1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge – Review

The stats are impressive: the hotel’s energy is 100 percent wind-powered, more than half of the building is made from recycled materials and filtered water available throughout means there’s not a single plastic bottle on the premises. Designed to feel like an extension of Dumbo waterfront and parkland, the lobby even features a wall of greenery and a 2.7-tonne obsidian sculpture beneath the stairway.

The location

Situated across from Pier One in Dumbo, the hotel is right at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, surrounded by the 35-hectare Brooklyn waterfront park, which is lined with walkways and dotted with benches for sitting and drinking in the view across the East River to Manhattan. The neighbourhood is full of fascinating art galleries and hideaway bars and restaurants, plus the recently opened Empire Stores, a stylish complex of eateries and retail stores.

The rooms

Raw wood, matte black metal frames and muted earth tones give the rooms an industrial feel, but they’re warm rather than steely. The hotel’s eco-friendly aesthetic continues behind each door – filtered water on tap, cardboard recycling tubs, a small moss feature garden in the partitioned bathroom area with separate cabins for toilet and shower. You sleep on hemp-blend mattresses fitted with organic cotton sheets. Even the room key is recycled wood and there’s a tiny egg-timer built into the shower’s soap stand, should you wish to get swept up in the green-ness of it all and limit your bathing to five minutes.

Food and drink

Feel like café fare? There’s Neighbors, which doles out coffee from Brooklyn roaster Devocion and offers gluten-free muffins, avocado toast and other finger-licking delights. Osprey (pictured above) is the hotel’s restaurant, a bustling spot festooned with hanging lamps and specialising in new American comfort food, while also catering for those with a more health-conscious bent. The rooftop bar, complete with plunge pool, has become one of the most popular night-time hangouts in Brooklyn. If you get up there just before sunset and watch the lights slowly come on across Manhattan with a cocktail in hand, you’ll understand why.    

For business travellers

With its nine-metre ceiling and expanse of comfortable chairs and coffee tables, the lobby is a great place to catch up on work emails or even have small meetings. There are also a variety of rooms and larger spaces (second-floor meeting rooms, Meadow Rue, Social Space) for everything from a business meeting to a multi-day conference, all fully catered if necessary.

For wellness travellers

Health and relaxation are up there with sustainability in the 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge ethos. Field House Fitness Centre has all the gym equipment you need. At Bamford Haybarn Spa, founded by English organic pioneer Carole Bamford, you can enjoy massage, body treatments, facials and more in a soothing Scandinavian-styled surrounds. At POE – it stands for Peace On Earth – you can do hot yoga, punch on in the boxing studio or try Firebeat, a body-sculpting and movement class in an infra-red heated room. 

The fab factor

Some hotels have great design. Some have an admirable green aesthetic. And some have an incredible position and view. 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge has all three. 

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