Gramercy Park Hotel Private Rooftop Club and Garden

The Gramercy Park Hotel in New York offers the Private Roof Club and Garden, an original and unique indoor and outdoor space, with a retractable roof 16 stories above the city. According to the press release, this space “is akin to a private salon or drawing room offering personal comfort and the intimacy of a private home.” The club is available exclusively to guests of the hotel and select private members and offers a more personal and intimate version of “the lobby as a new kind of gathering place” as introduced by Ian Schrager almost 20 years ago.

“I wanted to create a new kind of public space … a private lobby in the sky as a counterpoint to the public lobby on the ground floor, where guests and members can gather, entertain and enjoy the hotel in a more discreet setting. It is a further refinement and evolution of my ‘lobby socializing’ idea and is something no other hotel has,” says Schrager.

This Private Roof Club and Garden combines all the charm of London’s private gentlemen’s clubs and the Bohemian bustle of a Viennese coffee house. It recalls the celebrated roof top garden life popularized at the turn of the century in New York City at such places as Ziegfeld’s Club at the New Amsterdam Theatre, Stanford White’s roof top garden at the original Madison Square Garden, the Astor Hotel in Times Square and Conde Nast’s famous parties on his extravagant roof top penthouse-with an edgy new
twist. Using artist Julian Schnabel’s vivid color palette of dazzling Renaissance colors, the custom furniture and fittings weave through the space in a breathtaking series of seamless indoor and outdoor areas. It includes a ceiling light installation that evokes the notion of a chandelier in the movie Blade Runner.

Striking a balance between after-hours chic and the classic style of private membership clubs, the Roof Club and Garden is nothing less than a country club in the city. Unique to the interior spaces is the rare display of 20th century masterpieces from renowned artists Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst. The exhibited paintings change periodically in gallery and museum-like fashion albeit in an intimate, personal and relaxed environment. It represents a paradigm shift in the way people can enjoy and experience high art.

The Roof Club and Garden can be accessed via the special, private keyed- off elevator in Gramercy Park Hotel. When membership is offered in the future, people will be entitled to a vast array of services and privileges from the Gramercy Park Hotel and all other projects of Ian Schrager. Membership will consist of the most influential individuals from fashion, art, entertainment, media and finance from New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London and other gateway cities around the world. Now, such indoor and outdoor services and privileges will include: access to Roof Club from 6:30am to 12:00am, breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea, sunset
cocktails, late supper, spa services and a full service special event and meeting space.

If you’re a high roller, check it out.