New York-based interior design firm dash design, which is renowned for thoughtful, innovative hospitality and retail projects, led the design charge for the just-completed renovation of the historic Lexington New York City hotel. Located in Midtown Manhattan, the Lexington underwent a multi-million dollar renovation aimed to restore the property’s former jazz age glamour. A reimagined Lexington New York City transports guests to an earlier era through a design aesthetic that blends the hotel’s history with modern appeal.
David Ashen, principal of dash design, is an industry leader who is credited for his work at hotels such as the W New York, W Union Square and the popular JHouse Hotel in Greenwich, Connecticut. Ashen’s design transformed the hotel’s public spaces and guestrooms into a vision of a completely updated 21st century destination for luxury business and leisure travelers. “The vision for the Lexington New York City is to communicate the presence of a grand hotel while conveying the intimacy of a boutique property,” said Ashen.
The new Lexington New York City welcomes guests through an elegantly draped entrance and into a grand two-story lobby. Envisioned as a dream-like space, the lobby has whitewashed walls that are complemented by soft lighting that changes throughout the day, transitioning the mood from morning to night. A pronounced feature wall hosts a three-dimensional sculpture by artist Alba Clemente; it is a stand-out piece in the Lexington New York City’s art collection, which was commissioned by an industry insider and former confidante of Andy Warhol, Paige Powell. The collection includes more than thirty artists who were commissioned by Powell to develop site-specific pieces, including an immersive mural by Ruben Toledo, which wraps two floors of the hotel.
A redesigned bar, lounge and library radiate from the main lobby and offer a sense of welcoming openness. Four separate seating areas feature a fusion of modern, classic and 1920s-inspired furnishings. Guests are enveloped in a rich color palette and eclectic textures that hint at contemporary influences among the Lexington New York City’s Art Deco legacy.
Upstairs, hallways lined with purple and neutral-toned custom wool carpets usher guests into comfortable, well-appointed rooms and suites reminiscent of the archetypal Park Avenue apartment. With walls cloaked in a neutral palette and iconic upholstered headboards wrapped in bold orange or purple, guests are lured into a peaceful retreat, a world apart from the fast-paced Manhattan streets floors below.
The Centerfield Suite
Once home to Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe, the penthouse Centerfield Suite has been re-imagined as a modern and luxurious respite from the city, with a nod to its status as an historic icon. The new design incorporates a living room, a bedroom, a kitchen and a bathroom. Just opposite the entry door is a painting of Yankee Stadium by artist Jessica Bonin that measures nearly 6 feet by 6 feet.
Informal and comfortable, the living room is designed to be lounge-like, with a large sectional sofa and a bookshelf that holds some of DiMaggio’s memorabilia. Subtle design details—such as baseball stitching in the pillows and lampshades—as well as ample historic photos and newly commissioned art pieces, including melted crayon portraits of DiMaggio and Monroe by artist Alex Morel, reference the player’s legendary baseball history.
