The global luxury leader in hotel residences, AKA, announces the completion and debut of its sixth New York City property, AKA Tribeca. The brand has reimagined the traditional hotel into a luxurious and residential-inspired experience with a brand-new, street-level lobby, lounge and bar by AD100 interior designer Jennifer Post.
AKA Tribeca, formerly the Smyth Hotel at 85 West Broadway between Warren and Chambers, welcomes daily stays or longer. To achieve the right balance of relaxed elegance and grace, AKA tapped the famed residential interior designer who had also worked on the Kahn Korman House, the private home of Larry Korman.
“For the debut of our global AKA brand in Tribeca, one of Manhattan’s most prestigious and creative neighborhoods, we are infusing the hotel model with our core residential values and creating a vertical village for our guests,” said Larry Korman, president of AKA. “We want guests to feel at home in the elegance and privacy of AKA Tribeca, where they can work in one of the lounge nooks, enjoy a meal at the restaurant, have a cocktail at the bar, and work out in the fitness center. We have learned from our portfolio that laundry is a heavily desired amenity for many guests, and we will also be incorporating that luxury into the hotel.”
For the lobby of her first work in hospitality, Post chose striking shades of charcoal and bronze. Danish designer Verner Paton’s curvy, soft-gray Cloverleaf sofa from the 1960s is framed by a modern gas fireplace that divides the lobby from the bar lounge called a.bar. Pivoting bronze and black-glass screens create intimate seating nooks beneath over-sized black-and-white photographs along one side. Black porcelain flooring with a stripe of gold metal that runs from the lobby to the bar entices guests to move through the space. The marble bar, which glows with a back-lit art panel, features metal-and-glass globe lighting fixtures and accents of burnished bronze inlay, nods to Tribeca’s industrial heritage.
Also on street level is a popular Tribeca staple – James Beard-award-winning Chef Andrew Carmellini’s restaurant and bar, Little Park, that is open to both AKA Tribeca guests and the public. Little Park serves a hyper-seasonal menu, where food origins and the specificity of everything is identified, for breakfast, lunch, dinner and room service. The Little Park Private Room, with a black-stone fireplace, vintage lounge area and a flat-screen television, is available for private parties.
AKA Tribeca offers 100 spacious guestrooms with king beds and residential-style, walk-in showers and large closets. The new Platinum Collection is a selection of stylish and sophisticated guestrooms thoughtfully reimagined by AKA’s masterful interior designer, Nicholas Cardone, with custom, contemporary furnishings and luxurious Carrara marble baths with glass-enclosed rain showers. For the tech savvy, each room in the collection includes an advanced Chromecast TV system, plentiful charging ports and high-quality WiFi with Amazon Echos in some rooms. The two Penthouses feel like spacious Manhattan residences with separate living areas, terraces and enviable views of fashionable Tribeca and SoHo.
“Our vision was to create a welcoming, residential-inspired environment for guests that’s comfortable and stylish, while embracing the spirit of Tribeca and AKA,” said Jennifer Post of Jennifer Post Design.
Amenities include a.fitness workout center with state-of-the-art equipment, complimentary high-speed Internet and Wi-Fi access in all guestrooms and throughout the property, 24/7 in-room dining, 24/7 guest services team, and valet dry cleaning. In the works are a common laundry and kitchen for guests, as well. Additionally, guests will be able to participate in AKA’s experiential amenity program, Live It!, which encourages guests to uncover new experiences and to pursue their ambitions and dreams.