The Fifth Avenue Hotel in Midtown Manhattan’s NoMad neighborhood has a vibrant sense of style. It’s colorful and ornate, mixing lived-in history with a contemporary sensibility. It has personality. Flair. Whimsical spaces are filled to the brim with artwork, eye-catching wallpaper, ornate chandeliers and colorful light fixtures, and show-stopping, antique-grade furniture pieces, along with textures, layers and contrast galore. Guests are meant to explore and discover its sensory-rich environment, creating a real sense of awe and fascination.
There’s a clear thoughtfulness behind every touch, every item, every inclusion. It starts the moment you enter — actually, as you approach the entrance from the street — and breathe deeply in appreciation for the olive, cedarwood and black cassis signature scent used across the property. “We are a sensory brand in many ways, and we have a very distinct scent that we’re known for, that everybody knows right away when they walk in, even from outdoors, as we’re pumping it out onto the street at this point,” says proprietor Alex Ohebshalom. “It leaves people feeling very nostalgic and imprints in their memory right away.”
Since opening in October 2023 in a restored 1907 landmark building adjoined to a new 24-story tower, The Fifth Avenue Hotel has done just that — imprinting into the memories of its guests. For local visitors, an evening spent at the impossibly chic and charming The Portrait Bar (now included in North America’s 50 Best Bars extended list) or dining at the extravagant Cafe Carmellini is sure to leave an impression of its own.
“The goal is to evoke a sense of wonder, of stepping into a world where imagination has been allowed to roam freely,” Ohebshalom says.
If you’ve had the pleasure of experiencing the hotel for yourself, then you’ll be thrilled to know there’s more on the way. Opening up on the subject for the first time, Ohebshalom divulged to me his plans to turn The Fifth Avenue Hotel from a standalone project into a global lineup of independent boutique hotels under the Flâneur Collection banner.
Introducing The Flâneur Collection
The Flâneur Collection is coming out swinging as a hand-picked assemblage of super-luxe boutique properties, incorporating a mix of existing independent hotels alongside new projects Ohebshalom is launching from the ground up, often in some of his favorite places on the planet. “It’s all happening in real time right now,” he says. And yet it has somehow stayed off the radar in the world of luxury travel news. Until now.
“Our goal is to uncover and elevate remarkable independent hotels around the world that have soul, story and potential,” Ohebshalom says. “There are some remarkable and iconic independent hotels across the world that maybe have been forgotten or need to be re-imagined or elevated. The goal is to let their identity and what made them special from the get-go shine, while utilizing our resources, with our level of tastemaking, curation and storytelling.”
The group has been developing a pipeline of such properties and is now ready to make a rapidfire move into the spotlight. “We’ll roll out the first probably four to five properties within this independent collection by the end of next year,” Ohebshalom says.
While each property in the group will continue to be defined by its own innate story and style, linking them together will be the ethos of the brand that’s on display in The Fifth Avenue Hotel. “The flâneur is the philosophical backbone of everything that we do, the idea of the elegant wanderer, finding inspiration by observing the world, being attuned to beauty, to nuance, to the poetry of everyday life,” Ohebshalom says. “These hotels will be spaces for conversation. Spaces for contemplation. Spaces for surprise and delight. We’re cultivating a lifestyle. We’re cultivating a lens through which people can and should see the world.”
The Journey by InsideHook
Join over 100K travelers seeking trip ideas, the latest travel news, and all the inspiration you need for your next vacation.
Where The Flâneur Collection Is Heading
The first property to partner with the Flâneur Collection is The Inn of the Five Graces in Santa Fe, a project which to this point has been, as Ohebshalom puts it, quasi-public. “This was a labor of love, an absolute passion project that took many years to cultivate,” he says in appreciation of the property and its history. “It’s a family’s life story, their masterpiece, and there’s an infinite number of stories they can tell and experiences that are layered into the property.”
The property was founded by an American family that had lived in Afghanistan in the 1970s and traveled widely across Asia and the Middle East. When they returned to the United States, they put down roots in Santa Fe. And when it came time to open up the hotel, they outfitted it with the incredible artwork, décor and overall sense of craftsmanship and style picked up from their extensive journeys.
