A place by the park in New York

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  Jumeirah Essex House, New York

A city break to New York never goes out of style, but if you really want to splash out next time, the new-look presidential suite at Jumeirah Essex House might be worth a look.

Smack-bang in the heart of Manhattan, the hotel has a great Central Park address and the views from the presidential suite naturally take all this in. The suite was created by respected interior designer Khuan Chew of KCA International, known for designing Jumeirah’s famous Burj Al Arab in Dubai. But far from the glitz of Dubai, the suite evokes the glamour days of 1920s and ‘30s New York, with soothing silks and neutral colours.

If you're staying in the Presidential Suite, you get one master bedroom and one guest bedroom both designed in warm, muted tones and of course, there's a security room with video surveillance of all the corridors and an express elevator whisks you privately and directly to the 26th floor.

If you're an art fan, then look no further, as the hotel's curator, Katherine Gass, assembled a perfectly matched collection of American paintings and photographs exclusively for the Presidential Suite.  

Included are original paintings that span from the mid-20th century to the present by Mark Innerst (1957-) and Howard Daum (1918-1988), a vintage photograph from 1948 of the iconic Brooklyn Bridge by Andreas Feininger (1906-1999), and platinum palladium prints on rice paper from the Bethesda Terrace series by Jed Devine (1944-). A jewel in the collection is a small painting with a hand-made custom frame depicting Columbus Circle and 59th Street by Mark Innerst upon which the large painting in the lobby entitled “Avenue with Towers and Monument, 2006,” was based.

And the art goes on - the hotel’s lobby is a gallery in itself and Gass also oversees an “artists-in-residence” program created to commission exclusive pieces which best accomplish her mission to bring Central Park and its environs into the hotel lobby.  

The hotel is currently celebrating more than 75 years in the city and is a part of the National Trust Historic Hotels of America, one of only 200 properties in the country. But it's not all old-school here - the hotel was bought bang up to date by Hirsch Bedner Associates in 2007 and Essex House's restaurant, South Gate, was designed by Tony Chi. The restaurant offers in-demand fine dining under the expert hand of chef Kerry Heffernan, who recently joined the hotel to create his trademark modern American cuisine.

Location: New York