‘Renowned’.
That’s how ‘The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel’ in New York describes itself (in my suite’s info pack).
And fair enough. After all, every American president since Truman has visited, and so has the late Princess Diana, Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, and stars including Jeff Goldblum, Naomi Campbell and George Clooney all adore it, the latter three even appearing in a 2018 film about the property called ‘Always At The Carlyle’.
Plus, Billy Joel once turned up at the hotel’s Bemelmans Bar and tinkled the ivories on the grand piano there.
So, we’ll let this 35-storey, 192-room Upper East Side Madison Avenue institution, one block from Central Park, have ‘renowned’.
Ted Thornhill checked in to The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel to find out why the rich and famous love it. Ted writes: ‘The lobby [above] sets the tone – and the tone is unabashed Art Deco sophistication’
Every American president since Truman has visited The Carlyle, and so has the late Princess Diana, Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, and stars including Jeff Goldblum, Noami Campbell and George Clooney all adore it, the latter three even appearing in a 2018 film about the property called ‘Always At The Carlyle’
But what’s it like to actually stay there?
I spend two nights in one of its Carlyle Suites, dine at the restaurant, Dowling’s, and quaff cocktails at Bemelmans to find out.
The lobby sets the tone – and the tone is unabashed Art Deco sophistication. Here I’m bewitched by the black marble floor and chic mustard-yellow furniture.
My fifth-floor quarters offer nothing much in the way of views, but plenty to beguile the eyeballs on the inside.
The 800-square-foot suite comprises a bedroom, ensuite and living room that can all be individually closed off, giving the space an apartment feel.
And what an apartment – an exercise in timeless Art Deco elegance fit for Hollywood royalty and actual royalty.
The king-sized bed is dreamily comfortable and features a pillow embroidered with my initials – a flourish every guest receives (not my initials, theirs) – the ensuite is smothered in marble and boasts a sunken tub big enough for a Hudson River pilot whale to frolic in, a rainshower so powerful it surely must have its own nuclear-powered pump, and silvery double sinks.
In Bemelmans Bar (above), Ted enjoys a ‘delicious’ Champagne-based ‘Jackie O’ cocktail ‘as a pianist’s ninja-like fingers scamper over the keys’ and he soaks up ‘the seductive speak-easy ambience’
Dowling’s at The Carlyle – ‘the glamorous, art-festooned main restaurant’ where ‘guests receive Rolls-Royce service’
LEFT: Ted’s ‘drool-inducing herb-crusted rack of lamb with whipped potatoes’ that he enjoyed at Dowling’s restaurant. RIGHT: The Dowling’s New York cheesecake
Ted’s quarters – the Carlyle Suite, ‘an exercise in timeless Art Deco elegance fit for Hollywood royalty and actual royalty’
Above is the living room in Ted’s Carlyle Suite. Ted remarks that the accommodation makes him feel like he’s ‘stepped back in time and into an Agatha Christie novel’
Then there’s the living room, with its gold ceiling and plush sofa fit for a lolling matinee idol, and throughout, lashings of beautiful dark wood. It’s bedaubed around the walls and forms the living room’s stunning round table. On this – and here we reach peak Carlyle hotel – is a wooden box discreetly hiding an array of plug points.
The 1930s-style lampshades add to a feeling I’ve stepped back in time and into an Agatha Christie novel.
Modern flourishes snap me back to the present day – vast TVs in the bedroom and living room and blindingly fast free Wi-Fi, plus intuitive touch-screen air-con control panels.
The magic continues on the ground floor, where the staff cast a spell over every guest, making each and every one feel like a Hollywood star.
In Bemelmans Bar they furnish me with a delicious Champagne-based ‘Jackie O’ cocktail as a pianist’s ninja-like fingers scamper over the keys and I soak up the seductive speak-easy ambience.
And in Dowling’s – the glamorous, art-festooned main restaurant – guests receive Rolls-Royce service that’s not just effortlessly charming, but astonishingly efficient.
Ted writes: ‘The staff cast a spell over every guest, making each and every one feel like a Hollywood star.’ Above – Cafe Carlyle
At the start of my Dowling’s dinner the dining captain introduces himself. He should be promoted to colonel – he’s the very definition of a top-tier server. Making every guest feel like they’re the most important person in the room.
Food-wise, Dowling’s hits the bullseye, too.
I’m impressed by my starter of Maryland crabcake with charred corn and pickled red onion, and minded to spoon bigger heaps of praise onto the main course – a drool-inducing herb-crusted rack of lamb with whipped potatoes so creamy they belong in a cone.
Ted describes the service at The Carlyle as being so good it’s almost like ‘a sleight of hand trick’. Above – The Gallery
Chic mustard-hued furniture populates the public spaces at The Carlyle
Room for dessert? No chance. Oh wait, there’s a New York cheesecake. And it’s so good I almost salute the captain on the way out.
At breakfast, on both mornings, my table is furnished with a newspaper, a lovely pot of coffee, a beautifully warm and fluffy croissant and Eggs benedict within six minutes.
And no one is rushing.
It’s service so well-organised it’s like a sleight of hand trick.
Renowned? It can most certainly have renowned.
