I believe, the first time I heard about the NoMad (in New York, the original) was when the hotel’s bar was named World’s Best Hotel Bar at Tales of the Cocktail in 2013. This led, soon after, to a visit to the bar when I was in town for work, where I watched with admiration as one of the bartenders — without an ounce of pretension — made a Fuzzy Navel for a tourist who apparently was not aware that you do not order such things at the World’s Best Hotel Bar. (They do not, you see, stock Peach Schnapps at the NoMad.)

The first time I stayed at the hotel — and, until my recent return, the only —was also in 2013. At the time, I was a Kimpton devotee, but that group’s multiple properties in the city were booked, so I landed at the NoMad. I’m not sure if I was just grumpy about Kimpton not kissing my Inner Circle ass, but I remember being less than impressed: the room felt small, and the clientele a little too Eurotrash-y.

Five years later, the NoMad opened in downtown LA (they also have a location in Las Vegas and will be opening another London next year) and it’s become my favorite of the four hotels in which I’ve stayed in that part of the city. (I’ll be posting about a recent stay soon.) So, with the LA experience under my belt, I decided to give the NoMad in New York another chance. My time in New York included a day trip to Philadelphia out of Penn Station, which is about about four blocks away from the NoMad’s front door, so it was a convenient option as well.

Before I went to bed, I rebooked my morning train for an hour later — the most I could swing and still get to my meeting in Philadelphia in time — so I could linger in the room just a little bit longer.

I reserved a Salon room, which the website indicates had mostly had “interior views,” a fact I did not note when I booked, but which ultimately did not apply to my room (1002), which was stunning in part because of its beautiful morning light. I had closed the curtains on the — count ‘em — five windows to block the light the night before, but as I opened the shades, the sun flooded the room. The upholstery on the blue velvet couch and chair were slightly faded, adding to the coziness of the room and making me think of all of the others who had experienced the pleasure of lifting the shades on their mornings in the room.

Before I went to bed, I rebooked my morning train for an hour later — the most I could swing and still get to my meeting in Philadelphia in time — so I could linger in the room just a little bit longer. As I’ve said before, the gauge of a good hotel is the desire to stay a little longer, to regret the need to check out.

I could have stayed forever.

My Stays: September 21-25, 2013, March 31, 2019, and July 5, 2019

Update: A couple of weeks after my most recent stay, it was reported that the NoMad in New York was facing a foreclosure sale. I’m not sure what this means for the hotel, NoMad’s other properties or the other properties in the Sydell Group. I hope it doesn’t mean I won’t ever get to stay in room 1002 again.