About Our Hostel
The New York property marks a significant point in the evolution of the brand’s free spirited approach to hospitality, with rooms ranging from bunks to sprawling Penthouse Suites, as well as extensive public spaces including two restaurants and a cocktail bar from Gabriel Stulman’s popular downtown restaurant group, Happy Cooking Hospitality. There will also be a rooftop bar which will be home to the award-winning Broken Shaker, an outpost of the Smile To Go café, and a renegade-style retail shop with rotating collaborations. In partnership with Bard College’s artist residency and commissioning program, Live Arts Bard, and the Bard MFA program, the hotel will launch the Freehand Fellowship allowing select artists to live, work and exhibit within the hotel. This is the second Manhattan property by Sydell Group, following the iconic NoMad Hotel just a few blocks away.
Building upon three previous locations, the Manhattan flagship establishes the Freehand spirit of inversion and irreverence by taking the long route home to the city of the brand’s inception. Built in 1928, the original George Washington Hotel emerged at a time of rapid development in Manhattan. Freehand New York will take both literal and figurative design cues from the building’s history as a comfortable, affordable hotel located in the heart of New York City, with easy access to the arts and industries that established the city at the forefront of creative innovation. Designers Roman and Williams, who have collaborated with Sydell Group since the Freehand’s beginning, bridged the gap between these two eras to create a conversation between past and future, layering the work of emerging artists selected for Bard’s Freehand Art Commissions over the building’s meticulously restored interiors. The entry to the hotel is the first space to speak to the combination of old and new. Existing historic millwork is lovingly restored to its original repose, while a new mural by a Bard College graduate set against the historic architectural backdrop injects a new energy into the space.
Guest rooms will be outfitted with vibrantly colorful textiles and dynamic accents including custom light fixtures, case goods & upholstery, and original murals by select Bard artists. Similar to rooms at the Freehands in Miami, Chicago & Los Angeles, Roman and Williams worked with local manufacturers and artisans to create custom furniture and decorative elements with a focus on the American craftsman aesthetic. Room layouts and custom furniture will speak to the universal experience of a communal way of sharing spaces, balanced with the intent to provide privacy and reprieve. Compact, but carefully placed lighting and familiar natural materials like custom wooden beds will offset an inspiring and striking palette of colors and décor.
AMENITIES
395 Rooms
24-Hour Front Desk & Security
Multilingual Staff
Tours & Activities Concierge
Complimentary Wi -Fi In Rooms and Public Areas
Art, music and social event programming
ROOM TYPES
King
Queen
Three’s Company
Bunk
Suite
Penthouse
