For the past few months there have been many rumors about a W or an Aloft being built at 2300 Frederick Douglas Blvd in Harlem, NY. For those who are not familiar with the modern Harlem, NY – a W or Aloft is not completely out of left field – Harlem has definitely come around over the past 10 years – for example, former President Bill Clinton has his office in Harlem, and residential development is booming around the area.

I’ve been holding back putting any mention about this possible hotel on this blog simply because the rumors were so vague and no one seemed to have any hard information – Curbed.com had a lot of rumors – but nothing would really ever pan out, and then FlyerTalk.com has an excellent thread (listing all of the rumored, and confirmed W’s, Alofts & Elements throughout the world) but even on that thread there are two entries for Harlem, NY – one for a W Hotel, and another for an Aloft, two different – yet similar – hotel brands in the Starwood Hotel portfolio.

Recently a page appeared on Shuster Management’s website giving details on a ‘W “A Loft”‘ located on Frederick Douglass Blvd – so it appears that yes, it is definite – yet, as it’s currently explained, its still unclear whether its going to be an aloft, or a W Hotel.

Renderings of W Hotel or Aloft in Harlem

The architectural renderings are not conducive to either the aloft prototype, or even the aloft urban prototype, (the urban prototype usually has more than 10 stories, and is more boxy than the suburban prototype which is usually 4 or 5 stories in a more rectangular shape). As noted on the website, the hotel is supposed to have condos and also a hotel component – more conducive to a W than an aloft, and something that personally drives me crazy – the developer (Schuster Management) wrongly refers to the hotel as “W” “A Loft”, aloft’s are referred to as just simply “aloft” lowercase a, all one word, and merely reference the W’s influence in passing.

This hotel also has a unique design component whereas it is being built around a pre-existing building which is being gutted and combined with the future hotel/residences building. This is being done to preserve the architectural history of the surrounding area – once again, this is another component that is more conducive to the W. While it wouldn’t be too far fetched to see a combination of a W Residences & aloft hotel rooms – I don’t think there would really be any benefit to that – but the question remains.. Why is the site being referred to as an aloft, while the design, and amenities are reflective of W.

I’m sure as the months go on, there will be more clarity on what is going on with this project, so I’ll update the blog as more information comes in.

UPDATE: I don’t know how I originally missed this – but if you look at the lower right corner of the building, the aloft logo can clearly be seen. Apparently this IS an aloft – yet, I’m still very confused as to why it’s going to be an aloft-condo.. Perhaps the condos will not be associated with the aloft – and just be in the same building??

andrew@alconic-inc.com