Hôtel Barrière Fouquet’s New York review

The eight-storey hotel is located on a quiet corner in Tribeca

(Image credit: Hôtel Barrière Fouquet's New York)

published 8 November 2023

"Paris-New York, the two high tension magnetic poles between life, life of the senses, of the spirit in Paris, and life in action in New York." So wrote the feminist diarist Anaïs Nin, and it is the spirit of Paris amid the action of New York that so aptly describes a stay at the Hôtel Barrière Fouquet's.

The Manhattan branch of the French chain Hôtels Barrière is an homage to the hotel of the same name in Paris. The legendary Parisian abode is just a short hop from the Arc de Triomphe, between Avenue George V and the Champs-Elysées. That's what makes the first impression of its American cousin a bit of a surprise.

On first appearance, the eight-storey building could almost be missed, nestled – as much as you can nestle an eight-storey building – on a quiet Tribeca corner. But once inside the hotel's lobby you realise the purpose of the decision by UK-based Martin Brudnizki Design Studio to focus on understated grandeur with cool pinks and inviting blush colours adorning the walls and an inviting array of armchairs and sofas in front of reception. Speaking of the reception, it's worth noting that the hotel's commitment to service is exemplary. From the moment we walked in to the moment we left, everyone from the front of house to the spa assistants all went above and beyond to ensure a relaxing and hiccup-free stay.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

The hotel's 97 residential-style rooms and suites are spacious and beautifully appointed with intricate wallpaper featuring the very same Manhattan skyline that hides just behind the curtains of the huge windows. Part of the appeal of staying somewhere as luxurious as Fouquet's New York is that every little thing is taken care of. That starts from before you check-in with guests prompted to let the hotel know what style of pillow they'd like and how warm or cool (this being New York) they want their room to be on arrival.

An exceedingly comfy bed and all the amenities you'd expect in a hotel room from past masters like the Barrière group are available, including a remedy to a personal pet peeve in the form of a really excellent hair-dryer. The televisions are also worth mentioning with an array of on-demand and live options should you finally tire of the city that never sleeps. Few things excite more in life than a good hotel bathroom and the Hotel Barrière Fouquet's does not disappoint in that regard with a stunning marble-finished ensemble featuring dual vanity sinks and gold accents that are equal parts opulent and comforting.

As you'd imagine from a French establishment, you won't be short-changed on the eating and drinking front at Fouquet's New York. We sampled the delights of the hotel's daytime café Par Ici, situated in a light and airy atrium at the back of the building. The vegetarian-focused menu is something of a welcome respite if, like me, you'd over-indulged the night before, with a classic array of breakfast items and lunchtime bites that is a celebration of flavours and textures. We shared a delicious smoked salmon plate that came with cucumber, shaved onion, fine herbs, capers and in true NYC style was served on an everything Russ & Daughters bagel. Alongside this we had a fresh and zingy fruit salad while the coffee was some of the best we'd tried in the city. The overall feel of Par Ici is once again understated excellence, everything feels effortlessly perfect and it's clearly a hit with the locals too.

The flagship dining option at the hotel is Brasserie Fouquet's, a sister restaurant to the famed bistro in the centre of Paris. With a menu designed by three Michelin star chef Pierre Gagnaire there is a classic menu of brasserie fare with French onion soup, sole meunière and steak tartare the highlights. Another jewel in the Fouquet's New York crown is the guests-only cocktail lounge Titsou, taking its reference points from the French speakeasy Le Marta Paris. Behind an unmarked door at the back of the hotel's lobby, is a beautifully appointed bar serving elegant cocktails at all hours of the day and night. The reception staff were keen to impress that as a guests-only space they would do everything to accommodate our timings – even booking us in for a pre-dinner spot just in case we needed it. Titsou is a great example of what sets Fouquet's New York apart, too many other hotels would either open it up to non-guests or perhaps not even bother with it at all. This dedication to guest’s experience permeates throughout the entire operation.

Explore More

Jamie Timson is the UK news editor, curating The Week UK's daily morning newsletter and setting the agenda for the day's news output. He was first a member of the team from 2015 to 2019, progressing from intern to senior staff writer, and then rejoined in September 2022. As a founding panellist on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast, he has discussed politics, foreign affairs and conspiracy theories, sometimes separately, sometimes all at once. In between working at The Week, Jamie was a senior press officer at the Department for Transport, with a penchant for crisis communications, working on Brexit, the response to Covid-19 and HS2, among others.