Baccarat Hotel & Residences Opens in New York

Starwood Capital Group, a private equity real estate firm, has opened the Baccarat Hotel & Residences New York.

Baccarat Hotel & Residences New York, the first hotel and global flagship for the 250 year-old Baccarat crystal brand, is located directly across the street from the Museum of Modern Art and steps away from Fifth Avenue's legendary shopping.

The hotel occupies the first 12 floors of the split level tower that rises 550 feet above West 53rd Street.

Baccarat Hotel & Residences New York features 114 guest rooms and suites and a modern French restaurant, Chevalier, overseen by Michelin-starred Executive Chef Shea Gallante.

New York restaurateur Charles Masson, will curate style and service in Chevalier and in the hotel's second-story lobby salons and bar.

The Bar at Baccarat, just off the opulent Grand Salon, features barrel-vaulted ceilings, a 60-foot bar and an outdoor terrace overlooking the MoMA.

The hotel also features a 50-foot indoor pool, an elite fitness training facility and the first Spa de La Mer in the United States.

Paris-based interior design firm Gilles & Boissier led the creation of the hotel's interiors, while Skidmore, Owings & Merrill served as architects for the 50-story tower. New York-based designer and member of the Architectural Digest 100, Tony Ingrao, led the residential design.

The tower's sixty private residences are accessible through a separate entrance and will have access to all of the hotel's amenities. Celebrated decorator Stephen Sills created the elegant setting for the street-level Chevalier, which also has its own separate entrance.

"We are so thrilled to bring to life the new 'House of Baccarat' - to take this legendary brand which has for centuries stood for perfection in crystal, and has never been compromised, to create its first modern lifestyle hotel masterpiece. I wanted to celebrate light, and to produce a hotel that glowed, and was shimmering, sensual, elegant but still functional, fun, comfortable, and not overly formal," said Barry Sternlicht , Chairman and CEO of Starwood Capital Group, the parent of SH Group, a lifestyle hotel brand management company who will manage the hotel.

Baccarat Hotel & Residences New York is located at 20 West 53rd Street. Rates begin at US$899 per night.