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Hotel Review: Warren Street Hotel

Where: 86 Warren Street, New York

How much: From $US925 (1387) per night

Opened in February 2024, this is the third New York property (and eleventh globally) by hospitality hotshots Tim and Kit Kemp of Firmdale Hotels fame. Located on the border of Tribeca and the Financial District, the bright-blue glass-fronted building is a rare new build, and stands in bold contrast to Tribeca's trademark red-brick warehouses.

By Manhattan standards, Tribeca is a comparatively quiet neighbourhood - a largely residential area where cobblestoned streets are dotted with elegant bars, intimate galleries and upscale eateries. Head south and you're soon among the soaring skyscrapers of the Financial District, which is gradually starting to show signs of life outside of the workday frenzy, thanks to new developments such as the Perelman Performing Arts Center and a weekly outpost of popular food market Smorgasburg.

If you've stayed in a Firmdale property before, you'll be aware of Kit Kemp's distinctive style - it's a riot of colours, textures and patterns. From the mustard-yellow lobby filled with one-off sculptures and artworks to the intimate guests-only drawing room and buzzy all-day brasserie, every space is crammed with personality, whimsy and gallery-worthy art. You could spend a week here and still uncover intriguing new details.

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All 69 of the hotel's rooms and suites are unique, with bespoke furnishings, artworks and decorations. All feature floor-to-ceiling windows and the same playful use of colour and texture. At 30 square metres, entry-level Superior rooms are unusually spacious for NYC and things only get more palatial in the suites, many of which feature lavish marble bathrooms and private landscaped terraces with One World Trade Center views. Memorable touches include a turntable with several classic LPs (from Prince to Pink Floyd) and deliciously fragrant bathroom amenities from Kemp's Tall Trees range (is there no end to her talents?).

The hotel's all-day eatery, Warren Street Bar & Restaurant, offers a brasserie-style menu of globe-roaming classics, from English pea soup and hamachi crudo to duck confit ravioli and a New York strip steak (all served on Kemp-designed fine bone china, naturally). A long pewter-topped bar is a popular spot for a pre-dinner cocktail while an adjoining orangery offers a lovely light-flooded space for afternoon tea. While the food is solid, it almost plays second fiddle to the setting, which is another conversation-starting blizzard of colours, patterns and interesting artworks, such as the six-metre-long ceramic sculpture by Gareth Devonald Smith hanging above the bar, which could be anything from a set of white beehives to a string of misshaped giant's teeth.

Unless you count the fire station used in Ghostbusters, Tribeca doesn't really have many big-ticket tourist drawcards, so once you've nosed around its galleries and boutiques, head south towards the One World Trade Center. Here you'll find the striking new Oculus shopping centre and transport hub, the One World Observatory viewing deck and the ever-sobering 9/11 Memorial & Museum. From there, you can either continue south towards Battery Park or west for a stroll along the Hudson River. The best thing about this part of Manhattan is that you're only ever a block or two away from a subway line.

The Tall Trees welcome candle in my room, whose heavenly scent is a soothing blend of coriander and bergamot.

Explore more: firmdalehotels.com

The writer was a guest of Firmdale Hotels and NYC Tourism.