, if you’re an urban hotel addict on a temporary mission, you veer to the lounge on your right. It’s not difficult to order a drink at the bar where restrained patrons wait their turn, or scout a comfortable seat on the rectangular dark couches that stretch the length of the space.
The waitress in the lobby of the Hotel Rivington is prompt and friendly, and on an especially hot summer night and a mojito bender I’m told the hotel is all out of mint. The cocktail menu is a brief list of juice and rum sparklers and trendy pomegranate/peach/blueberry martinis – the more antioxidants, the less guilt – and the bar menu from the adjacent restaurant Thor is available even after the restaurant closes. The crowd at the Hotel Rivington is less trendy than the space it occupies, and the couches face huge glass windows looking out on to the historical tenements lining the street. It’s the perfect spot to start a quiet Saturday evening – that is, until the crowds of Brooklyn hipsters marching down Rivington tempt you to one of this definitive neighborhood’s more charactered dives.
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Let’s Take New York
Rushing through the city, champagne on your tongue, rock’n’roll at your feet. Slurring through downtown speakeasies, raucous warehouses, and bold, swanky, rooftops. Breathless conversation, skylines for days, and city views that skip a beat. They call it New York, but we say it’s drop dead.
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Cipriani Dolci – Grand Central Station: We’re deeply smitten with Grand Central Station and the gorgeous Main Concourse. Our favorite stops at GC include the Transit Museum Store and the subterranean mezzanine food hall, but our top scenario to wind away an hour is over a martini (Ketel, twist) at this lovely bar overlooking an afternoon’s worth of transportation logistics.