Hotel Americano

It could have been the final episode of ‘Sex and The City.’ Or maybe it was when the lights finally went out at Bungalow 8. There was a time, however specific or vague, when we were all sure that Chelsea’s heyday had come and gone. But then something unexpected happened: it came back. Spurred by the opening of High Line and a flurry of starchitect activity nearby, the most recent revival of the neighborhood seems to be design-led one. This bodes well for the most recent addition to the hood: Hotel Americano.


This is the first stateside venture for Grupo Habita, the Mexico City-based owners of now iconic hotels like Boca Chica, Condesa DF and La Purificadora (among others). Striking design is signature Habita, and the Americano has it in spades. The façade of the building is shimmering chain-mail, setting it apart from its weathered neighbors. And on the inside, a cool minimalist palette creates room to enjoy the warmth of its lightly Latin personality.

But enough of what we think. Before opening, we spoke with Carlos Couturier, the less publicity-shy half of the visionary duo that is Grupo Habita. His thoughts on this latest project:

You’ve chosen a rather unorthodox location for a New York hotel — west Chelsea. How has the neighborhood influenced your vision for the hotel?

We wanted the experience to feel like an extension of the galleries. You did not want to hide the fact you’re in Chelsea. That’s why we didn’t go for that grandparents’-farmhouse, driftwood-and-heavy-fabrics look.

And are you making friends with your neighbors?

Yes. For us, that’s very important. We like to build community “magnets.” I’m not sure if that’s the right word, but the idea is to create a place where people can meet. For example, we are in a very artistic neighborhood but you will notice that we have hardly any art hanging in the hotel. It’s really about the architecture, the design, the food. We want the community around us to feel like this a neutral space.

That must have taken some self-restraint. 

Oh yes, this is the first hotel we have done together where there is no art. We’ve always invited artists to do installations. But we don’t want Paul Kasmin to walk in and ask, “Why did you choose that?” We may do something later, like a temporary piece for an event.

What kind of visitor is this best suited to the Americano? 

Because of its location, this is for the kind of place for people that perhaps have already been to New York before, visitors that want to feel like New Yorkers while we are here. This neighborhood is not very touristy. These people want to have easy access to downtown and uptown; they’re probably art-lovers. We also hope to attract the Latin crowd, from Spain, France, South America, Greece, Turkey, Italy. Maybe they want to have a late breakfast or lunch or açai with their breakfast. These are things that are so common in our culture but tough to find in America.

Let’s talk about the rooms. What is the overall concept?

We want the rooms to feel peaceful and zen, like a Japanese ryokan. New York can be so dynamic and aggressive when you don’t live here.  At the same time, we kept details like the concrete floors because it keeps the industrial spirit of Chelsea and the galleries.

Since we have little space to play with, we have to use it well. That is why we have platform beds, like in a studio apartment, and we use bento boxes for room service. This space is just not conducive to the traditional room service experience. Our interior designer, Arnaud Montigny, commissioned a lot of custom pieces of furniture just for this hotel.

Four years ago, when we first started working on this hotel, we decided we would have three room categories: one for the artist, one for the gallery owner and for the collector. Now the world has changed so much that the artist wants the most expensive room and the collector wants the cheaper room.

You are a Latin-run hotel in the US with a French chef. What can we expect in the way of cuisine?

We are using food to tell our story. So there’s a little bit of everything — French, Latin, American, Greek — but nothing on such a large scale, which means that it’s manageable. And we are choosing the cultures that we know really well.

The ground floor restaurant is a French brasserie with a Latin influence, and then there will also be a take-out counter during the day. On the roof, we will have two different kinds of food. In the summer, the concept will be Greek, since our sous chef is from Corsica, and in the winter it will be Patagonian — so a lot of grilled food with wines and beer from the same country of origin. For room service, we use the Japanese bento box, but the food is French, Latin and American. We think we have picked the best of each culture.

Appetite whetted? The Hotel Americano is now taking bookings.