CONDÉ NAST TRAVELER – THE WALL STREET HOTEL

WHY BOOK?

In a part of the city often overlooked by travelers—at least when it comes to choosing a home-base—The Wall Street Hotel is a unique boutique stay in downtown Manhattan whose interiors nod to the area’s history and beaux-arts buildings.

SET THE SCENE

There are few boutique hotels that cater to leisure travelers in the area. For a long time, it’s been mainly business travelers down on Wall Street, and The Beekman, a Thompson Hotel, has been the neighborhood go-to for those traveling on their own accord. The lobby crowd seems to provide evidence that The Wall Street Hotel will fall somewhere in the middle of business and pleasure. There are solo travelers with their laptops nearby at the Lounge on Pearl lobby bar, sure, but there are also sharply-dressed couples riding the elevators down to in-building restaurant La Marchande for dinner.

THE BACKSTORY

The hotel comes from the Paspaley family, who made their mark in the world of commercial pearling in Australia. That backstory explains the pearl jewelry on display in the lobby, and the mother-of-pearl detail everywhere from guest bathrooms to the entire face of the raw bar in La Marchande. But the connections go deeper than decor: Wall Street is actually part of New York’s historic pearling district (it sits on the corner of Wall Street and Pearl Street, your first clue), and the beaux-arts building that now houses the Wall Street Hotel was acquired by the Paspaleys in a pearling business deal in the 80’s. It’s the first hotel for the group, but judging by the skill with which they’ve pulled it off, it may not be the last.