Why book?
If you’re looking for someplace close to all the action of New York’s buzzy, see-and-be-seen SoHo neighborhood—but that at once feels coolly removed from it all (and has its own rooftop pool, to boot)—this is the place for you.
Set the scene
Though this hotel sits within SoHo (albeit on the edge of it, on a quiet side street intersecting Sixth Avenue), you’d almost never know it from the inside. But by that same token, you’d almost never know what sits inside, either, so discreet is the entrance. It’s a wild contrast to the separate ground-floor entrance for Jimmy, the rooftop bar and lounge and a holdover from the days of The James, for which a line still wraps reliably around the corner.
Inside, a small but sleek marble lobby with high ceilings reveals three massive multi-color Harland Miller canvases that drape the walls like a modern-day Flemish tapestry. It’s here in this entry that you get your first introduction to the hotel’s truly stupefying artwork, which includes dozens of paintings and sculptures from Hans Hartung, George Condo, Jean Dubuffet, Hans Hofmann, Nicolas Party, Kaws, and Miller, distributed throughout the different guestrooms and common areas. It’s all culled from the personal collection of Jack J. Sitt, director of Thor Equities Group, who oversaw not only the curation of the works but the renovation of the hotel itself, right down to the selection of coffee beans at Jumpin Jacks, the second-floor coffee bar-cum-cocktail lounge.
The hotel also has an incredible amount of outdoor space—some 11,000 square feet—making it feel more like an urban oasis than your standard-issue metropolitan crashpad. It’s an immediate reprieve from the city’s hustle and bustle, where guests can enjoy multiple outdoor seating areas and plenty of actual greenery, plus the rooftop pool, of course, which keeps buzzing late into the night.
The backstory
Formerly The James New York – SoHo, the hotel reopened on May 1 after a nearly year-and-a-half-long renovation as the first-ever hospitality brand from Thor Equities Group.. But it’s Thor’s young and ambitious director, Jack J. Sitt, who gets most of the credit here, overseeing the project at nearly every level and offering input on everything from the toiletries to the staff uniforms, and again, even curating artwork from his own collection to display on its walls. Sitt worked alongside stylist and interior design consultant Melissa Bowers on the property’s design, whose minimalist aesthetic (clean lines, geometric harmony, large windows) nods to the Bauhaus art movement of the beginning of the 20th century.
The rooms
ModernHaus SoHo has 114 rooms spread across 14 floors—10 different room categories, all generous in size. (By Manhattan standards, anyway; Modern Queen rooms start at about 280 square feet.) We stayed in a Horizon suite, which had a spacious sitting room with a royal blue L-shaped couch and mounted television; a bathroom with a walk-in rainfall shower, separate bathtub, and a clutch of Le Labo products; and a bedroom with a king-size bed. For the most part, the suite was nicely appointed, though the minifridge was neither cold nor stocked (the latter as a Covid precaution); and the thermostat in the bathroom never turned on during our stay. But the views—two walls of full floor-to-ceiling windows in both the living room and bedroom, overlooking a vast sweep of SoHo and beyond—more than made up for it. I especially appreciated the switches that allowed the blinds in both rooms to go up and down automatically, as well as the one in the bathroom, which had a glass wall with a curtain that divided it from the bedroom; by lifting the blinds there, you could take a bath or a shower and still have a view, if you wanted to. The bed was also incredibly comfortable, and outfitted with soft Frette linens.
The room’s soundproofing was also amazing. We were staying just three floors down from Jimmy, the popular (and well-populated) rooftop lounge, and though we could hear the revelers from our hallway, our suite was pin-drop quiet. Not only is that a rare feat for a place with one of the best-known rooftop scenes in all of Manhattan—it’s a feat for a place that sits above Manhattan, period. We didn’t hear so much as a honk during our entire stay. Had the air conditioning in our room not cut out when we shut the pocket door that separated it from the sitting room, it would have been a home run.
Food and drink
The food at Veranda was arguably the best part of my stay here. The restaurant touts a modern American menu, albeit with global nods to the cuisines of India, Mexico, South America, the Middle East, and Portugal, the ancestral country of Michelin-starred head chef George Mendes (most notably of Aldea). And unlike many of the chefs at his lofty level, Mendes isn’t just splashing his name across the place for street cred; not only is he a partner in the restaurant itself, he’s actually there in Veranda’s kitchen, overseeing it all.
