New York’s only revolving bar and restaurant with surprising revamp

It was a spectacular fall from grace – at least, in the realm of my ‘hotel recommendation’ reputation. When a well-travelled friend asked me for a few unmissable hospitality hot spots in New York, I confidently named The View Restaurant and Lounge, sheltered inside New York Marriott Marquis. My memory of it was crystalline: it was 2009, my first time in the city that never sleeps, and the experience was intoxicating. Suspended high above the electric sprawl of Manhattan, I watched the skyline shift like a living diorama, blinking and suddenly finding a new tableau before me. It was the closest I’d ever come to feeling like the protagonist of my own New York fantasy – until, of course, my friend returned from his visit with an unimpressed shrug.

Had The View lost its magic? Had time dulled its luster? The thought nagged at me. But, as if the universe were setting up the perfect redemption arc, Rockwell Group stepped in with a sweeping, floor-to-ceiling reinvention of the space. And this time, The View is performance I had promised.

The View’s revitalised two-storey dining and lounge space is an artful fusion of luxury and theatricality. David Rockwell and his team are the undisputed masters of immersive design, known for shaping the world’s most sought-after restaurants – Nobu, Coqodaq – while also making their mark in Broadway scenography, crafting sets for productions like Kinky Boots and Hairspray. When I spoke with Rockwell on the podcast, Travel By Design, to discuss W Union Square, a hotel he was asked to redesign 23 years after he first designed it, I was struck by his instinct for storytelling through space.

At the heart of The View’s transformation is the idea of ‘staging’ – both in terms of the space itself and the kinetic, ever-shifting cityscape outside. Tiered platforms have been meticulously arranged so that no matter where you sit, the city unfurls before you like a grand, luminous backdrop. The 47th-floor dining room melts seamlessly into the 48th-floor lounge, where sculptural banquettes curl along the perimeter, tracing the arc of the slowly revolving floor. A grand cocktail and seafood bar commands attention, while a softly glowing piano vignette whispers old-world glamour into the space.

Materiality plays its own role in the mise-en-scène. Burl wood, Venetian plaster, and faceted antique mirrors dance in the low, ambient lighting. Rich, midnight-blue velvet drapery – reminiscent of the stage curtains in the theatres below – adds a touch of quiet drama and luxury. Concentric circles etched into the ceiling reinforce the illusion of motion, while the interplay of polished metallics and deep matte finishes captures the restless choreography of the streets below, where cabs streak past and pedestrians weave through the neon-lit night.

The pièce de résistance? The bar itself, of course! A sculptural masterpiece, it rises like a miniature skyline, with illuminated, skyscraper-like structures angled dynamically, bottle shelves glowing at their bases. Suspended from above, an oversized cast-bronze pendant light – a celestial sphere – pays homage to the orbiting experience of the space. Hints of Art Deco, that quintessentially New York aesthetic, punctuate the design without ever overpowering the contemporary elegance.

For years, Times Square has carried a certain stigma among New Yorker – overcrowded, overstimulating, a place best left to tourists. But The View’s rebirth is rewriting that perception. Just a block away from the frenzied energy of Broadway, this revitalised institution offers something rare: a chance to see the city anew, as if for the first time, suspended in the sky, swirling ever so gently above the glow of it all. If my last recommendation failed to impress, consider this my redemption. The View is, once again, an essential chapter in any New York love affair.

> Since you’re exploring New York from this vantage point, why not hop over to read about Chicago’s vibrant hotel scene?

Main image credit: Jason Varney