Is New York About to Get a 7-Star Hotel?

Via Alan H. New York will get a new hotel on West 57th that is supposed to tower over the luxury offered by anything else.

Manhattan’s posh West 57th Street, commonly known as “Billionaires Row,” is slated to become the address for New York’s first seven-star hotel. The yet to be flagged luxe hotel is being developed by Vornado Realty Trust and Le Frak Organization, who individually or collectively snagged the three small buildings…now under demolition.

I’m not sure how a hotel that has not yet been built, that hasn’t been flagged with a brand, and for which there are no public renderings can be promoted as being “seven star” even though there’s not really any such external standard for such a rating in existence.

But it’s a moniker that sounds impressive, I guess, so why not use it? It sounds far better than “New York is getting a new luxury hotel eventually.”

The Burj al Arab is often referred to as the (“self-proclaimed”) world’s first seven star hotel.

The folks at the Burj, though, reject the charge that this is something they dubbed themselves, persuasively pointing out that the moniker was given to them in an article that stuck.

The structure is incredibly impressive, it’s exclusive enough that you cannot enter the grounds without bona fide business there (go for tea). But I’m not sure that the soft elements, or intangibles, measure up to the hype.

I like more competition at the top end of the hotel market. But I need to know what a seven star hotel is before knowing whether a hotel qualifies. And one that hasn’t even been fully planned? A little premature to make the claim I think.

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