Project Breakdown: The Manner from Standard International
The boutique hotel company, led by Amar Lalvani, rethinks luxury with its latest New York hotel
Words by: Alia Akkam + Stacy Shoemaker Rauen • Photos courtesy of the Standard International
Thoughts of the Manner have been brewing ever since Amar Lalvani started in the hospitality business. “In a way, it feels like it’s always been in our heads,” says the executive chairman of Standard International.
The luxe 97-key property in New York’s SoHo neighborhood was envisioned by Lalvani, Standard International’s in-house design team, and Milan-based Hannes Peer Architecture as a discreet, intimate departure from the energetic, lifestyle-driven outposts comprising the Standard Hotels collection.
Just as Standard Hotels—recently acquired by Hyatt—was a gamechanging brand when it launched, Lalvani believed it was once again “time for us to do something that has never been done before,” he recalls.
Housed in hotelier Jason Pomeranc’s former Sixty hotel (a reinvention of his legendary boutique concept 60 Thompson), the Manner pays homage to the original footprint while transforming the spaces. “We wanted to do proud by SoHo and proud by him, but also reinvent what was there,” says Lalvani.
Project Breakdown: The Manner from Standard International
The boutique hotel company, led by Amar Lalvani, rethinks luxury with its latest New York hotel
Thoughts of the Manner have been brewing ever since Amar Lalvani started in the hospitality business. “In a way, it feels like it’s always been in our heads,” says the executive chairman of Standard International.
The luxe 97-key property in New York’s SoHo neighborhood was envisioned by Lalvani, Standard International’s in-house design team, and Milan-based Hannes Peer Architecture as a discreet, intimate departure from the energetic, lifestyle-driven outposts comprising the Standard Hotels collection.
Just as Standard Hotels—recently acquired by Hyatt—was a gamechanging brand when it launched, Lalvani believed it was once again “time for us to do something that has never been done before,” he recalls.
Housed in hotelier Jason Pomeranc’s former Sixty hotel (a reinvention of his legendary boutique concept 60 Thompson), the Manner pays homage to the original footprint while transforming the spaces. “We wanted to do proud by SoHo and proud by him, but also reinvent what was there,” says Lalvani.
Clad in bespoke green tiles, the building evokes Milan’s golden era of design. Set back from the street, “it stops you in your tracks,” says Verena Haller, Standard International’s chief design officer. “We moved the terraces higher up and created this beautiful canopy.”
As Hannes Peer’s first hotel project, the Manner reflects his graceful, residential sensibility. Two doors—one glass, the other tufted leather—open to the vestibule where “art is literally integrated into the architecture. The flooring is artwork itself. It’s so grand,” says Peer.
Among the works are Nicholas Shurey’s totems and a ceramic piece by Giovanni de Francesco, which takes inspiration from Lucio Fontana’s early biomorphic, phosphorescent clay and ceramic works from the 1930s and ’40s.
The Apartment’s entry mosaic inlay sets the stage for the Gio Ponti-inspired elevator wall enveloped in semi-circle tiles, which stand out because “you intentionally see imperfections; it’s all handcrafted,” explains Haller.
The Manner elicits an intimate, hushed air, underscored via details like a check-in desk reminiscent of something found in a jewelry store, and the elegant yet intimate Apartment, a second-floor area designated for hotel guests. It boasts a plethora of hues, illuminated by natural light that spills out from a large modernist window.
“It’s very discreet, private, and generous, all the things you don’t always get in hospitality,” Lalvani says. “It feels like you’re staying with a great friend at their home.”
A monumental architectural fireplace in the Apartment is surrounded by two columns that many architects would hide. “I did the exact opposite,” says Peer. He invited California artist Ben Medansky to wrap the column in ceramic tiles to create “a threshold into a different universe,” he adds.
The Otter from chef Alex Stupak is the street-facing seafood restaurant. Here, burnt orange banquettes are set against an expansive mural painted by Spanish artist Elvira Solana. It tells the story of New York, transporting patrons from forests upstate through Manhattan and out to Montauk.
The marble- and mirror-bedecked guestrooms are devoid of TVs, instead flaunting a warm washed color palette with a floor-to-ceiling mirrored wall and custom linens from Istanbul-based Anim. A leather and velvet loveseat with a marble coffee table complement the sapele wood millwork and detailing, adding a regal elegance to the retreats, which are reserved for guests 16 years and older.