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Read the press release here.

Boutique Hotel With Italian Restaurant to Open in Hudson Square

By Danielle Tcholakian | February 28, 2014 3:15pm
 The new hotel holds 122 rooms as well as 500 square foot of meeting and event space.
Hotel Hugo
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HUDSON SQUARE — A new hotel is coming to Hudson Square, featuring an Italian restaurant and a rooftop bar.

Hotel Hugo is the work of developer Morris Moinian, president of the Fortuna Realty Group, who said he chose Hudson Square because it's "the most thriving and creative neighborhood in Manhattan."

The 20-story boutique hotel, opening April 1 at 525 Greenwich St., will hold 122 guest rooms with two top-floor one- or two-bedroom suites, hotel representatives said. The restaurant on the ground floor will have outdoor seating, and the building will be crowned with a rooftop bar and lounge offering views of the Hudson River and Downtown Manhattan.

"Hotel Hugo was built to be high-end and low-key, like many of its discerning customers," developer Matthew Moinian said in a statement.

A 14-foot-tall glass entrance will open onto the blue marble floor of the main lobby, and "vertical gardens" will be sprinkled throughout the building, from the wall behind the reception desk to the greenhouse-inspired private dining room.

Beverly Hills-based architect Marcello Pozzi commissioned custom furnishings and woodwork flown in from Italy, from walnut paneling to leather chairs, throughout the hotel, including the 500 square feet of meeting and event space, hotel representatives said in a press release.

But the design also recalls the industrial history of the neighborhood, with chrome fixtures and exposed concrete incorporated into the Italian carpentry, and a vaulted ceiling over the conference room table.

The restaurant, separated from the lobby by a floor-to-ceiling glass partition and lined with floor-to-ceiling windows that open onto the sidewalk in warmer weather, will seat 110 apart from the 24-seat private dining area. The private dining room was designed with an eye to bringing in the most natural light possible, with a vertical garden wall and an expansive skylight.

The restaurant plans on serving simple Italian fare of handmade pastas, small plates and fresh seafood dishes, complemented by a cocktail menu of classic drinks infused with Italian Mediterranean ingredients.