Andaz 5th Avenue

July 2010 marked the opening of Andaz 5th Avenue, the latest in the growing family of boutique-style hotels from Hyatt Hotels & Resorts. Located in the fashionable Bryant Park neighborhood of midtown Manhattan, the 184-room hotel occupies the 1916 Rogers Peet Building, directly across from the New York Public Library.

The interiors, by designer Tony Chi, reference the iconic library and countless other distinctive New York elements. Factory-style sash windows and 12-foot ceilings, for instance, capture the charm of old New York, while the black-washed walls and graphic artwork define the cutting edge of modern-day Manhattan.

Space for events spans 6,500 square feet on the second floor. Designed for groups of 16 to 200, Apartment 2E's three flexible studios offer an environment as suitable for brainstorming and relationship building as for more formal presentations. All include built-in audiovisual equipment and pantries with espresso machines. The studios also open up so guests can mingle between the rooms, open kitchen, bar, and courtyard.

Plans for the main restaurant wrap the ground-floor corner of Fifth Avenue and Forty-First Street with an equally welcoming atmosphere characterized by another open kitchen and menus based on farm-to-table ingredients from the Hudson River Valley. The cellar bar will feature an open kitchen as well, serving plates to share, epicurean wines, and seasonal and classic cocktails till midnight.