Editorial Review
This New York City conference center is in the heart of Chelsea, where narrow streets lined with historic townhouses intersect with broad avenues brimming with restaurants, shops, clubs, and cutting-edge art galleries. Like Chelsea itself, the Desmond Tutu Center is a blend of the old and the new. Beautifully restored Gothic Revival buildings are arrayed around a parklike courtyard. Meeting facilities are high-tech, guestrooms offer modern comforts, and an energy-efficient geothermal system heats and cools the property.
Amenity highlights: A complimentary Continental breakfast buffet is served in the gorgeous Refectory, which dates from the late 1800s. Original architectural elements include an ornate, working fireplace; tall, stained-glass windows; and a high, barrel-vaulted ceiling painted in an intricate gold, red, and blue pattern. Breakfast includes three types of sweet pastries, a savory pastry, fresh fruit, juices, fair-trade organic coffee, and teas.
Complimentary wireless Internet access is available throughout the center.
Insider tip: Best known as the author of “A Visit From St. Nicholas” (“The Night Before Christmas”), Clement Clarke Moore (1779 – 1863) was also a developer, a scholar, and a professor at the General Theological Seminary. Moore spent most of his life on his family estate in Chelsea and donated a large parcel of his property to the seminary, which today shares its campus with the Desmond Tutu Center.
