New York, United States

The William Vale

Price per night from$433.09

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD433.09), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

The William Vale Photos

Style

Angular avant garde

Setting

Williamsburg waterfront

Explore

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In New York’s hippest ‘hood, Williamsburg, The William Vale is the new kid on the block. But this is no ordinary kid. The futuristic structure, designed by Brooklyn architects Albo Liberis, rises head and shoulders above anything else nearby – handy, when one of the world’s greatest skylines sits just across the East River. Every one of its modern-luxe rooms has its own balcony. But the best place to drink in the view with an artisan cocktail is Westlight, the destination bar on the 22nd-floor roof terrace. Authentic wood-fired pizza and fresh-cut pasta are on the menu at Leuca, chef Andrew Carmellini’s southern Italian restaurant; it's even served poolside, too.

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Facilities

Photos The William Vale facilities

Need to know

Rooms

A total of 183, including 25 suites.

Check–Out

11am. Earliest check-in, 4pm.

More details

Rates generally do not include breakfast. A $25 a night (plus tax) resort fee applies, which covers a welcome gift, access to some seasonal activities, bottled water, in-room coffee, digital publications on the PressReader app and casting movies.

Also

The common areas are wheelchair-accessible and some rooms are ADA-compliant.

At the hotel

Gym, free WiFi. In rooms: TV, iPod dock, coffee-making facilities, Le Labo bath products.

Our favourite rooms

If looking out on Manhattan in the comfort of your bathrobe is on your bucket list, go for one of the Gotham rooms; a Corner Suite has the extra swank of a wraparound balcony.

Poolside

The heated pool is set on the outdoor Vale Terrace, with views across to Manhattan. It's only for hotel guests to use and advance booking is required if you want to take a dip. It has plenty of sunloungers and frilly two-tier parasols; it’s kiddy-friendly too, with lifeguard-supervision and a gentle Roman-steps entrance. At 60 feet from end to end, it’s currently the longest in New York. It’s open from May until September.

Packing tips

Bring decent binoculars to make the most of your private-balcony view. If you don’t have your own set, there are bright-yellow industrial-sized ones on the rooftop.

Also

In case you were wondering, the hotel was named after the chap who once owned the land it stands on – 19th-century Brooklynite, William Vail (they tweaked the spelling).

Pet‐friendly

Pets up to 22kg (50lbs) are welcome in all areas of the hotel. Well-behaved pups stay for free. See more pet-friendly hotels in New York.

Children

All ages are welcome. Cots can be added to all rooms, and there’s a selection of toys for babies and toddlers.

Food and Drink

Photos The William Vale food and drink

Top Table

See the chefs in action with a table by the open kitchen.

Dress Code

It’s Brooklyn baby, so anything goes, but smartish slim-cut threads are your best bet.

Hotel restaurant

Wood-fired pizza and home-rolled pasta feature on the southern-Italian menu at Leuca, the latest creation of hotshot chef and restaurateur Andrew Carmellini. The light-filled bar and breakfast area has indoor plants and painted ceramics under its lofty ceiling, while studded-leather chairs surround natural-finish wood tables in the intimate, soft-lit dining room. Pick of the brunch is the ‘baba au rhum’ French toast, with off-their-face soaked raisins and crispy guanciale. For dinner, choose the parcel-perfection of artichoke-stuffed ravioli lunghi, or go the whole mini-hog with the suckling-pig speciality, which comes caper-honey-glazed and accompanied by charred rapini. Dishes are prepared with greens and goodness grown in the Vale kitchen garden, or sourced from local suppliers. For a fast fix of retro-style burgers, fries and ice cream, meet Mister Dips – a converted 1970s Airstream trailer permanently parked in the Vale.

Hotel bar

With floor-to-ceiling windows, a wraparound balcony and rooftop terrace, Westlight is all about the view. Oh, and the super-stylish, modern-luxe interiors, global street-food small-plates, and the artisan spirit cocktails. Signature favourites include the bittersweet Golden Fiddle, with Bols Genever, Amaro CioCiaro, grapefruit and Greenport IPA; or try the College Fund, a blood-warming blend of three rums, cream and root beer. Each house recipe was concocted by Food and Wine Magazine’s Mixologist of the Year 2016, Anne Robinson (definitely not the TV presenter by the way, and in any case you’ll be hard pressed to find the weakest drink, goodbye).

Last orders

At Leuca, breakfast is from 7am to 11am, lunch is from 11.30am to 3pm, and dinner is from 5.30pm until 11pm. Westlight is open from 4pm until 1am every night. Mister Dips is open from noon until midnight, from May until September.