“They built this jewel box of an inn,” Ohebshalom says. “You would be astonished — it’s a living, breathing piece of artwork and has so much heritage and specialness. It speaks to our identity and our philosophy, and so we’re really proud to be affiliated with them.”
Next on the docket is a hotel in Paris’s 1st arrondissement. “It’s as centrally-located as you can find,” Ohebshalom says. The new build will be a 100-key property and is set to make its debut this year.
Another city on the hit list is Rome, with Flâneur planning to partner with an existing, family-run property. “We’re talking about the best iconic real estate,” Ohebshalom says. “I’m a huge Rome guy. I love its great history and incredible food and culture. I think Rome is having its moment again.”
Flâneur isn’t only sticking to big cities but rather working with several properties in areas offering an escape from the hustle and bustle, including one that’s set to come into the fold this year in the Hudson Valley. “Let’s call it two hours from the city,” Ohebshalom says. “It’s oddly an underserved, totally luxury market. People are really yearning for more.” Flipping coasts, Flâneur is also heading to what most consider, with an objective lens, to be one of the most striking landscapes in the world: the central California coast. In both cases, these are existing properties that will join the roster.
Two ambitious new properties in more remote environments are also in the works, each of which could tentatively open before the year is out. Here, rather than the maximalist collector’s lens of The Fifth Avenue, expect properties that are harmonious with nature and their surroundings. “I’m a big explorer and I’m desperately wanting to take our guests away to these corners of the world that are a little bit less discovered, less known,” Ohebshalom says.
First is a property in Chilean Patagonia. “Investing into the land and doing it in a very respectful way, that’s important to me,” Ohebshalom says. “There will be a huge commitment to integrating the architecture into nature and allowing people to be present with the greatness of what that is. It’s so captivating and magnificent.”
There’s also a property planned for outside of Tokyo in the direction of Mount Fuji. “From the moment I arrived in Japan on my first visit, maybe 15 years ago, I’ve been deeply inspired by everything they offer,” Ohebshalom says. “It’s a part of the world where you have a more expansive ability to just discover and explore and be present. But we’ll have a little bit more richness, design and an incredible spa component that will be super well-curated.”
Last but not least among the projects Ohebshalom was willing to disclose was an existing, operational hotel in Biarritz in French Basque country. “I went for the first time a couple years ago, and I was blown away and very captivated by that region, and especially the gap in luxury,” he says. “That’s exciting for me. I want to take people there.”
That’s eight new members of the portfolio, by our count. And you heard them all here first. When asked if he wanted, say, 20 hotels under his belt in the next decade, Ohebshalom almost scoffed at the idea. “In 10 years, at least 20 properties, at least,” he says. “Hey, I’m an ambitious guy, and I have great aspirations and want to accomplish great things.”
We also shared some quick-hitting questions to learn more about Ohebshalom and what makes him tick, from his personal taste to some of the unique touches and magic behind The Fifth Avenue Hotel, a property that in less than two years has become perhaps the it place to stay in New York.
InsideHook: What was your overarching inspiration behind the distinctive style of The Fifth Avenue Hotel?
Alex Ohebshalom: It really starts with sort of marrying, or attempting to marry, these two concepts. First, of old New York, we’re in a Gilded Age mansion, it has so much heritage and history and incredible architectural elements. We went through a massive restoration with NYC Landmarks because it is a landmark, and with all this amazing heritage it was about honoring that and offering our ode to New York. But then it’s our philosophy, infusing the flâneur, the essence of this concept, into the hotel and into all of its aesthetic and design.
The flâneur is a sophisticated, elegant, nomadic wanderer, someone who enjoys the spoils of life. They love to indulge. They’re kind of self-proclaimed hedonists. But at the same time, they have a great degree of humility and appreciation, and they just really want to capture everything around them. All the details, all the beauty, all the richness, all the layering. And almost slow things down right to the point where they really feel it almost as a philosophy. And so, the biggest challenge here was how do you, in a so-called maximalist way, provoke curiosity? How do you get people to stop and wonder and ask questions and almost engage with every layer of the design and the aesthetic so that each time they’re visiting, they’re almost surprised again and again? It’s a lot of serendipitous storytelling. We love to tell stories here. We want people to feel like they’ve been transported to some place that feels nostalgic. We want people who come and stay here to have the takeaway that it feels good, that it feels at home. That’s important.
