Suite dreams at the Carlton Hotel

Suite dreams at the Carlton Hotel

Jeff Bachner for New York Daily News

The Diva suite at the Carlton Hotel is all Hollywood and Broadway glam.

The Carlton Hotel on Madison Ave. and 29th St. is more than a striking building with a double-height lobby and bluesy corner jazz bar. Gaga slept there. So did Rick Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals. “Smash,” “Blue Bloods” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” all filmed on location at the hotel.

But that’s not half the draw. The addition of four new suites, all geared to different eras in New York history, has turned the hotel into Fantasy Island in the middle of midtown.

Ask Paradigm talent agent Ed Micone. The longtime music agent (whose clients include Julio Iglesias) stays at the hotel often. So frequently, in fact, that they recently upgraded him to a suite.

When he arrived in the nondescript room featuring a sleigh bed, he was unimpressed. Then he eyed a bookcase at the end of the entry nook. When the bellman came up, he let Micone in on a little secret â€" the bookcase is a door to a secret Prohibition-era room with a full bar, professional poker table, four leather chairs and a flat-screen TV.

“I loved it right away,” said Micone, who has since returned to the “Speakeasy” suite three times. “I played this joke on my friends that night. I bought a bottle of Champagne and said come to my room. When they got up here, there were like, ‘Nice bed, Eddie, but can’t we have a drink at the bar?’ Then I went to the bookcase and entered the private room. They flipped.”

The idea for the suites comes from the hotel’s storied past. It has been an iconic New York City lodge since it was built in 1904 as Hotel Seville. A recent upgrade by designer David Rockwell and the addition of Millesime, the hotel’s award-winning seafood brasserie, has injected a major dose of sophisticated cool into the Carlton.

“The four suites add spice,” said hotel general manager Victor Freeman. “Guests really get a kick out of all of them.”

Designed by W+CO, the suites include Broadway Diva, Carlton Corner Pocket, Carlton New Yorker and the Speakeasy. Broadway Diva is all bling, with a draped bed, blue velvet couch, wild wallpaper and photos of Hollywood starlets. Carlton Corner Pocket is a man’s dream with a billiards table and full bar. New Yorker has an air of exotic chic with its homage to the magazine of the same name. A separate office stands ready for an assistant to work the day away.

“You can live out your New York dreams in here or take a step back in time,” Freeman said. “We can have hair stylists up to your room, poker dealers and bartenders. If you have an assistant or need a working suite to get business done, these are really perfect.”

They’re also good for rock stars. Who knows what dark doings lurk in New York’s past, or present?

Prices range from $ 595 to $ 895 per night for Speakeasy and Diva and $ 2,500 for the larger penthouse suites, Carlton New Yorker and Corner Pocket, which connect to make one giant space. Two-night packages start at $ 2,350, but come with extras like dinner and shows.

What: The Carlton Hotel, a New York gem in a historic building with a double-height lobby, bars galore and four new city-themed suites.

Where: 88 Madison Ave., at 29th St. Go to Carltonhotelny.com.

Why: Who doesn’t need a little fun in life? The Diva suite is
all glam, the New Yorker’s a workhorse’s dream, Corner Pocket’s a party haven, and the Speakeasy is a cocktail lover’s nirvana.