Keeping warm at The Ace Hotel

Going to NYC on the coldest, wettest and windiest weekend this season is not really my idea of a perfect vacation.  Alas, those were the conditions on my latest trip there.  Lucky for me I ended up in the right hotel for that type of tempestuous weather.  The Ace is the latest addition to the hip and youthful hotels in downtown Manhattan.  Designed by Roman & Williams, this highly awaited hotel is still creating quite a buzz now 8 months after opening.  The well-trafficked lobby of the Ace is dark and brooding - reminiscent of an old British coffee house, complete with the coffee and pastries.  At night, it has become the place to be in Manhattan - you will not find an empty seat in any of the dozen couches - but you will find plenty of hipsters drinking local beer and dark wines.  Since I had little intention of leaving the place during the driving snow storm, I was so so happy that The Breslin, the restaurant inside the hotel, had just opened and is run by one of my favorite NY chefs, April Bloomfield.

Here are some pictures I took while I was cooped up inside: