The Thousands

Just as you’d like to imagine an artist’s boarding house in the ’60s, the Brooklyn Arts Hotel retains a bohemian edge – without the dodgy bits. Warm and welcoming, homely and eccentric, it’s the polar opposite of the usual cool, generic hotel vibe.

We stayed in the ‘Green Room’, named for obvious reasons. The high-ceilinged, spacious room is furnished with eclectic bits and pieces, including a few little sculptures, original paintings and a big, comfy bed. The hotel is an 1850s grand terrace, our room opening up to an enclosed balcony, a great place to do some reading of an afternoon.

After a dream-filled sleep, we stumble down to the stately lounge for breakfast. Our host Maggie introduces us to two of the other guests, sitting around the communal dinner table. We make ourselves some tea and toast, the organic Fatto A Mano bread from around the corner spread with some home-made jam. We admire the salon-hung photos on the wall, many of Maggie’s precious dogs, two of whom spend their days in the beautiful garden out the back. Maggie offers to arrange for some bikes to be delivered from the Humble Vintage. Looks like we landed in the right place.