On my recent overnight trip to New York City, it turned out that one of my tourist desires matched up with the places I needed to go, so I stayed at The Jane Hotel.
“Completed in 1908, the American Seaman’s Friend Society Sailors’ Home and Institute was designed by William A. Boring, the architect renowned for Ellis Island’s immigrant station. Originally built as a hotel for sailors with cabin-like rooms, the landmarked hotel was lovingly restored on its centennial in 2008.
In 1912, the survivors of the Titanic stayed at the hotel until the end of the American Inquiry into the ship’s sinking. The surviving crew held a memorial service at the hotel four days after the ship sank.”
Besides the general coolness, I also wanted to stay there because of The Duke and The Pirate Queen…after all my research into ships, it just seemed appropriate!
I had one of the very tiny “cabin” rooms. It’s a good thing I’m not taller, or the bunk would have been too short! Though the bathrooms are shared for those rooms, the fixtures were exceptional, especially the shower, and I didn’t have to wait at all for my turn.
The bunk had two drawers and an open space beneath it; a rod with brass hooks hung on each wall, so it was easy to hang up clothes in the narrow space; there were also brass hooks on the back of the door. An old-fashioned (only in design) fan was attached to the wall, near the ceiling, and the air conditioner was concealed behind a carved wooden screen. All of the wallpaper and colors had a turn-of-the-century feel, and a support post was wrapped in rope, presumably to add nautical flair.
Here’s a cool NY Times article on the hotel.
