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Articles
Getting Away Right in Town
by Mimi Sheraton of The New York Times - December 27, 2002
The antique charm of Carnegie Hill may still be one of New York's best kept secrets. This Upper East Side enclave with its unexpectedly steep hills, massive stone town houses, robber baron mansions and small, personalized shops and restaurants is so low key in style and tone that its qualities easily elude the casual eye.
With 10 or so prestigious private schools, proximity to Central Park and expansive living quarters, this area became a favorite of limelight-shunning celebrities and families abounding with children and dogs, both catered to in enviable ways.
Certainly those appeals revealed themselves very slowly to me as I intermittently walked the streets en route to museums like the Guggenheim, the Jewish Museum, the Cooper-Hewitt and the National Academy of Design; to an exhibition at the Allan Stone Gallery; or to an event at the 92nd Street Y. Gradually I became aware that when I visited, I felt as if I were out of town, in a most pleasant way. And so, a few weeks ago, my husband, Richard Falcone, and I decided to get away from it all -- meaning Greenwich Village -- and spend a weekend in another part of town.
The Hotel Wales proved the perfect choice, as much for its location and hospitable personal service as for an atmosphere that perfectly reflects the neighborhood's Boston overtones. With lots of dark woodwork and old furniture, coffered ceilings and period chandeliers, it is still aglow from the restoration that marked its 100th birthday in 2000.
Copyright 2002. The New York Times Company. Reprinted with permission.
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