On a recent summer afternoon, the smell of fresh paint welcomed new arrivals to Freeman Alley in the Lower East Side. An artist from Italy was in the process of adding his mark to the colorful corridor, which features a rotating display of graffiti and street art. The distinct alleyway marks the entrance to Untitled at 3 Freeman Alley, a recently opened boutique hotel geared toward travelers looking for less Midtown tourism and more of an authentic downtown New York experience.
“The alley is so much of the inspiration and thought behind the hotel,” says Gadi Peleg, founder of GPG Hospitality, which is also behind culinary projects including Stretch Pizza, Nur and Breads Bakery.
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“There’s legitimacy to the alley. It is really a part of New York and the city’s history in a way that is not touristy at all,” Peleg adds. “[The hotel] is meant for people who dig a little bit of that leftover grit that New York still has, and people who want to see that while still being able to go to a comfortable room that’s super clean and beautiful.”
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Untitled soft-launched this spring, and is gearing up for a bigger fall debut. Rooms are compact but airy thanks to a neutral color palette and light wood tones; many of the 200 rooms feature balconies with views of the Lower East Side cityscape.
The property is designed with exploration and creativity in mind. A lobby shop sells markers and offers a station for guests inspired by their walk down the alley to draw, and there are items including guitars, recording equipment, and cameras available to borrow, as well as scooters.
“Regardless of whether you’re here on vacation or you’re digital nomad-ing, everybody needs some creative outlets,” says Peleg. A cafe on the first floor offers baked goods and coffee and invites coworking. A cozy adjacent outdoor space, with a canopy of fairy lights, opens to the Bowery.
“A topic I always think about is what does hospitality, pampering, luxury look like for what I call the ‘tattoo generation’? What are they gonna want?” says Peleg. “And [Untitled] felt like it starts to answer that question.”
The hotel’s 11th floor rooftop bar, Unlisted, opened at the end of July. The beverage menu pays homage to the street art theme with a cocktail served in a spray paint can; another is served in a miniature water tower, and menus are in the form of a fold-up subway map. The indoor space is outfitted in jewel-tone velvet seating, a soft contrast to the hotel’s “concrete jungle” setting.
Untitled replaces the Ace Hotel’s Sister City boutique hotel, which closed early in the pandemic. Peleg was introduced to the property while the space was in flux, and came on board to reinvent the concept.
“I never left the island for the entire pandemic,” says Peleg. “I took a lot of tours of a lot of different places that were in some state of closing, having closed, thinking about closing. And then one day somebody walked in and was like, you gotta come check this out. There’s this project and I think you’d be perfect for it.”
While many in the city were decamping for the countryside and leaning into Zoom life, Peleg was eager to bet on New York revitalization.
“I couldn’t hear anymore about how New York is over, and how the pandemic changes everything, and how nobody’s coming back. I was really ready to take those ‘New York will come back’ bets. I had no doubt that it would happen, but at the time it seemed crazy to be talking about a hotel in New York,” Peleg adds. “Sometimes you have moments where you can see past the smoke. And I think I had that moment: of course it’s all going to come back, and the Lower East Side will thrive. And that has happened.”
Galag notes that so far, reception to the Untitled concept has been positive. “It’s really the crowd that we were expecting and hoping for,” says Peleg, standing on the Unlisted terrace. He points out several of the landmarks visible from the outdoor space: there’s the New Museum, located next door; there’s the “Jenga Building” over there, and the former police headquarters building, which has since been converted to luxury apartments.
“I mean, come on, you can’t beat this,” Peleg adds, leaning against the perimeter. “Don’t you love the city when you see stuff like this?”