SkiftDesign: How one of New York’s hottest hotels stays true to its seafaring roots

I visited the Maritime Hotel to see how the 1968 built headquarters for the National Maritime Union has become one of the most desirable places to stay at during last week’s NY Fashion Week at over $400 per night.

Inside, the 121 rooms reflect the nautical spirit which I realised has quite a lot in common with LifeEdited due to the clever use of space. The rooms are inspired by a ship’s cabin: large porthole windows, natural wood furniture and wall panelling, and only rounded edges and flat surfaces (see cabinets below). This shows that good design doesn’t need much space or materials.

I was assured that the hotel serves in-house bottled water, only washes towels and sheets when guests decide to, uses real cutlery and dishes and has biodegradable flatware to go, prints as little leaflets as possible on recycled paper with soy ink, and, has all its waste recycled.