Five Refined Years at Refinery
We can’t believe it’s been five years since our May 2013 grand opening. How time flies!
Every step of the way, we’ve loved becoming a key local player, transforming the historic Colony Arcade, once a Prohibition-era tea room and hat factory, into the Fashion District’s cultural hub.
The Refinery Hotel has, for the last half decade, proven to be a timeless and integral part of the community. You might discover a Query or Mika Art Gallery pop-up in the intimate and industrial-style Hatbox space, or stumble upon a holding shopping boutique. Here, we’ve hosted everything from Haunted Hatbox parties for Halloween to World Cup celebrations.
But the Refinery Hotel isn’t just a space. Instead of simply receiving, we are also constantly creating new opportunities for guests and locals to connect. This year, we held a three-venue Kentucky Derby and five year anniversary bash—and you can always count on Refinery to host over-the-top New Year’s Eve and Halloween parties.
Our events help travelers experience New York City’s energy and vibrance, while giving people who live and work here a place to escape. We are at once crafting new experiences, and skillfully sculpting new traditions. Travelers filling our 197 rooms often find there are just as many locals on the property as there are guests. In fact, there may be no better way to get to know a New Yorker than by joining the after-work crowds that fill the bar at Winnie’s Jazz Lounge for a classic 1920s cocktail and live music.
Without our dedicated staff, we could not have become such an indelible part of the New York City social fabric. Since day one, team members like Aziz Bachaouch, Ashley Lucena, Ann Sansaricq, Damian Rosario, and Irena Dobrijevic have become critical to crafting guest experiences and developing a strong repertoire of repeat guests.
And while great things have been happening around us, we’ve also extended the hotel to the digital world as well. Our #InBedWith series, for example, has introduced Refinery Times readers to New York notables like acclaimed street artist Nick Walker, hat doyenne owner Linda Pagan, and fashion expert and @findingpaola Instagram sensation Paola Mathé.
Along the way, we’ve been celebrated as a Hospitality Design winner, and a Fodor’s Boutique Chic Hotel category winner, named the Best Rooftop Bar and Best Hotel Bar in the United States by USA Today 10 Best, and, crowned a World’s Best Award winner in New York City from Travel + Leisure. Perhaps most dear to our hearts, travel show LE Miami awarded us the Great Guest Experience winner, honoring our commitment to guest satisfaction.
Five years may have passed since the Refinery Hotel welcomed its first travelers and New York City, but this is only the beginning of a long legacy of refinement, sophistication, and authentic New York hospitality.
Cheers!
