This Eco-friendly Brooklyn Hotel Is a Celeb Fave — Here’s What It’s Like to Stay (2024)

Living in Brooklyn, I’ve passed by the 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge countless times while running in Brooklyn Bridge Park or walking over to the East River Ferry. While I've always been intrigued by the striking wood-and-glass facade of the waterfront space, I had never really gotten to see the interior of the building outside of visiting its gorgeous, plant-filled lobby when grabbing a coffee from the cafe downstairs.

When I finally got a chance to have a quick staycation one early spring day, I discovered why the hotel is such a hit with visitors looking for a break from their regular Manhattan hotel stays.

The first thing you notice upon walking into the aforementioned lobby is the massive wall of greenery set against a concrete slab lit by natural light from several large windows. The mix of industrial furnishings, earth tones, and greenery makes the space feel like an extension of the park itself.

The spacious rooms follow the same theme as the lobby, flooded with light from floor-to-ceiling windows. I appreciated the many sustainable features like water glasses made from recycled bottles, reclaimed wood bed frames, and organic cotton mattresses. Interestingly, the room also included a filtered water station built directly into the wall that accommodates the water bottle, meaning I always had a fresh bottle of water at my bedside table. As a bonus, some rooms also have beautiful views of the Brooklyn Bridge — waking up here felt like being on a movie set.

The upstairs terrace incorporates a bar, Harriet’s, and a rooftop pool, where I had drinks and snacks brought right to my chair after taking a dip in the pool, which overlooks the park as well as the East River and Lower Manhattan. A floor below, Harriet’s Lounge offers an enclosed dining experience with views of the Brooklyn Bridge and live music and DJs on most nights.

Back on the ground floor, the hotel’s restaurant, The Osprey, serves casual American cuisine in a beautiful farm-to-table space with larger tables for groups and intimate booths for a quiet night. The restaurant is as packed with locals as it is with hotel guests, so a reservation is a good idea.

To help me recharge, I visited the cafe Neighbors, which offers fresh pastries and strong coffee.

The hotel also includes a spa that almost made me feel like I was at a resort, not just a few blocks from my apartment. The sprawling 5,000-square-foot facility includes treatment rooms, a sauna, flotation therapy, and an infrared sauna.

Read on for my full review of 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge and why it’s a must-visit, even if you’re a local.

The Rooms

Rooms at the 1 Brooklyn Bridge start at 300 square feet (spacious for New York City), but the pièce de résistance is a massive 2,000-square-foot space the hotel calls the Riverhouse. The Riverhouse frequently has celebrities and other notable guests call it home, while it is also a favorite for bridal parties and other events.

Each room includes a filtered water fountain, an espresso maker, free Wi-Fi, a flat-screen TV (cleverly hidden within a dresser in some rooms so as not to block the views), and a yoga mat. Most rooms have views of the park, the Manhattan skyline, or the Brooklyn Bridge and are equipped with blackout shades to keep all that light out when it’s time to get some rest. Bathrooms have rainfall showers and are stocked with Bamford toiletries. Like the rest of the hotel, rooms are filled with plant life, adding to the relaxed atmosphere of the space.

Food and Drink

1 Hotel is home to The Osprey, a farm-to-table restaurant serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner on the ground floor; reservations are recommended. The menu by chef Dan Churchill includes fresh East Coast oysters, grilled octopus, rustic peach caprese for starters, sriracha cod collar, and a New York strip steak as mains.

Upstairs, at dark and moody Harriet’s Lounge, fresh co*cktails and a sake menu accompany the Asian-influenced menu of sushi, yakitori, and sandwiches, to be enjoyed against the glittering skyline of Manhattan's Financial District. Upstairs on Harriet’s rooftop terrace, you can enjoy warm weather favorites like a Moscow Mule or frozen drinks, including a watermelon margarita, poolside.

Activities and Experiences

The property has a large gym with weight training and cardio equipment, open 24 hours, while each room has a yoga mat for use during your stay — ideally for a morning flow session on the grass in the park. Group fitness classes are also available for hotel guests.

The rooftop pool is only 4 feet deep, so it is more for cooling off in the hot New York sun than getting some laps in, but this also makes it more of a family-friendly option. In keeping with the theme of sustainability, the hotel keeps an all-electric Audi Q8 e-tron SUV on hand, available for guests to tour the city or just for a test drive.

The Spa

The Bamford Wellness Spa features various treatments — from massages to facials, a sauna, and a hydrotherapy bed. The spa also has HigherDose infrared products, like a red-light face mask, which helps boost mood and fight off blue light. One touch I particularly enjoyed was the heated shaving cream dispenser in the changing room, a rarely seen — yet well-appreciated — find in a hotel spa.

Accessibility and Sustainability

The hotel strives to be sustainable at all levels, from the refillable water bottles in every room to The Osprey’s use of local farmers and growers and the upcycling of food waste.

The hotel has a rainwater collection tank that feeds Brooklyn Bridge Park’s irrigation system, while a quarter of the hotel's rooftop is dedicated to green space, including garden beds filled with shrubs and trees to help absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and reduce the urban heat island effect.

The hotel is LEED Gold certified and uses LED lighting, HVAC systems with energy recovery, and energy-efficient heating and cooling. More than half of the hotel is made from regionally reclaimed materials, including original pine beams from the former Domino Sugar Factory in Brooklyn, which have been turned into tables in the lobby and benches on each floor. 1 Hotel’s loyalty program allows you to use points to help fund carbon offset projects like wind and solar energy and forest conservation.

Some rooms are ADA-compliant, with larger doors and handrails in the shower and bath areas.

Location

The hotel is located directly in Brooklyn Bridge Park, with easy access to the Brooklyn Bridge footpath and the East River Ferry. Subway access via the A train is available a few blocks away, taking you into Manhattan or deeper into Brooklyn.

The park is also located right next to the Dumbo neighborhood of Brooklyn, a charming area with cobblestone streets and historic buildings. If the view from your room isn’t enough, you can grab a drink at the Time Out Market, which has views of Midtown Manhattan and plenty of food options.

How to Get the Most Value Out of Your Stay

1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge frequently offers packages that include spa or dining credit. Other packages include complimentary valet parking, free smoothies from Neighbors Cafe, and a 60-minute personal training session at the gym.

For those with young children, the property offers a “Sustainable Under the Stars” package that includes tents in the room, a star projector, a movie, and snacks so little ones can enjoy a movie night.

1 Hotels offers a loyalty program, Mission, which lets guests earn points towards different status tiers with every stay. Points can be redeemed for additional experiences during a stay or even as a cash payment via PayPal.