And it shows. The service is faultless, with bussers and servers who are attentive without being intrusive; meals are well-paced and sized; and there are excellent cocktails and a wine list that complements most dishes on the menu, plus a sommelier (and a staff mixologist) who can deftly guide you in the right direction. As for the food itself, starters (or in their parlance, snacks) included what might be the best bread “basket” I’ve ever had in New York City—slices of oven-fresh, perfectly chewy sourdough, served with pats of local butter or arbequina olive oil and fat flakes of Portuguese flor de sal— utterly mind-blowing salt cod croquettes, expertly fried and served with a thimble of smoked paprika mayo; and a pizza-like roasted tomato-basil flatbread whose pliable dough and crispy crust had no business being so good in a city renowned for its red sauced specialities. Larger plates delighted equally, as did dessert: chicken rice from the hearth, meant for two people, mixed chicken confit, olive oil-poached breast, smoked chorizo, peas, and kalamata olives, and was followed by a slow parade of mind-bogglingly good traditional (fresh-baked pasteis de nata) and inventive (a citrusy concoction of calamansi lime ganache, pineapple mint marmalade, carrot chai puree, and brown butter shortbread) sweet treats by pastry chef Anthony Roonchareon.
The setting itself was relaxed but upscale, with indoor and outdoor seating—plus indoor seating that can become outdoor thanks to a custom-built fully retractable roof. There’s something almost Hamptons-esque about the breezy space, with its indoor-outdoor component, light wood and linens, cushy bench seating, and strings of fairy lights that keep the mood perpetually set. On the far side of the restaurant, away from most of the tables, there’s a large bar and lounge area with stylish seating—ideal for having a cocktail and a nosh before your table’s ready.
The spa
There isn’t a spa, but there are other wellness perks on offer, including a 400-square-foot gym on the 17th floor, equipped with state-of-the-art fitness equipment like a Peloton bike and Technogym elliptical. The hotel also offers rooftop programming five days a week including yoga, pilates, and sculpt classes—and then, of course, there’s the rooftop pool, where you can get in a couple laps if the mood strikes.
The service In general, the service was coolly professional, and never overbearing: The hotel (and lobby) is small enough that you’re nearly always acknowledged or greeted by name on your return, which augments the building’s almost condo-like feel, and most of the staff we interacted with were pleasant and welcoming. The only hiccup was that the front desk didn’t always pick up our calls. When the air conditioning in our bedroom automatically switched off for a second time, at around 1 a.m. or so, I had to take the elevator down to the lobby to ask that a handyman be sent up. Ordinarily, in a guest room with regular-size windows, this might have posed less of a problem—but it was warm and sunny outside, which led the room to heat up pretty quickly, even overnight into the early morning.
For families
I didn’t spot any families during our stay, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t feel accommodated—especially if they booked the Horizon or Penthouse suite, both of which have plenty of room to stretch out. There’s no kids’ club, but there parents and (accompanied) kids can use the rooftop pool during the day, and there’s a decent amount of contained outdoor space where kids of a certain age can roam somewhat freely. But on the whole, the hotel is better suited for couples who’ve made a plan to stay at the hotel at the same time as other couple-friends, albeit in separate rooms, or groups of friends doing the same—a point of convergence, really, with the perfect set of amenities to pass a relaxed weekend in SoHo together that can be easily dialed up by night.
Accessibility
There are elevators that access every level, along with a number of ADA-compliant guest rooms.
Anything left to mention?
This hotel felt remarkably different from any other one I’ve stayed at in New York—and that’s a good thing. There’s more than enough, vibe-wise, to really set it apart. There were some reopening hiccups that still needed to be worked out, but the perks—including a top-notch restaurant, excellent lounge spaces to make up for all the socializing we missed out on during COVID, and 11,000 square feet of private outdoor space, including a party-ready rooftop pool and bar—outweighed them all.
27 Grand St., New York, New York 10013
United States
https://www.modernhaushotel.com/