Room service

A full in-room dining menu is available 24 hours a day.

Location

Photos The William Vale location
Address
The William Vale
111 N 12th St
Brooklyn
11249
United States

The William Vale is in the hipster ‘hood of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, straight across the East River from midtown Manhattan.

Planes

Jumbo-sized JFK airport is New York’s chief hub for transatlantic flights; it’s half an hour from the hotel by taxi, if the traffic is kind to you. LaGuardia airport is even closer (only a 20-minute taxi ride); it has fewer international routes but a broad domestic network. Many major airlines also operate out of Newark airport; it’s 45 minutes away by car, across Manhattan and into the neighbouring state of New Jersey. The hotel can organise transfers costing from $35 to LaGuardia, $50 to JFK and $95 to Newark.

Trains

Bedford Avenue and Nassau Avenue subway stations are five minutes’ walk from the hotel; the L train from Bedford Avenue rattles into Manhattan in a few minutes, while the G train from Nassau Avenue is the best route south to other parts of Brooklyn. For long-distance train-travel upstate, to the Hamptons and beyond, head to New York’s two main terminals, the glorious Grand Central and the, ahem, not-so-glorious Penn Station.

Automobiles

Once you’ve yelled ‘Outta-tha-way, schmuck!’ at sky-staring tourists a few times, driving in New York City really isn’t that much fun. For road trips out of the city, it’s easiest and cheapest to hire a car at the airport. There’s a valet-parking service at the hotel, for $40 a night ($50 a night for larger vehicles).

Other

It’s not best suited to luggage-laden arrivals and departures, but at some point during your trip, take the ferry from North 6th Street (five minutes’ walk from the hotel). It chugs up and down the East River, stopping at the Brooklyn Bridge, Wall Street and midtown Manhattan.

Worth getting out of bed for

Williamsburg has more avant garde galleries and indie boutiques than you can shake a well-groomed beard at – Bedford Avenue and Broadway are the main arteries for urban-exploring. Catch a flick at the dine-in Nitehawk Cinema, go to a gig at Baby’s All Right, or rave on the rooftop at converted warehouse, Output. Hit the alleys at Brooklyn Bowl or join a tour to tickle your fancy – start with tastings at chocolate mini-factory Mast Brothers and wash them down at the Brooklyn Brewery.

Local restaurants

Take a short-stroll through McCarren Park and you'll find Lilia, a laid-back bistro mixing Italian fare with Williamsburg's warm neighbourhood vibe. Owner and chef, Missy Robbins puts her previous experience as a Michelin-starred chef at A Voce to good use, creating hand-crafted pastas and delicious wood-fired seafood dishes like black bass with coal-roasted yukon gold potatoes; wash a plate of fettuccine down with one of their classic Italian cocktails. Juliette is a buzzy French bistro with an internal courtyard garden and roof deck; at brunchtime try the ‘eggs forestière’, with wild mushrooms and Tuscan kale on garlic sourdough.

Local cafés

Marlow & Sons is a Williamsburg institution, serving everything from early-morning coffee to late-night cocktails, alongside a short, seasonal menu including East Coast oysters and no-nonsense brick chicken.

Local bars

Absinthe and oysters are the order of the night at Maison Premiere, a New Orleans-styled cocktail den with a dreamy hanging-garden courtyard. For top tipples and tempting small plates, head to The Four Horsemen wine bar, at 295 Grand Street.

Reviews

Photos The William Vale reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this luxury hotel in New York and unpacked their ‘cronuts’ and cheesecake, a full account of their Big Apple break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside the William Vale in New York… 

We know it, you know it, everyone knows it: Williamsburg is cool. It’s been that way since the 1990s, when artists priced out of Manhattan hopped across the river and set up studios and galleries in the rundown warehouses of this historic neighbourhood. Soon enough, it became the hippest bit of the world’s hippest city, a-glow with filament Edison lightbulbs against a backdrop of exposed-brick walls and distressed paintwork. The challenge now is to stay different, and stay ahead of the crowd. Step up, luxury hotel the William Vale. It isn’t trying to be ‘Williamsburg’, it’s redefining Williamsburg. The 22-storey building towers over the neighbourhood, a beacon of gleaming glass propped up on a striking spaghetti-net base. The monochrome rooms are styled with sleek modernist lines, with splashes of colour from Brooklyn-made artwork. At the very top is the Westlight rooftop cocktail bar, where the sun sets on the skyline of the city that never sleeps, and always changes.

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