Staying at The Hotel Elysée in New York City

“Are you in Paris?” a family member asked me on Facebook after seeing me post a photo from the Hotel Elysée. I wasn’t. I was in New York. Outside my window, beyond my 14th floor patio, traffic crawled by on East 54th St., but inside my room I could’ve been in the City of Lights.

The Hotel Elysée is a member of the high-end Library Hotel Collection. Each property has it’s own theme that they somehow manage to commit to fully without going over the top. French elegance reigns here. From the damask wallpaper and chandeliers to floral draperies and Louis XV chairs.

My room was quite spacious for a New York hotel and I was especially enamoured with the brick patio, which itself was as big as most NYC hotel rooms. Though it was November, I took my laptop out to the bistro set and worked for almost an hour all the same. Thankfully, it was a mild November.

At first sit, I thought the bed was going to be too firm for my liking but I was wrong. It wasn’t fluffy like a cloud but I had a terrific night’s sleep and woke up feeling quite refreshed. The linens had this super soft feel that made it hard to get up and get going in the morning. I just can’t abide scratchy linens.

The door to the room seemed a bit rattle-y in its frame and the floors had a funny hollow sound to them so I tried not to stomp around. I get the impression that most patrons at the Hotel Elysée are genteel enough to be light of foot. The folks I saw seemed as refined and elegant as the hotel itself. Party hotel, this is not.

Head’s up if you need caffeine in your system before you can face the world: there’s no in-room coffee but there are endless cups available along with tea, fruit, yogurt, bagels and more on the 2nd floor in the clubroom starting at 7am. I didn’t test out whether the provided robe and slippers would be acceptable clubroom attire or not. ;) You know how I love hotel robes.

Like its sister property, The Library Hotel, the tea, coffee, and cookies go all day in the club room with a wine and cheese nightly between 5pm and 8pm. It’s a great time to meet other hotel guests and chat about your evening plans: Broadway shows, a concert, or maybe a special event at MOMA just a block and a bit away. Me, I ate a Chipotle burrito the size of a baby’s head and then went shopping at Topshop. Sometimes I’m not that fancy.

Front line staff can make or break a hotel experience and, I have to say, the staff at Hotel Elysée were top notch. They were always approachable, pleasant and never hesitated to work with the staff at the Library Hotel to try to locate my missing floppy felt hat.

If you’re looking for a refined little hideaway in midtown Manhattan, say “Oui, oui” to the Hotel Elysée.

FACT SHEET

• Where: East 54th & Madison Ave, New York City
• Cost: Rooms can range from $200-$500 (Presidential Suites are $1000+)
• Number of Rooms: 100
• Amenities: free wifi, bar & restaurant on site, free wifi, free continental breakfast, wine & cheese reception, turndown chocolate and bottled water, refreshments daily
• Rating: TripAdvisor 4.5*
• Check Availability

Note: I stayed at the Hotel Elysée while I was in New York as part of their Writers-In-Residence program. They didn’t ask that I write a favourable review or that I wear my hotel robe over my clothes so that I could enjoy the patio longer.