If you’d like to spend the night in what The New York Observer called it “the most unusual and significant New York building in years,” now is your chance.  While it’s still under construction,  hotelier extraordinaire Andre Balazs latest opus, the Standard NYC, is already open for business, and discounting rates for hardy souls willing to brave the construction noise and dust for a chance to sleep in what will certainly be a New York landmark.   

The Standard is located in New York’s hottest new ‘hood, the meatpacking district, rising above and actually straddling the elevated railway known as the High Line.  Like all Balazs projects, it boasts cutting-edge architecture that is earning raves alongside signature details like “peek-a-boo showers” (which may be an issue for more modest guests), bright orange hallways and rotating entry doors and a “runway” to the entrance complete with flattering lighting to make every guest feel like a star.  Still, despite all this architectural greatness, the biggest Standard attraction will likely be the panoramic views of New York City stretching from the Hudson River to Midtown, including another, senior member of the Iconic New York Building club -- the Empire State Building.