 cup of coffee at the new hyper-luxe Aman New York that made me realise the city had reached a tipping point. It was the $9 pack of four loo rolls at Key Food on Avenue A, a supermarket more akin to Morrisons than Selfridges back in London. I checked to see if I had selected a particularly luxurious brand, but no – all the others were a similar price. The sandwiches at my favourite corner deli are now $10, and a cocktail at the Holiday Lounge, once a dive bar renowned for its $2 rum and Cokes, is $16. Although, to be fair, that's a bargain compared with the $19 orange juice up at the Aman. Still suffering in unique ways from the pandemic, which saw businesses fold, the wealthy flee and the creation of a hellscape for the homeless, New York has now priced itself into a corner that is difficult to access. The arrival of the Aman – where the cheapest room is $3,567, not including breakfast, and annual membership to the club areas and spa costs $100,000 – isn't actually all that contextually significant. The richest inhabitants of New York aren't fazed by inflation. 'My places are busier than ever,' says the London-born restaurateur Keith McNally, who runs Pastis and the Minetta Tavern. 'Our second quarter at Balthazar this year was the busiest we've had since we opened 25 years ago.' At the current exchange rate, steak frites at Balthazar will cost you around £40 before tax and tip. And if you want a cab back to your hotel after dinner, brace yourself for the most expensive Uber rates in the whole country. Want to get an iconic yellow cab instead? Good luck. Two thirds of them vanished during the pandemic, because their owners couldn't afford to keep them insured and licenced. It's all relative, of course. For starters, the exclusivity of the Aman is dwarfed by the opening of a branch of London celeb favourite Casa Cruz, where membership comes in the form of investment of between $250,000 and $500,000. And there's no such thing as an entry-leve){kind=link}
New York’s priciest hotel is open for business – and it’s a fitting addition to this costly metropolis
It wasn’t the $18 (£16) cup of coffee at the new hyper-luxe Aman New York that made me realise the city had reached a tipping point. It was the $9 pack of four loo rolls at Key Food on Avenue A, a supermarket more akin to Morrisons than Selfridges back in London. I checked to see if I had selected a particularly luxurious brand, but no – all the others were a similar price. The sandwiches at my favourite corner deli are now $10, and a cocktail at the Holiday Lounge, once a dive bar renowned for its $2 rum and Cokes, is $16. Although, to be fair, that’s a bargain compared with the $19 orange juice up at the Aman.
Still suffering in unique ways from the pandemic, which saw businesses fold, the wealthy flee and the creation of a hellscape for the homeless, New York has now priced itself into a corner that is difficult to access. The arrival of the Aman – where the cheapest room is $3,567, not including breakfast, and annual membership to the club areas and spa costs $100,000 – isn’t actually all that contextually significant.
The richest inhabitants of New York aren’t fazed by inflation. “My places are busier than ever,” says the London-born restaurateur Keith McNally, who runs Pastis and the Minetta Tavern. “Our second quarter at Balthazar this year was the busiest we’ve had since we opened 25 years ago.” At the current exchange rate, steak frites at Balthazar will cost you around £40 before tax and tip.
And if you want a cab back to your hotel after dinner, brace yourself for the most expensive Uber rates in the whole country. Want to get an iconic yellow cab instead? Good luck. Two thirds of them vanished during the pandemic, because their owners couldn’t afford to keep them insured and licenced.