| New York, NY You are a young traveler to New York City and you want to stay somewhere hip and trendy. |
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| Hank Freid |
But
you've outgrown youth hostels and you can’t afford
a W or a boutique hotel. Where do you stay?
Until now, the option just hasn’t existed, said
Hank Freid, president and CEO of Impulsive Group, a
NYC firm specializing in hotel development and management.
Freid should know.
For over 30 years, a large part of his business has been catering to international tourists and students, providing them with inexpensive hotel options around the city. He is credited for not only transforming rundown buildings into successful and respected hotels, but also revitalizing entire neighborhoods in the process. And now, Freid is making those hotels not just comfortable and affordable, but chic, too.
Freid got his start in the mid-1970s when, along with several partners, he purchased a building on 101st St. and Broadway, and converted it into the 126-room Broadway Hotel. He ensured the continued success of his investment by entering into contracts with universities, trade schools and art schools to provide housing for their students. Over the years, he slowly bought out his partners’ interests.
In 1984, Freid-this time entirely on his own-purchased another building at 2688 Broadway, and again successfully transformed the property into a first-class hotel, now known as the Marrakech Hotel NYC. Both properties house commercial tenants, including restaurants, a children’s clothing store, a photocopy center, dry cleaners and coming soon to the Marrakech, a Starbucks.
Today, Freid’s portfolio also includes the 212-room four-star Ameritania Hotel at 54th and Broadway (next to the Ed Sullivan Theatre, home of the David Letterman Show), a recent Times Sq. acquisition on West 47th St., and several charter yachts-a 116 ft. Norship in the Mediterranean and a 75 ft. Predator in Florida and Bahamas. Impulsive Group oversees the management of Freid’s hotels, yachts and commercial tenants.
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Freid’s son, 27 year old Brandon Freid, joined
Impulsive Groupin2003 as vice president of acquisitions,
and has been integral to the company's overall growth
and recent procurements, such as the West 47th St.
hotel (then called Portland Square Hotel) in September
of 2005.
In Mid-April, Hank Freid's dream to
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France,
the U.K. and Amsterdam, Everyone wants to stay in a
Schrager hotel, but not everyone can afford it; the
Marrakech is a fashionable and inexpensive alternative,
he said.
The Moroccan theme was brought to life by Lionel Ohayona of Icrave, a leading design firm in the city. Impressed with |
invigorate
the budget hotel category with an edgier flair
was realized as the Marrakech reopened with a
multi-million dollar face-lift. Renovated rooms
all boast up-graded amenities such as flat screen
TVs and curved shower rods. Exposed brick in the
rooms and authentic Moroccan decorations add to
the hotel's downtown vibe, as do the fashionable
doormen, clad in head-to-toe black. “With
all the posh amenities and excellent services
coming in, the Marrakech is en rout to be a three
star hotel,” Said Hank Freid, who has arranged
for high-end Moroccan-themed toiletries in all
the bathrooms.
The original purpose of a hostel was as
an inexpensive place for travelers, especially
young travelers to lodge and get to know people
from other cultures., |
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Ohayona's
nightclubs and lounges-recently completed projects
include Aer Lounge, Hyde Los Angeles, One, Crobar
and Koi Restaurant-Hank Freid hired him to bring
the Icrave aesthetic to the lobby of the Marrakech.
In the Moroccan culture, there is a strong sense
of hospitality, said Hank Freid. I wanted a lobby
that was warm and seductive, that lends itself
to meeting new people, of inviting people into
your space.
To this end, as the new centerpiece of the hotel,
the Moroccan-influenced lobby/lounge feature a
bar, fireplace, magazine rack with complementary
newspapers and publications, intimate arrangements
of low, comfortable seating and cocktail tables,
a 42 inch plasma TV and surround sound system
from which music will emanate day and night.
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With the Marrakech, I am hoping to recapture that ideal, minus the barebones part, in a modern and stylish setting ” Said Hank Freid, nothing that many of the hotel guest hail from diverse locals such as Australia, Italy, Japan, |
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The Marrakech’s location on the Upper West Side has for over 15 years been an important one to young travelers. Hostelling International, one of the largest youth hostel in the world, opened in 1990 with 640 beds and is just down the block on 103rd St., and tourist attractions in |
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