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Read the press release here.

Washington Heights' First Hotel Set to Open Next Month

 The owner of Hotel Cliff on West 181st Street hopes to open in early August.
Hotel Cliff
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WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — The neighborhood's first hotel is slated to open its doors to guests next month on West 181st Street. 

The 52-room Hotel Cliff, at 505 W. 181st St. near Amsterdam Avenue, will open sometime in early August, eight years after permits for the project were initially filed, owner Manny Singha said.

The eight-story building features a glass façade with blue- and green-paneled balconies that alternate on each side of the structure.

Singha declined to comment further on the project.

The hotel will also include suites on the upper floors for guests who book extended stays, explained Khristos Karastathis, the architect listed on permits filed with the city's Department of Buildings

“There are a lot of medical facilities in the area, and there are a lot of doctors who need to come and do presentations or work for a month or so,” Karastathis said of longer-term guests.

He noted that there is also space in the building’s basement and lower levels for medical offices.  

Additionally, an 11-story hotel featuring 54 rooms and 15,000 square feet of space for medical offices is being built at 514 W. 168th St., according to the project’s developers.

Developer Oskar Brecher said his team is currently in the final stages of getting its certificate of occupancy. He estimated that the property, called The Edge Hotel, would open before the end of the summer.

"The opening is imminent," he said, noting that much of the facility's senior staff is already in place.

In terms of potential competition with its neighbors on West 181st Street, Brecher was not fazed.

"We are very optimistic about the market there," he explained. "I think there is enough space for anyone who wants to have a part in the hotel market there. We’re excited to be in this community."