Twelve years ago this month, en route to see our diplomat-sister in Jakarta, Indonesia, my hospitality-sister and I had a brief stopover in Singapore, quite possibly the most beautifully perfectionistic city in the world. Freshening up in the Crowne Plaza off Singapore Changi Airport, we were bowled over: It was an over-the-top, black-and-tan, chandeliered fantasy, a world apart from the Crowne Plaza in White Plains — in more ways than one.
It is a measure of just how lovely the newly renovated Sonesta White Plains Downtown — formerly that Crowne Plaza in White Plains — is that as I sat in the sleek Mix Cocktail Bar + Kitchen, I was lost in a reverie of that long ago trip. Such a comparison was music to the ears of the warm, welcoming staff — all on deck for the Tuesday, Dec. 10, unveiling of the renovation — but perhaps none more so than John Murray, CEO of the Newton, Massachusetts-based Sonesta International Hotels Corp., the eighth largest hotel group in the United States, with some 1,100 hotels (“Who’s counting?” he quipped),including four in New York City.
“I’m supremely proud of the renovations,” he said of the $28 million makeover. “The Sonesta White Plains Downtown has always been a strong performing hotel. And White Plains is a strong market.” Indeed, the 12-floor hotel was sold out for the week.
“We were actually due for a renovation” said General Manager Monika Henry, and by renovation she meant a top-to-bottom refurbishment that took place February to November, with crews working seven days a week. They transformed the 403 guest rooms, including 12 suites, and roughly 20,000 square feet of flexible event space that features the 5,940-square-foot Plaza Ballroom for up to 800 guests; the 1,452-square-foot Pleasantville Room, which can accommodate up to 90 guests and has a private, heated outdoor terrace; and 17 standalone meeting rooms. The staff also created a new work suite, restaurant and reoriented bar. The result is a destination not only for travelers and the business community but for all those in search of city nightlife.
The lobby, bar and restaurant anticipate Pantone’s color of 2025 — mocha mousse — with a woodsy palette of chocolate, butterscotch and cream – with a pop of aquamarine (at the bar) and a dollop of gray (in the restaurant) — that conveys a sophisticated vibe. The rooms and the lower level offer a clean, modern blue and white palette — a bit deeper upstairs, softer on the lower level perhaps to reflect the heated indoor pool and the adjacent new Sonesta Work Suite, designed for guests who don’t want to work in their rooms or in the Lobby Café or who need to meet before a conference. (The designs are by Bill Rooney Studio Inc. in Manhattan.)
At the Dec. 10 unveiling, guests got to commune with the work suite, enjoy a delicious buffet and signature cocktails in the bar, restaurant and event spaces, pose for caricatures by illustrator Devin Hunt, visit a pop-up by Kendra Scott, a new addition to the neighboring Westchester mall, and relax with chair massages in some of the spacious suites, whose airy, light design, as with the other guest rooms, draws its inspiration from White Plains’ Native American name, meaning “white mist resting on the plains.”
The Crowne Plaza was a signature White Plains spot for more than three decades when it was rebranded as the Sonesta White Plains Downtown on Dec. 1, 2020 as part of a transfer of 103 hotels from InterContinental Hotels Group plc (IHG) to the Sonesta International Hotels Corp.
So delighted is CEO Murray with the Sonesta White Plains’ facelift that he suggested it may be on its way to Royal Sonesta status — the hotel group’s top, luxury tier — a fitting accolade to a delightful reinvention.
The pet-friendly Sonesta White Plains Downtown is at 66 Hale Ave. near The Westchester mall, Dick’s Sporting Goods, The Cheesecake Factory, Whole Foods and Bloomingdale’s. For more, call 914-682-0050.
