Is there anything that makes you feel like a sophisticated traveler more than having a go-to boutique hotel in a major city? OK, maybe having a friend with a yacht, but the boutique hotel is up there. In New York City, long the biggest destination in the U.S., finding something neighborly in the major tourist areas was a task—there are plenty of chains, intimidatingly hip spots, and swanky high-end hotels. But small and cute and reasonably priced, not so much.
Our latest selection for Room Key, The Moore, is a chic new hotel in Chelsea that has already become just that for those who seek such a spot.
The Moore is located where the Gem used to be. The Gem was a bit on the tired side in recent years, but it had loyal patrons in part because of its quick access to Penn Station (a 10- to 15-minute walk) and its immediate surroundings including the High Line, art galleries, restaurants, and the gourmet market Forager’s, which occupies part of its first floor. The hotel is named for Clement Clarke Moore, the developer who created Chelsea but is more famous as the author of Twas the Night Before Christmas.
In New York, whenever one talks about space and cost, the phrase “…for New York” is inevitably required, and The Moore is no exception. The 81 efficiently designed bedrooms are on the cozier side, a fact the hotel doesn’t evade but rather embraces. On bookings made over the phone, the staff will repeatedly emphasize the 140- to 175-square footage. While not huge, they are comfortable, with textured off-white walls, wood floors, and teak paneling behind the bed. Despite being on the relatively busy corner of 22nd and Eighth Avenue, there was little street sound to be heard with the windows shut.
Often small hotels will also seek excessive efficiencies in the bathrooms, but luckily The Moore is not one of that number—they’re normal sized with sleek black subway tile. And while it seems that every new boutique hotel these days is seeking to cater to the younger set with toiletries from D.S. & Durga or Le Labo, The Moore is even more attuned to the younger generation’s obsessions and stocks their bathrooms with items from Replica.
The hotel has three major amenities. The first is a rooftop terrace that operates a bar during the warmer months and boasts views of the Empire State Building. The second is a surprisingly well-stocked gym for such a small hotel—bike, treadmill, elliptical, ab mats, and dumbbells that go up to 35 lbs. The third, which sets the tone as soon as you walk in, is the lobby, which is more of a hangout space with its dual purpose café/wine bar and boomerang shaped velvet couches.
Depending on the season (December being high season), room rates generally range from the high $100s to the high $200s, with the higher-priced rooms being corner spots with more light.
