A Stay at This NYC Hotel Is Like Living Inside TikTok’s Biggest Trend
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If your social media feeds look anything like mine these days, chances are they are flooded with tutorials and ads for “old money style,” “neutral outfits,” and “natural makeup.” Yes, I’m talking about the rise of the “quiet luxury” aesthetic that, thanks to shows like Max’s Succession, has fueled tremendous growth in searches for style guides and product to help get an elegantly understated look. (According to Google Trends data, searches for “quiet luxury” are up over 600% during the past year.)
Loyal VERANDA readers know that we’ve long celebrated understated elegance in interiors, having featured exquisite homes designed by some of the world’s top interior designers with a penchant for the look (think Suzanne Kasler, Thomas Pheasant, Victoria Hagan, and Richard Hallberg) way before the 2016 launch of TikTok. So, you can imagine my delight in getting to live out every “quiet luxury” design fantasy with an overnight stay at Aman New York earlier this spring.
The Aman brand, known for its ultra-luxurious accommodations that blend soothing palettes and refined finishes with natural textures and handcrafted warmth, has been perfecting the quiet luxury aesthetic at its hotels and resorts around the world since it was founded by Indonesian hotelier Adrian Zeccha in 1988. And its New York City hotel, which opened in the famed Crown Building at the corner of 57th and 5th Avenue in late 2022, is no exception.
The property’s quiet luxury look is evident right from the start, with an inconspicuous street entrance that welcomes guests with a whisper rather than shout. A floating glass fireplace separates an entry vestibule lined with louvered panels from a dimly lit lobby featuring dark stone floors laid out in a woven pattern—elements that foreshadow the design of the registration lobby 14 floors up and throughout the hotel’s 83 suites.
Aman’s discreet design reinforces its exclusivity: Aman New York and its amenities (two restaurants, a 7,000-square foot-terrace overlooking Tiffany’s Landmark flagship, a tremendous three-story, 25,000-square-foot spa that includes a 65-foot swimming pool and cryotherapy chambers, are only open to hotel guests and Aman members. Only its Jazz Club—a glamorous throwback to New York’s speakeasy culture—is open to the public, that is if you can score a reservation.
But the quiet luxury aesthetic also successfully facilitates a transition from hectic city life to an aura of calm, establishing a sanctuary of tranquility right in the heart of midtown Manhattan. This design feat is not simply visual, nor merely a result of minimalist interiors: In transforming the NYC landmark building originally built in 1921, architect Jean-Michel Gathy of Denniston Architects relied on complex glass soundproofing to block city sounds throughout the hotel. Even on the garden terrace, which features reflecting pools, large planters, and a retractable glass roof that allows for year-round use, noise from the streets below is minimal.
That connection to nature, an Aman design signature, appears in the hotel suites as well, each of which features a large-scale mural printed on rice paper inspired by Japanese artists Hasegawa Tōhaku’s 15th-century masterpiece Pine Trees (Shōrin-zu byōbu). Inspired by the airy architecture and seamless flow between indoors and out of Aman’s properties in Southeast Asia, Gathy also outfitted each suite with up to seven pairs of pivoting louvre doors that can be rotated to open up or contain certain areas. Guests can also customize mood via lighting: Each suite boasts an adjustable working fireplace and lighting throughout, including the backlit rice paper panels set within the louvre doors, is adjustable via dimmers.
That’s not to say that the Crown building’s history, from its Beaux Arts architectural origins and gilded crown-like finial (which wasn’t gilded nor illuminated until the 1980s) to its use as the first home of the Museum of Modern Art (from 1929 to 1932), didn’t inspire Gathy. For example, he retained its palatial proportions in the hotel’s public spaces like the dramatic double-height lounge and cavernous spa pool. And “gold” elements, from lustrous finishes throughout to backlit paneled walls that appear to glow, hint at the building’s gilded exterior detailing.
Aman New York’s quiet luxury aesthetic is sure to put an urban traveler at ease—at least for their hours spent within the hotel’s walls. But, such tranquility comes at a steep price: Starting at $1750 per night, these suites are among the most expensive hotel rooms in the world. So while money cannot buy happiness, it can buy you a well-appointed refuge in the city that never sleeps.
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