Picking Up the Pieces: Life-Size Chess at Forty 1 North

Boutique hotels are well known for being a little more innovative in their design, and many smaller boutiques make the decoration of their public spaces a distinct expression of contemporary style. There's not many of these that have gone so far as to make the design interactive, however. The Forty 1 North plays host to quite the impressive life-size chess set. The plus-size pieces are the perfect pairing with a private party pregnant with prospective players. And if you prefer your play to be packaged in a pint-sized display, Forty 1 North also offers an iPad free with every room. That means for the duration of your stay, a few belligerent fowl are always just a flick of the finger away. Forty 1 North apparently never saw the annotated power point presentation explaining how to make a luxury hotel because they've broken all the rules, and it's working out very well for them. They couldnt even make up their mind whether to spell out the numbers in their name, and it's ended up looking chic and off-beat. If I had half the panache that let's them pull off the things they have, I'd be drinking cocktails out of a goblet and riding a tiger to work. As it stands, the closest I'm going to get to that kind of style is if I book a room there.