July 25, 2008
Brooklyn's Nu hotel opens with $199 rooms thru August
 The Nu Hotel is all about Brooklyn.
The decor is mainly from local artists, its hole-rusted address sign, “85” was formerly at the Brooklyn Brewery, quotations from Spike Lee, Henry Miller and Betty Smith cover the walls, and the do-not-disturb signs warn “Don’t Even Think About It.”
The giant YES letters in the lobby are remnants from Brooklyn’s Bayside Fuel Oil Depot Corp., Bertrand Nelson, the Nu’s general manager (and a New York native,) told NewYorkology during a tour of the property this week.
Nelson said the hotel’s designer, Guillermo Garita of Datumzero, intentionally went looking for items that said Brooklyn. It’s still a “work in progress” Nelson sad, as the Basquiat prints will soon be joined by work of more Brooklyn artists he hopes to rotate through the lobby. A glass case at reception will include some of the not-too-touristy T-shirts crafted by Brooklyn Industries, which has a location diagonally across the intersection from the hotel at Atlantic and Smith.
In its soft opening since July 7, the Nu has already been selling out its 60 rooms, with a full offering of 93 planned to open by the third week of August, Nelson said. All rooms at the boutique hotel are priced at $199/night until August 31, when rates for some will climb into the $300-and up range.
Six of the 93 rooms will be suites, including three urban suites (with a king bed and hammock in each,) and the friends suite (with a queen and a bunk bed in each.) The urban suites will have the only three hammocks in the hotel.
Nu’s lobby has free wi-fi, (which is also free in all the rooms,) a book nook filled with non-guidebook Brooklyn-type tomes (including on interior design and subway tile art.) The lobby will also be home to the NuBar, which just received its liquor license and will open in a week or two, offering light fare along the lines of charcuterie plates, oysters and chocolates to pair with champagne. The bar itself is actually just the side of the lobby, offering picture-window views of Smith Street and the Brooklyn House of Detention.
What? Oh yes. The Brooklyn House of Detention is directly across the street.
Currently it’s only used to jail detainees during the day as they’re awaiting court appearances nearby, but the mayor is anxious to reopen it as a full-on jail, making better use of those barred-up windows and barbed wire. But this neighborhood has gentrified and opposition is strong over the plan to return the building to its old use.
“We’re just aligning with the neighborhood,” Nathan said diplomatically. “As neighbors, we certainly don’t want it to be expanded.”
The hotel occupies the first four floors of the building, while the 50-unit condominium, The Smith, takes up the top eight floors and has a separate entrance adjacent to the hotel. (All but one of the 50 condo units are occupied, Nelson said.)
 On the second floor, guest rooms begin and hallway walls are painted dark chocolate, contrasting to the stark whites in the rooms. Aiming for eco-consciousness, the floors are made from cork and the furniture is repurposed teak. The bathroom features a giant chalkboard wall and the vanity has a special slot for the chalk. Guests can leave themselves notes, or use it to ask housekeeping for more towels, Nelson said.
Bath products will be by Aveda, the set-your-own-combination safe is big enough for a laptop, the TV includes a slew of Time Warner channels, the radio is by Sanjean and there’s a jackpack that lets guest hook up devices such as laptops and Playstations to play on the TV.
The gym, which will open next week, is outfitted with an Everlast punching bag, 10 pairs of free weights (up to 50 lbs.,) and cardio equipment by True, all with their own TVs: three treadmills, two ellipticals and one bike.
The Nu is within walking distance of most of the city’s subway lines (at Borough Hall/Court Street and Jay Street/Borough Hall,) and there’s a new bus stop directly out the hotel’s door, serving the B61, B65 and B75 lines.
The Nu is owned by Philadelphia-based Hersha hotels, which in December opened the Duane Street Hotel in Lower Manhattan and is currently working on three more independently branded hotels for NYC, including the Lexington House at 49th and Lex in Manhattan. In Brooklyn, they’re planning on opening two hotels — a Hilton Garden Inn and Homewood Suites — in the Oro II now under construction downtown, Nelson said.
In other Brooklyn hotel news, the Hotel le Bleu is hoping to open its 8th-and-9th-floor Vue restaurant by the end of August, a hotel rep told NewYorkology. Until it opens, the hotel is still without room service.
The Marriott’s new steakhouse, Morton’s, is still under construction with an opening targeted for “late 2008.”
In Williamsburg, the New York Loft Hostel offers bunk beds, free wi-fi and the promise you’ll “live like a hipster king” for under $30 a night, Curbed reports.
The Daily News recently profiled Brooklyn’s bed & breakfast offerings.
Resources:
Nu Hotel
85 Smith St., map
(718) 852 - 8585
TripAdvisor’s Brooklyn hotel page
Brownstoner’s Brooklyn hotel coverage and map
Curbed’s Brooklyn hotel coverage
Picture credits: Amy Langfield/NewYorkology.
Earlier: No lines at TKTS Brooklyn; daily availability by e-mail
Hotel news roundup: Nu’s hammocks, new pools & bars
July 25, 2008 9:54 AM in Drinkology, Hotelology, Out of Manhattan
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