You mention the idea of maximalism. How do you lean into that without overdoing it?
It wasn’t intended at first to be a maximalist hotel, but we chose one of the most well-known and acclaimed interior designers of this generation, Martin Brudnizki, known for his maximalist aesthetic. We had to balance the energy a lot and find a way to make it feel more like a residential-style space that was highly curated. A lot of what we do here is for the tastemaker, for the connoisseur, somebody who appreciates architecture, craftsmanship, cabinetry, finish work. We embedded and infused in this incredible art program. There’s no shortage of attention to detail, and so yes, you could call it maximalism. And, as a new hotelier in this world, my philosophy is that value is in the maximal. The value to the guest is in giving them more rather than stripping things away. I think we’re getting into a much more sophisticated time right now where people are yearning for more. They’re exploring more. Their awareness is more expanded, and so they want to learn, they want to feel, they want to be immersed in the experience. This is our way of, at least from a visual standpoint, optically bringing them into that experience.
As you build out your collection of hotels, are you trying to establish a distinctive, recognizable style that people in-the-know will recognize?
That’s a great question and the answer is that I will never recreate The Fifth Avenue Hotel. This is an independent property. It’ll stand on its own forever. Hopefully. But at the same time, I feel like irrespective of which designer I bring in, the aesthetic is held together by a sensibility, not necessarily a theme. And so if I give any designer my sort of brand ethos, the flâneur philosophy, the richness of the storytelling, they should be able to conjure up or spin out their version of what that means. The flâneur is this great modern collector who’s so well traveled and sophisticated and has a great appreciation for both the high and the low. And that’s the beauty of the brand. It’s a collector’s eye.
The goal is that somebody would walk in and maybe not necessarily right away via the design, but certainty via a lot of the sensorial things that they experience, recognize the same approach. Then I think what makes us unique as a brand is our service. We have an incredible service offering, just the level of detail, the bespoke curation, the butler service. I think that is definitely a unique characteristic, and hopefully with those little touches when they visit each property under the Flâneur Collection, they’ll feel like, okay, now I know where I am. I feel at home, I feel taken care of. They’ve taken it to the next level, above and beyond, in distinct ways, anticipatory ways, of treating me and serving me.
Who are some of your favorite artists?
I’m a surrealist guy, so I like my Renee Magritte. I was in Paris a few months ago, and they had a huge surrealist exhibit, and I was just gushing over all the Magrittes that were there. Calder is another one. A big inspiration for this hotel and the whole brand is a deceased interior designer, artist Renzo Mongiardino. He’s an Italian designer who is an absolute legend, and I take tons of inspiration from him. Love his work.
What’s the first piece of artwork you remember acquiring for yourself?
I’ll call out someone from maybe 15 years ago. He’s a Miami artist actually having a moment right now. His name is Magnus Sodamin. He does some work for the Faena and other hotels. When he was just starting, I loved some of his pieces; he did these kinds of surrealist, colorful shooting flowers. I don’t know how to explain it, and so I commissioned him to do a piece for my home, and I think that was actually the first piece I ever bought. Shout out to Magnus Sodamin.
Where are some of your favorite places to travel to?
Rome is a big one, I love to visit Rome whenever I can. Menorca — that’s a great place. Getting married there in June. Patagonia is a near and dear place for me. Insanely beautiful, and love that part of the world. My most beloved place in the world though is actually Big Sur, California. That’s where I go for just totally re-centering. Huge fan.
If you could have a drink with anyone in world history, who is it and where are you going?
I’ve thought about this before. I was deeply inspired by Da Vinci, who was a polymath. This guy was an absolute lights-out legend, icon in every respect. He was a playwright. He was a sculptor. He was an artist. He was a mathematician. He was a philosopher. The list goes on and on. And so much of today’s innovations, creations, they come from his legacy and everything he just imagined from nothing. So it would be pretty cool to sit in Rome with Da Vinci, at one of my favorite restaurants there, Al Moro, and have their famous carbonara and a nice glass of Chianti. Yeah, you could die happy there.
More Like This
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.
