Continuing the wave of boutique and design-driven hotels, Vikram Chatwal will open his second Dream property in New York at the end of this month. The Dream Downtown, which hosted a splashy preview party last Wednesday night, sits beside the eight-year-old Maritime Hotel in Chelsea and, like its sibling in the theater district, has as whimsical a design as its name implies. What's more, is when the hotel opens, it will offer a wide array of spaces suitable for private functions and corporate entertaining.
Frank Fusaro of Handel Architects handled the overall design, a multimillion-dollar renovation of a modernist building designed by Albert C. Ledner in 1966. In partnership with Vikram Chatwal Hotels, the partners behind the Tao Group and Strategic Group will operate the food and beverage program for the various event-friendly venues on site.
Furnished with an eclectic array of accoutrements, the boutique property houses 316 loft-style rooms, including 16 suites and two duplex suites with outdoor hot tubs. The building is also home to a fitness center, spa, and shopping space. In terms of meeting rooms, there will be a ballroom—scheduled to open in September—and a private screening room and presentation lounge.
For more informal gatherings, the 52-seat restaurant Romera has private dining space. Chef and neurologist Dr. Miguel Sánchez Romera is responsible for the eatery's unusual menu, serving what he calls "neuro-gastronomy." Marble Lane, a second restaurant with 150 seats at lobby level, is run by the Tao/Strategic Group and will feature fare from Lavo chef Miguel Treviño when it opens in July.
The collective from Tao and Strategic Group—Marc Packer, Rich Wolf, Jason Strauss, and Noah Tepperberg—also oversee two other areas of the Dream Downtown. The Beach at Dream is a beach-club-style café adjacent to the landscaped terrace on the second floor, which itself has a translucent-bottomed, heated pool visible through the ceiling of the lobby lounge. On the hotel's 12th floor is the Penthouse at Dream, a lounge replete with a dance floor, DJ booth, sound equipment, and an expansive terrace with views of the surrounding neighborhood.
