As a fan of beautiful design sense, one of my favorite spots in chic SoHo is the Crosby Street Hotel, the first American venture of Tim and Kit Kemp’s Firmdale Hotel Group. The gorgeous 11-story hotel was constructed and opened about 24 months ago. It features an elegant brick facade with expansive casement windows reflecting the loft buildings around it. Situated on Crosby Street, a charming cobble-stone street directly in the middle of the much busier Broadway and Lafayette Streets to the west and east, one feels a sense of old-world English charm combined with modern design to create a uniquely warm and inviting space to lounge, have dinner or lunch (the terrace is divine).

The photos of the rooms make me yearn to book one for a romantic weekend where I pretend to be ‘away’ and just luxuriate in the sumptous surroundings. The drawing room off the lobby with its deep red walls and beautiful aubergine sofas evokes an English country manor, modernized. A perfect place to meet for business or to rest during your shopping crawl through SoHo and NoLiTa. The restaurant elicits an eastern essence with its colorful bulbous light fixtures.

I love that in New York you can travel the world by just walking a few blocks, and from one month to the next, there is always a new restaurant, hotel, store or building that brings this city forward to the next moment in time. That I think is the essence of New York – renewal and ambition to be even greater than it is today, for the city and its individuals. In a way, it’s about hopes and dreams and making them happen. That perhaps is why people say, “I love New York” and visit, live and or simply buy New York real estate.