Trumping through SoHo...or wherever that new hotel really is

For months and months and months – many of them – people have been abuzz about Trump SoHo, a new condo-hotel tower set open in the trendiest of Manhattan’s villages. Just what the luxury market has been waiting for – a building full of hotel rooms you can buy…that don’t have kitchens but are called “condos”…that you can only stay in for a small percentage of the year even though you “own” them…that you can’t sleep in for more than 28 consecutive days at a time despite your “ownership”…and that cost you more than a house in the Hamptons. And that isn't really in the city's trendiest of villages...I don't know whether the location really is SoHo, actually.

As silly as the concept may seem, and as little as they’ll talk about whether it’s going to work, sure enough the hotel had its soft-opening celebration on Tuesday night and the grand opening is coming this Friday (sadly, I will miss it as I’m en route to Phoenix as I type.)

Dan and I checked it out and I wore a cute and springy getup that I thought would be appropriate for the Wednesday evening soiree. Little did I know that black was the required color, or so it seemed from a scan of the all-too serious crowd. Women were decked in sexy LBD’s and there were Dan and I with our springy browns, corals and yellows.

Perhaps Donald Trump Jr. and his entourage was, but I certainly was not concerned.

So what was it like? There are touches that really enhance such as leather-lined elevators and calf-skin furniture (that apparently isn’t real, so don’t get too worked up.)

David Rockwell and his team surely created a sexy-chic environment in the lobby and Anthony DiGuiseppe helped out with other public spaces like the spa, which is yet to open. The rooms? I am under-whelmed. While the views of the river and downtown are nothing short of spectacular, the “living” spaces, as they essentially are meant to be inhabited by the very rich, for very short spans of time, and then rented to other very rich, are bland. The beds look comfy and luxe, but that’s about all the room has got. There isn’t a distinct theme or statement to be made with the design.

But maybe that’s what Rockwell wanted…understated. If so, he’s done it well. I’d like to know the quality of the fittings specified. To me, they looked rather standard – nothing over the top. And if they are high-quality furnishings, he surely doesn’t call attention to them. Maybe this is exactly how he wants people to react. After all, the very, very rich may not always know all that much about design, but they will know if something is cheap. And it certainly gives off no such air.

As I ponder it back and forth in my head I realize, yes, I am under-whelmed by its design elements. But I’m starting to think that was intentional and I think I have to give it another look…