Freehand New York at 23 Lexington Avenue in Gramercy houses the New York outpost of the Broken Shaker — the craft cocktail concept that began in Miami Beach and has earned James Beard Award nominations for cocktail programme quality at multiple locations. The Freehand's Gramercy position, Roman & Williams interior design, and the hotel's social-hospitality philosophy create the conditions that the Broken Shaker's programme specifically requires: a hotel whose guest population overlaps with the neighbourhood's creative and professional audience in a room that is designed for extended occupation.
The 401 rooms span configurations from private king rooms to queen suites, all designed by Roman & Williams with the material warmth and considered detail that the practice brings to hotel commissions. The lobby and social spaces are designed on the Freehand model: a ground floor that functions as a neighbourhood bar, coffee shop, and co-working environment simultaneously, attracting the cross-pollination between hotel guests and local regulars that the brand's social design makes possible.
Marta, the Roman-style pizza restaurant in the hotel's ground floor, provides the food programme that the Broken Shaker's cocktail focus requires as a counterpart: thin-crust pizza executed with the sourcing seriousness of a restaurant that takes the form as seriously as the cocktail programme takes its craft. The George Washington Bar provides the classic cocktail alternative to the Broken Shaker's seasonal-ingredient approach.
Lexington Avenue and 23rd Street places the hotel at the Gramercy Park-Flatiron intersection — the Gramercy Park Hotel and its famous private park key are three blocks east; Madison Square Park and the Flatiron Building are three blocks north. The 6 train at 23rd Street provides rapid Midtown and Downtown access. For guests who want the Gramercy neighbourhood's residential quality alongside the Broken Shaker's cocktail programme, the Freehand provides both.
The Broken Shaker and the Freehand's social lobby formula create the solo retreat infrastructure at its most generous: a bar that is worth visiting as a destination rather than as a hotel amenity, a lobby that operates as a co-working environment during the day, and Marta for the pizza dinner that does not require company to be good. The Gramercy neighbourhood's walking infrastructure — Madison Square Park, Union Square, the Flatiron — extends the retreat's outdoor programme.
The Freehand's Gramercy position, Marta's client lunch capability, and the Broken Shaker's reputation as a serious cocktail destination create the business hotel formula that the neighbourhood's media, publishing, and professional services industries specifically need. The lobby co-working culture supports the flexible work arrangements that creative-industry business travel increasingly requires. For professionals whose clients are in the Flatiron, Union Square, and Gramercy districts, the Freehand's address is the correct base.
From $115/night private rooms; suites from $300/night. Check availability at freehandhotels.com/new-york.
More exceptional options in the same city.
Browse all New York hotels by occasion.
