Firmdale Hotels, The Whitby, New York

Firmdale Hotels has opened its second New York property in Midtown, with interiors that blend quintessential British style with an eclectic mix of global influences. Words: Matt Turner | Photography: © Simon Brown. Firmdale Hotels, The Whitby, New York

The two large chandeliers above us in the Orangery – influenced by those in a 1920s Parisian brasserie – have been embellished with a parrot and toucan from an antiques store in Dorset: “With a newbuild you want to create some sense of a story and give the room strength, otherwise you just walk through it without feeling anything. Because there were no views outside from here, a feature wall of 40 illuminated pots by Martha Freud – each etched with a landmark New York building or bridge – provides a sense of place.” Antique meat platters, sourced from Ebay then framed in perspex, flank the antique church font that is the room’s centrepiece. Construction of the hotel involved digging down three storeys to create extensive event spaces, including a 130 seat screening room. The oak and bronze staircase leading down to these subterranean areas is decorated in Kate Blee’s ‘Tribal’ wallpaper, and a 20ft high canvas by pop artist Joe Tilson. Meeting rooms feature wallpaintings in terracotta pink by English artist Melissa White, lino prints by Eileen Cooper, and mosaics, based on original floor designs by Boris Anrep from the National Gallery. These rooms open on to a towering central foyer – nicknamed ‘the Bollywood spill-out’– which is entombed in hessian backed wallcoverings with a six-foot vertically repeating pattern of Indian deities, palm trees and sacred cows. Works depicting typical New York scenes by photomontage artist Peter Rocklin are also on display.

“These rooms are brand new,” says Kemp of the meeting spaces, “but what I wanted to achieve was a feeling of history so that when you sit and dine or party in these rooms, they have some feeling of the past. We’ve tried to create spaces that capture the imagination.” Throughout the hotel Kemp’s daring juxtaposition of vibrant fabrics (many of them her own designs for Christopher Farr Cloth), carefully selected artworks and layered textures is in evidence. The Whitby Bar and Restaurant is a rich, colourful space with high ceilings, upholstered banquettes and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking West 56th Street. In The Drawing Room residents’ lounge, an antique Greek fireplace featuring garlanded leaves and acorns sits alongside a bespoke library, overstuffed furnishings and an honesty bar. Guestrooms feature signature Firmdale flourishes, such as boldly patterned headboards, tailors’ dummys, and Designers Guild paints. The bathrooms will be familiar to anyone who has stayed in a Firmdale hotel, with their Arabescato marble finishes, Aquavision waterproof TVs and Lefroy Brooks brassware and basins.

The entire top floor is devoted to the Whitby Suite – an 1,845m2 space including two king size bedrooms, a large living room, guest powder room and kitchen. Doors lead onto two sweeping terraces with stunning views of New York, spanning both sides of the hotel. In the living areas, an 18th century Scandinavian cabinet sits at one end of the room, its layers of paint peeling away and providing the cue for the colour scheme elsewhere in the room. A Chesterfield sofa has been delicately embroidered by textile artist Pippa Caley. Firmdale’s signature look may be instantly recognisable, but it has also developed over the years. They have gradually moved away from the English country house style that defined the earlier hotels to a more eclectic, quirky mélange of global influences that feels appropriate in the melting pot of New York: “We carve our own path,” concludes Kemp. “You can have a signature look but you don’t want to be doing the same thing over and over.” With that our tour is at an end, and she is whisked off to shoot a series of short films to promote the new hotel, appropriately entitled ‘Every Room Tells A Story’.

sources: Sleeper, 9-10, 2017