The Kimberly Hotel – a cocoon of luxury for Jamaicans visiting New York

Boutique hotels tend to be attractive for discerning travellers because of their high-quality personalised service. The welcomes from staff are warmer, and the smiles are brighter. Guests feel that exhilarating sense of being human when they check in as opposed to being merely a reservation number, as can happen in massive, sprawling chain hotels.

But when a boutique hotel is continuously flooded with feedback that the beds are just too plush and too comfortable, that property immediately escalates from the ‘very good’ category, breaking into the ranks of the extraordinary to join an elite list of the world’s best hotels. Such is the case at the Kimberly Hotel. The boutique auberge is a mix of deluxe rooms and posh and exquisite one- and two-bedroom suites at Lexington Avenue and East 50 Street in midtown Manhattan. All the accommodations are spacious compared to other New York City properties, and each unit is lovingly and uniquely curated with elegant furnishings and soothing art. Many of the suites have balconies with views of the legendary New York City skyscape. Some come with kitchenettes, wet bars, and other amenities one would expect from a luxury property, including L’Occitane toiletries from Provence in the South of France. And it doesn’t hurt that the hotel’s midtown location is within walking distance of premium Fifth Avenue shopping and close by to many New York City landmarks and attractions. Little surprise then that the Kimberly has earned many travel industry accolades, including the Conde Nast Travelers Readers’ Choice Award for being among the best hotels in New York City.

The sales and marketing director, Marcia Skyers James, is Jamaican, and for twenty-six years, she has been able to establish the Kimberly as the number-one residence for Jamaicans visiting New York. The hotel has welcomed five Jamaican prime ministers – Michael Manley, Edward Seaga, P.J. Patterson, Portia Simpson Miller, and Andrew Holness. Other Jamaican celebrities have enjoyed stays there. Sheryl Lee Ralph lived at the Kimberly during her Broadway performances for Thoroughly Modern Millie. And Frederick ‘Toots’ Hibbert, Lennox Lewis, Christopher Martin, Spice, Veronica Campbell-Brown have all been guests there. Stitchie’s first album launch and performance on Atlantic Records took place there, too, on the same stage where former US president Bill Clinton later entertained a captive audience on the saxophone. Jimmy Carter and Joe Biden have checked in, Biden while he was vice-president. The Kimberly has also hosted numerous members of parliament, government officials, and corporate executives from Jamaica. And during the month of September, when the General Assembly for the United Nations is in session, the hotel’s guest list is typically a who’s who of world leaders and state officials closely guarded by a buzz of bodyguards.

So what makes the Kimberly such an obsession among savvy travellers? The Sunday Gleaner threw this question at Marcia Skyers James, a foreign languages graduate from St Hugh’s High School and The University of the West Indies in Kingston, who left another fabulous luxury brand, the Waldorf Astoria, to take on sales and marketing at the Kimberly.

“When one travels, one wants to feel safe, comfortable and at home, awash with luxuries, and our guests also want to know that they will be well taken care of,” she stated. “Our guests have found that here. Moreover, many of our staff members have been tenured here for decades. Guests love to come back to familiar faces. Our repeat guests are recognised, welcomed by name, and they feel as if they’ve come home,” Skyers James added, with great delight.

In keeping with the very personalised service offered at the Kimberly, the hotel prefers to speak with its guests before arrival just to make sure that guests’ whims and fancies and requests can be delivered in advance. Additional on-site amenities include a steak house and an Italian restaurant on the ground floor and a year-round enclosed rooftop oasis offering breakfast in the mornings and drinks and hors d’oeuvres in the evenings against a backdrop of signature skyscrapers and shimmering city lights. The hotel also has meeting rooms for large and small groups, and it has experienced perfection in hosting events such as corporate meetings, weddings, anniversaries, bar mitzvahs, and other gatherings. A big point of interest at the Kimberly, too, is the jaw-dropping 2,300-gallon saltwater aquarium in the lobby that houses a collection of colourful fish. Both children and adults enjoy stepping away from the midtown bustle to gaze at the aquatic razzle-dazzle.

And if you’re still wondering about those plush and comfortable beds that guests rave about for providing the best sleep ever, Skyers James let us in on the secret. “We start out by using really great mattresses, which we wrap with a deliriously cushy featherbed. Then the magic is perfected with premium, luxurious Italian-made linen that will guarantee a nocturnal journey into wonderland with sweet, celestial sleep,” she disclosed.

The 37-year-old Kimberly continues to be a magnet for travellers from Jamaica and the Caribbean. A part of the allure is that travellers feel reassured to know they have one of their own there who will take care of them. And stories abound about Skyers James’ thoughtfulness and the detailed attention that she lavishes on all her guests. She recalled a funny guest relations story with a chuckle. “I once got a call from a Jamaican female who said she wanted to talk to the Jamaican lady who owns The Kimberly. I assured her I was the Jamaican she was looking for but I did not own the hotel,” the ever-charming Skyers James said, smiling.

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