Canadian World Traveller Spring 2023 Issue

68
Hotel Giraffe: Boutique Hideaway in New York City
Maybe it’s the live orchids in the
lobby lounge, the fresh green
bamboo stalks in my guest room
or simply the place’s name, but I immediately
feel at peace after checking in to the Hotel
Giraffe, a sleek and stylish sanctuary in New
York City. Being a fan of history and architecture,
I also like the landmarks that lie outside
its doors.
Located at the corner of Park Avenue South
and East 26th Street in Manhattan’s NoMad
neighborhood, between midtown and downtown,
the 12-story boutique hotel stands in
good company. Occupying a whole city block
across Park Avenue is New York Life
Insurance Company, its 40-story headquarters
crowned by a gilded, pyramidal roof, a
beacon on the city skyline since 1928.
My balconied room facing East 26th overlooked
the site where Herman Melville,
author of novels like Moby Dick and Billy
Budd, lived from 1863-1891. A plaque on
the site’s current building attests to that fact,
by Randy Mink
and the corner street sign designates the
intersection as Herman Melville Square.
What endears me most to the Hotel Giraffe is
its high-ceilinged lounge paneled in blond
wood and bordered by tall windows on two
sides. Relaxing over breakfast or winding up
the day with a drink, guests feel their cares lift
away while seated at the dining tables or in
the couches and easy chairs flanked by potted
trees. Orchid plants, single orchids floating
in silver teardrop vases, and lilies brimming
from large vases lend a cheery floral
touch. Shelves behind the service counter
hold carved wooden African animals, and
one wall sports a framed picture of a giraffe.
The black baby grand piano adds a note of
grandeur.
Guests visit the spacious lounge to help themselves
to snacks (health bars and gourmet
potato chips), fresh fruit, coffee, tea and soft
drinks. Its breakfast bar offers pastries,
yogurt, orange juice and hard-boiled eggs.
Like many hotel guest rooms in Manhattan,
quarters are not huge, but an abundance of
mirrors seems to enlarge the space. They covered
two walls in my bathroom and were set
into both sides of the closet’s wooden doors.
A wood-framed mirror was mounted above
the long granite-top workspace graced with
potted bamboo, and mirrors surrounded the
bar set-up atop the refrigerator.
The shelf above my ice bucket and wine
glasses held four books, including Tall
Blondes: A Book About Giraffes, which tells
everything you ever wanted to know about the
gawky but graceful creature. A six-foot-tall
giraffe statue accents the hotel’s Rooftop
Garden, a warm-weather gathering spot.
Happily, my go-to place for ethnic dining in
New York is just a block away from the Hotel
Giraffe. I am talking about a two-block
stretch of Lexington Avenue called Curry Hill
or Little India. There you’ll find a dozen simple
eateries dishing up Indian, Pakistani,
Bangladeshi and Nepalese specialties.
The 72-room Hotel Giraffe is part of the
Library Hotel Collection, which includes three
other Manhattan boutique properties, plus
hotels in Toronto and Budapest.
www.libraryhotelcollection.com
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