The William
The private club, since 1921, for Williams College alumni was acquired and renovated in 2010 to create an extended-stay hotel. (The Williams Club now shares space with the Princeton Club on West 43rd Street) The downstairs, which has retained its classic design and charm, houses the British-themed restaurant, The Shakespeare. On the main floor, with stained hardwoods forming the backbones of the spaces, there are several rooms to either dine or have a relaxing drink in front of the fireplace with book-lined walls, cushy armchairs, and lushly colorful wallpaper. Upstairs was more heavily renovated, and as such was remade into more modern areas: sleek white geometric rooms are graced with bright decor and plentifully mirrored surfaces. The vividly blue hued spacious rooms allow guests to feel more like they are residing in an apartment rather than a hotel room for their minimum length stay of thirty days. In our conversation with the staff, we learned that the clientele is a mix of people who are in Manhattan for a long period of work, those fortunate enough to have four weeks of vacation, New Yorkers in between homes, or in the middle of renovations. To quote one of the managers, the extended stays mean that people “come as clients and leave as friends.”
