Wythe Hotel

Williamsburg has been a big deal for well over a decade now, it’s true, but from a boutique-hotel perspective this neighborhood is just getting started. And while the Wythe Hotel may not have been the first, it’s the one against which all future Brooklyn boutiques will be measured. Not because it won’t ever be topped, necessarily, but because it’s rare for a hotel to so completely exemplify the character of the neighborhood it calls home.

Here in Williamsburg that means a location between McCarren Park and the gentrifying waterfront, in a 1901-vintage factory building that’s been lovingly (but not too thoroughly) renovated. It means a rooftop bar with an astonishing view of the Manhattan skyline, along with the vibrant mix of locals and guests you’d expect such a rooftop to attract. And in the kitchen, it means a bit of Williamsburg culinary royalty: Andrew Tarlow, of Marlow & Sons fame, is the mind behind Reynard, a contemporary American restaurant and bar serving wood-fired fare and craft cocktails in a rakishly attractive space.

Rooms are comfortable, spacious by New York standards, and while they stop well short of proper luxury-hotel territory, they’re perfectly suited to the setting and clientele. Poured concrete floors, floor-to-ceiling windows, distressed brick walls and subway-tiled bathrooms strike just the right note. And there’s a lot of pleasure to be found in the tactile details of the place — the fixtures, the finishes, the bath products and even the minibar items display an admirable attention to detail.

We could go on cataloguing the details in an effort to make the case, but at a certain point you’ve simply got to see it for yourself. (You can hardly miss it, what with the fifty-foot “Hotel” sign that towers over Wythe and North 11th.) For anyone who’s still wondering what Williamsburg is all about, this is the place for a crash course.

Text Courtesy of Tablet Hotels