Dylan Hotel, a 107-room boutique hotel, located former Chemists' Club building at 52 East 41 Street, is setting a new standard for contemporary elegance with a distinctive setting that embraces the future while retaining the best of the past. The 1903 beaux-arts structure has been completely restored, inside and out, at a cost of more than $30 million. The renovation included the restoration of ornate decorative plaster and a marble grand staircase. The interior design of the main lobby features opulent jewel-tone fabrics, organic materials such as American walnut and Carrara marble, and glowing reflective surfaces such as frosted titanium mirrors. The grandeur of Dylan's public areas is evident from the moment one passes through the glass entryway. The intimate lobby area, with its cusotm seating clusters, invites relaxation. In counterpoint to the understated opulence of the hotel's public areas, the corridors and guest rooms of the upper floors have been done in a more muted color palette. Different textures and tones of carpeting, as well as "residential" number plaques and lamps, give a sense of arrival to the rooms. With 11 to 16 foot ceilings, the guest rooms feel more spacious than the average Manhattan hotel room. The design is quiet and tailored without being austere. Warm white and pale blue walls, deep amethyst and steel-blue carpeting, sapphire taffeta drapes and sheers, and custom, ebony-stained furniturecombine to create a tranquil environment. The wall-mounted upholestered headboard, with cantilevered nightstands on either side, also give the effect of floating. The bathrooms are faced white Carrara cut marble and feature Italian-porcelain bowl-style sinks mounted on multicolor granite slabs.
