The Lay Out: Virgin Hotel NYC's Pool

Paper fans, piña coladas and... a view of the Empire State Building

Just south of Herald Square and north of Flatiron in Manhattan, Virgin Hotels opened their NYC location in early 2023. The thoughtfully laid out rooms make it easy for two people to get ready a the same time (showers are separate from toilets and separate from the vanity) and work remotely.

Programming like live music, a SoFar Sounds residency and weekly picnics at Madison Square park are on the hotels summer schedule. And, apparently there’s a new penthouse cocktail bar called The Riff Raff Club opening September 5. (Didn’t I stand on the couches at a place called Riff Raff in the city over a decade ago?)

The also have a really nice gym (which you’ll be able to read more about in a story I’m writing for work) and an Exhale Spa with a sauna, a snow room and a hammam that I think I need to go back for.

Just like the gym and yoga/barre room, the pool has an incredible view of the Empire State Building. My favorite thing about the my time spent at the pool was the view of all the good art deco architecture from my lounge chair. Granted, you can see great deco buildings in Miami, but it’s not usually four stories up and including the Empire State Building. I also loved that they had a huge bowl of paper fans next to the self-serve water cooler. (They were liquor branded. Whatever, though, I love a paper fan to fan myself poolside.)

I went for the 12:30 reservation slot on a Wednesday and there were lots of solo or small groups of women via ResortPass, from what I overheard or they told me. Unexpectedly, Virgin Hotels pool might be most concentrated bunch of the not-at-all-subtle fake boobs I’ve ever seen in New York, almost Miami-esque, tbqh. There was only one mom and tiny daughter, and a couple more kids came with their parents later in the day, closer to 3:30/4. It also seemed a lot busier around then. The gays were out in groups and the very rare golden retriever boyfriend was there. (I think there were two all day and I stayed into the evening reservation slot. One fitness couple and the other was a Manhattan King Of Queens duo dupe.) There was one, singluar very hot man there — think Lenny Kravitz but tall, giving model — that spent the entire time on a phone call.

The music primarily consisted of that hotel pool house music, except they played an old N.E.R.D. song and my personal song of the summer, LL Cool J’s “Who Do You Love?” (I’m not brat? Sorry.)

Need to know:
The stone patio is HOT, almost too hot for bare feet in the sun. I wore these little Mary Jane Salomon’s because I parked in Kips Bay and walked 15 min to the hotel, and I wish I had sandals for the pool. Duh, I know. (Sandals in the city just aren’t for me, but they would’ve been nice at the pool.)

For non-hotel guests, you can get a 4-hour reservation on ResortPass for $80 plus a $40 food & bev minimum Monday through Thursday. On Friday to Sunday it’s $100 plus an $80 min. I don’t the believe the earliest rez time has the food min any day of the week. Interestingly, hotel guests not only also require a reservation for chairs, but they’ll also incur a fee — half of the non-guests plus the food & beverage minimum.

Where to sit:
Your best bet is to get a seat you like, and if you want to be in the sun, sit on the edge of the pool and follow it around. When I was there, I sat at the southwest corner and by 2:30 the sun was behind a building for a little over an hour. That’s just what it is at a pool in the middle of Manhattan. It’s like laying out on a big ass sun dial.

What to order:
They have Sweet Chick available, which seems like a safe bet. The smashburger is a great option and if you want something lighter, the lobster roll is pretty good. The chips that came with it were really good. The poké bowl was kind of forgettable. It’s a great option for a pool menu, but it just wasn’t flavorful or substantial enough for my tastes. I obviously had the piña colada, and I’d recommend you do too. I tried the frozé at the opening party a couple months back and that was good too. The prices made the $40 minimum fairly easy to hit, an entree and a drink plus tip get you there (and probably over).

Also, FYI: The servers and staff were really lovely, so make sure you are to them too.