There are other condo developments in Manhattan which have attempted to put permanent residences in a hotel setting, but so far, none has struck a balance between providing all of the service amenities hotels provide with the cozy permanence that people expect when they own their own homes. Jumeirah Essex House Hotel, with 35 luxury condos among the 515 traditional hotel rooms available, is attempting to surpass other offerings with a unique blend of location and amenities. These new, one thru three bedroom residences offer the to-be-expected concierge service, along with a health club for condo owners. But they also offer much more than that. Essex house is among an elite few that brings ALL of its hotel services to its condo owners.

Residents arrive at Essex house greeted by valet parking, a bellman and a doorman. The service continues into the home, with housekeeping and room service included as part of Jumeirah’s standards of service. And if that was all, it would still be a pretty nice place to be. But this development takes the servitude role one step further, offering residents everything from dry cleaning and laundry service to catering, to masseuse services. They also include on-call services as extras, whether residents might need auto or limo rentals, transportation to the airport, a babysitter, a florist, or even family health care.

Some may worry that with all of the hotel-like services, the homes here may lose some of their charm and take on the appearance of a hotel, with the indoor/outdoor carpet and just-passing-through décor. But Jumeirah Essex doesn’t do anything on an insignificant scale, and they treat their residents as family. The units range in size from a respectable 700 square feet to a vast 3,500 square feet. Kondylis Designs made sure that there was plenty of living space, including nine foot ceilings to make the units seem even larger. Open kitchens and French doors expand the apparent size of the homes.

One of the major draws of Jumeirah Essex House is its centralized location. Not too many places can claim Central Park itself as a front yard, but many of the units here have French doors opening right on to the park. Jogging trails, horse-drawn carriage rides, and countless picnic spots await those in love with the outdoors, while the spectators of life will never tire of watching others play from their front windows.

Developers of Essex House, HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates, have spent 100 million dollars to renovate the public spaces of this building, going as far as to add an upscale bar and restaurant. Prices at Jumeirah Essex House vary widely. Even one-bedroom units vary by one million dollars, from $1.5 million to $2.5 million, or between $1,800-$3,000/foot. Two and three-bedroom units, which vary from 1,699 square feet to over 3,000 square feet, run anywhere from $5.85 million to a whopping $9.5 million for the two-bedroom penthouse. According to the sales office at Jumeirah Essex House, they’ve sold all of their three bedroom units, but still have some open one and two-bedroom condos.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 17th, 2008 at 6:52 pm and is filed under Central Park South.