Inspiration at the Library
January 19th, 2007
Earlier this week, Spike, Geno & I had the good fortune to discover a tiny gem in the Manhattan hotel scene. Located only 3 blocks from Bryant Park, the Library Hotel is not just clean, friendly, accomodating and beautifully designed - it is full of surprising touches that made the 3 of us want to move in.
There are only 60 rooms in the Library Hotel. Each of the 10 guest room floors represents a category of the Dewey Decimal System (and you thought you’d never hear that phrase again). Each room on the floor represents a subcategory of the DDC. I was staying on the Philosophy floor in the room dedicated to Ethics. It contained about 100 books on such topics as the Scopes monkey trial and what it means to “be your brother’s keeper”. The check in desk was backed by a wall of card catalog drawers and flanked by shelves and shelves of books. The bar upstairs, Bookends, was the perfect cozy hideaway to meet with friends or sit by the fire & read (& drink). Instead of business cards, they had brautiful graphic bookmarks dedicated to the different floor concepts. You get the idea…
My personal favorite feature was a large open library with work tables on the second floor that was open 24 hours a day. This solves one of the toughest problems in New York business travel - finding a quiet, communal space with wireless to work with a team. The library room was regularly replenished with cookies, lemonade, coffee, and water and was a beautiful sanctuary 1 floor above the bustle of Madison Avenue. And how much does this cost them? Almost nothing, but it makes a huge difference.
What are the small, inexpensive, clever or thoughtful things that you could be doing to make customers talk about you?
What could have been gimmicky or cheesy, was elegant and homey.
Other posts by Virginia.
olivier blanchard says:
My hat is off to businesses (hotels or otherwise) which manage to design a genuinely unique and fun (okay… remarkable) experience that makes you want to tell your family and friends about it. Discovering them is at least as exciting as returning to them… and sharing them with people in your inner circle is always a rewarding experience as well.
In a world of also-in hotel chains and lousy customer service, it’s always refreshing to find these special little gems that sit slightly off the beaten path. Great little hotels like that one are starting to pop up in most major cities now. I’ll be sure to check this one out next time I’m in NYC.
January 19th, 2007 at 10:57 amwlfldy says:
You made me want to see it. Great story. I’ve just started reading this blog a little and I enjoy everyone’s input so far. Thanks for the enlightenment.
January 31st, 2007 at 5:11 am