Baccarat Hotel New York Review

As the global flagship hotel of the Baccarat brand, Baccarat Hotel New York seamlessly blends a venerable legacy of craftsmanship with contemporary hospitality. Conceived by hotelier Barry Sternlicht, this Midtown Manhattan gem celebrates a decade of striking French refinement combined with New York City vibrancy. Every facet is a tribute to the luxury, history, and artistry of Baccarat crystal.

The hotel’s dazzling glass façade, with its prismatic surface that both reflects and refracts light, offers only a glimpse of the wonders housed within its twelve stories and 114 luxuriously appointed guest rooms and suites of 13 varying layouts. Interiors pay homage to the timeless elegance of 18th-century France while embodying the warmth and intimacy of a private, modern residence. You’ll find custom-designed furnishings and décor, expertly integrating Baccarat’s iconic crystal into every element.

Your guest journey begins at the entrance, where a four-foot-tall dual-sided fireplace symbolises  the ever-burning furnaces at Baccarat’s factory, which produce what many consider the world’s most coveted crystal. Behind, an installation of nearly 2,000 Harcourt glasses—the oldest and most iconic of Baccarat’s many designs—forms an illuminated wall that subtly flickers day and night. The hotel’s secure lobby is located on the second floor, ensuring privacy—a primary reason that the Baccarat is a celebrity favorite.

Inside, seventeen bespoke chandeliers adorn the public spaces, alongside selected pieces from Baccarat’s archival and contemporary collections, displayed in towering vitrines. The Grand Salon, with its soaring 35-foot ceiling, is a glamorous setting for lounging and enjoying Executive Chef Ashfer Biju’s inspired all-day dining menu, enhanced by live jazz twice weekly.  In this stunning space, spy the 261 leather bound guest books that are displayed in specially designed bookcases that line a library corner wall; numbered from 1764 to 2025, each reflects a year of Baccarat’s legendary history. You’ll notice that all are white, except for the 2015 book bound in Baccarat’s signature red. Its meaning? 2015 is the year the flagship hotel opened.

A corner settee clad in rich velvet is the perfect spot at which to enjoy bespoke cocktails from the hotel’s chic The Bar, a space defined by a dramatic barrel-vaulted ceiling, monumental chandeliers, crimson velvets, dark leathers, a black-and-white checked floor, and an art collection that spans several centuries. The ambiance, in combination with the hotel’s special tenth anniversary cocktails, is seductive, and is ideal for after-work gatherings or late-night tête-à-têtes. The special, celebratory cocktail menu, ”A Decade of Decadence,” is curated by Wine Director Saiff Hammad, and features 10 creative classics, including the Baccarat Old Fashioned, an Instagrammable pour of Baccarat Select Maker’s Mark Master Blend decanted over a cloud of house-made Angostura cotton candy. The Dust to Dust cocktail is a smoky wonder, featuring Brown Butter Washed Bushmilles, Giffard Banane du Bresil, Faccia Brutto Nocino and Cedar. The aptly named Chandelier is a mix of Hendricks, Lavender, Lemon, and Red Burgundy. And the pièce de resistance Lafayette is an intoxicating elixir of Grey Goose Altius, Massenez Roquefort Liqueur, IWA Sake, Arbikie Chili, Za’atar, and Royal Ossetra caviar. Enjoy your tipple with decadent items from the Grand Salon’s dinner menu. Think traditional caviar service, tuna tartare, a spicy lobster roll, East Coast oysters, and shrimp cocktail.

Guest rooms and suites are designed as cosmopolitan pieds-à-terre, with custom desks, sconces, and table lamps by Baccarat. Each room features expansive floor-to-ceiling windows, plush four-poster beds, bespoke jacquard linens from Mascioni, and glass-enclosed showers behind hand-painted French doors. Marble bathrooms feature exclusive amenities crafted by Parisian perfumer Maison Francis Kurkdjian. (In the hotel’s premier Baccarat Suite accommodation, an expansive bathroom features Baccarat’s limited and numbered Mémoire Elephant Vase, an homage to the Maharajas’ harnessed elephants, in midnight crystal with bronze ornaments, and valued at $100K!) House water is bottled Evian, natch. And every mini bar is stocked with a red lacquered case in which a choice of eight different Baccarat glasses and stemware are proffered as delivery systems for the array of deluxe spirits. But if stirring or shaking take too much effort, simply press the “Champagne” dial on your bedside phone, and a chilled bottle will appear nearly instantly at your door, along with two Baccarat flutes.

Beyond its crystal accents, the hotel is a haven for art, with some pieces incorporating Baccarat crystal itself. Eleven contemporary artists were commissioned to create unique statuettes using Baccarat’s iconic Harcourt glass; the artworks are displayed outside each guestroom door. The hotel’s private art collection, displayed throughout the hotel, showcases more than 100 works, including pieces from celebrated artists such as Robert Longo, Nan Goldin, Jean-Philippe Aubanel, and Meret Oppenheim.

Beneath the hotel’s entrance lies the subterranean Spa de la Mer, the only of its kind in the United States. Inspired by the brand’s signature “Miracle Broth,” the spa is a sanctuary for relaxation. An adjoining 50-foot swimming pool features canopied day beds and a 50-foot swimming pool with black-and-white tiles, evoking the feel of a sunken ballroom.

Simply put, the concept of hospitality is redefined at The Baccarat Hotel New York. More than simply one of New York City’s most beautiful hospitality options, the hotel is an immersive, multisensory journey through the history and beauty of Baccarat crystal. Every corner, every detail, every facet of both the interior and exterior makes it clear that this is not simply a place at which to retreat for the night; it’s a masterpiece, as worthy of a peek as are the artworks within neighbouring MoMA.