To showcase the $35 million renovation of the Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel and its original 1961 design by Morris Lapidus, the grand opening had a 60's-theme look. Without disguising the newly redesigned property, Paint the Town Red transformed the meeting and event areas of the hotel, taking inspiration from Lapidus’ Art Deco style and the hotel’s Modernist roots.
Female hosts in mod minidresses welcomed guests in the lobby, while a body-painted model stood atop a faux tree stump. The model, painted red by a team from Bodycast, wore red wings and a large headdress that resembled a red flower—a feature influenced by Lapidus’ love of bold colors and theatrical elements (a staircase to nowhere in one hotel, and an alligator terranium in another).
After shedding their thick winter coats, guests were ushered into the Metropolitan Ballroom, the first of three spaces decorated for the night. Evoking the jazz lounges of the 60’s, lighting was soft and subtle, candles sat atop tables draped with dark fabric, and entertainment was a live jazz quartet. Soft teal hues (matching the Doubletree logo) lit the tensile fabric screens that acted as a backdrop for the band and obscured pillars in the center of the room. The Catering Company set up a specialty martini bar with a Doubletree-branded ice sculpture, and food stations for sushi, Asian nibbles, savory tidbits, and beef and turkey carved to order.
The owners of the hotel—Rockwood Capital, Goldman Sachs’ Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds, Highgate Holdings, and Oxford Capital Group/Oxford Lodging Group—joined Alan Lapidus (son of Morris), and former Mayor Ed Koch to kick off the opening with speeches and the lighting of two trees.
Attendees then rode elevators up to the penthouse, where the colorful lighting and unusual furniture in the Empire and Chrysler I and II rooms encouraged guests to relax and watch Bodycast paint a male model, or let loose on the floor with the go-go dancers. Props included mini tabletop disco balls, lava lamps, and disco-era furniture. Those who wanted to work as well as play traveled to the 19th floor, where several guest rooms were available for viewing.
Female hosts in mod minidresses welcomed guests in the lobby, while a body-painted model stood atop a faux tree stump. The model, painted red by a team from Bodycast, wore red wings and a large headdress that resembled a red flower—a feature influenced by Lapidus’ love of bold colors and theatrical elements (a staircase to nowhere in one hotel, and an alligator terranium in another).
After shedding their thick winter coats, guests were ushered into the Metropolitan Ballroom, the first of three spaces decorated for the night. Evoking the jazz lounges of the 60’s, lighting was soft and subtle, candles sat atop tables draped with dark fabric, and entertainment was a live jazz quartet. Soft teal hues (matching the Doubletree logo) lit the tensile fabric screens that acted as a backdrop for the band and obscured pillars in the center of the room. The Catering Company set up a specialty martini bar with a Doubletree-branded ice sculpture, and food stations for sushi, Asian nibbles, savory tidbits, and beef and turkey carved to order.
The owners of the hotel—Rockwood Capital, Goldman Sachs’ Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds, Highgate Holdings, and Oxford Capital Group/Oxford Lodging Group—joined Alan Lapidus (son of Morris), and former Mayor Ed Koch to kick off the opening with speeches and the lighting of two trees.
Attendees then rode elevators up to the penthouse, where the colorful lighting and unusual furniture in the Empire and Chrysler I and II rooms encouraged guests to relax and watch Bodycast paint a male model, or let loose on the floor with the go-go dancers. Props included mini tabletop disco balls, lava lamps, and disco-era furniture. Those who wanted to work as well as play traveled to the 19th floor, where several guest rooms were available for viewing.
—Anna Sekula
At the grand opening of the Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel, guests were greeted by a model painted by Bodycast.
Two trees representing the Doubletree brand were later lit by Alan Lapidus (son of the hotel’s original architect, Morris Lapidus), former Mayor Ed Koch, and the hotels’ owners.
The Catering Company set up a specialty martini bar in the Metropolitan Ballroom that showed off a branded ice sculpture.
The penthouse’s Empire Room was decorated with disco balls, lava lamps, and retro furniture.
