By Nancy Trejos for USA Today
It once was a residence for "respectable" women. Among its storied residents: screen starlets Louise Brooks and Veronica Lake.
So it seems fitting that the new LOLA Hotel in New York's NoMad district (that's north of Madison Square Park) would be stylishly feminine.
Dramatic chandeliers hover over the vestibule and lobby lounge. The amethyst-colored lobby is filled with velvet mohair chairs, leather half-moon shaped sofas and a marble-topped coffee table. Murals on the lobby wall highlight fashion imagery by renowned photographers Melvin Sokolsky and William Klein. The lobby bar, encased in bronze custom-printed mirrors, features what a press release playfully describes as "aphrodisiac-inspired macaron and cocktail pairings."
Lobby designer Susan Jaques said in a written statement that she was trying to evoke the image of the "modern day femme fatale." Hence the name LOLA, "a playful and provocative character," as Jaques describes it/her.
Built in 1903 as the Martha Washington, the 12-story building later became the Hotel Thirty Thirty. It reopened Dec. 1 after a multi-million dollar renovation by Highgate Hotels.
The company tapped celebrity photographer and music video director Matthew Rolston to design the lighting scheme and curate the art direction. Rolston also curated the equally chic Redbury Hotel in Hollywood, which has a deep brothel-like red color palette and in-room record players.
"I developed the lighting scheme to evoke a sultry ambience and cast the most flattering and alluring glow, perfectly in tune with the hotel's themes of female empowerment and beauty," Rolston said in a written statement.
LOLA joins other hip hotels such as the Ace Hotel in the once-sleepy neighborhood. Introductory rates could be found online for as low as $134 a night; average standard room rate will be $215.
Article originally appeared on www.usatoday.com