The Mark Hotel

An imaginary game we're playing on ourselves, dreaming about our stay at this Garden Suite in The Mark. In fact, any room would be splendid, but this space is impeccably charming. There's nothing pretentious about it, as some luxury hotels do stir towards overtly decorative means of design. I'm particularly fond of the overall feel and ambience. It has this vibe of being luxurious but with a touch of warmness, an in between of something familiar and aspirational. It is clean, crisp and elegant, with dark wooden flooring that completes the look.

P.S. Do take advantage over the amenities provided, from a daily shoe shine, local calls and fine Italian toiletries formulated exclusively for The Mark.

'New Portraits' by Richard Prince

Currently on show at the Gagosian Gallery, New York is a series of controversial Instagram portraits by social media troll/artist, Richard Prince. The six feet by four feet inkjet canvases are of someone else’s Instagram page featuring salacious material including young girls posing semi-naked, taking provocative selfies.

His true authorship lies in the comment thread below each image, adding layers to the already unsettling photos and revealing the relationships between the artist and his subjects in a way that viewers are historically so rarely exposed to.  Under the titillating images, his Terry-Richardson-cross-Reddit-troll comments are crude and disconcerting. Is this his real voice? Or is this a made-up character to demonstrate the disturbing mingling of illicit behaviours, online personalities and social media?

Prince taps into the narcissistic and carefully curated self-documentation of our vulnerable personal lives and identities but also raises questions of privacy, copyright, appropriation and exploitation in our digital age.

'Cabin in a Brooklyn Loft'

You do relate to the cram situation and steep rent prices of New York, when you find yourself trying to make ends meet in Hong Kong, keeping it calm when on top of all this, everyday a dozen of mainland Chinese migrate to us, both the filthy rich bunch and the terribly poor whom have the motive only for the welfare spark the sass in my pants.

To battle spatial issues yet making things economical, people like designer Terri Chiao get creative, utilising the ceiling height of her Brooklyn apartment mounted a wooden cabin, which within holds a full-size bed, miniature closet space, and a nook outside the cabin. This is a great upgrade for a hostel, as replacing your original roomies on all four sides; the loft gives the guest access to the rooftop with a three-sixty panorama view of the Manhattan skyline and all around Brooklyn and Queens.

As if saving enough money for this return ticket to the city was no big of a deal, this might accommodate more than what you may have expected to get in a short week stay.

/ Visit AirBnB for rates and further information