A new manner of loving myself
A sexy SoHo hotel, shrimp cocktail in bed, and celebrating Valentine’s Day in my own company
Ed. note: This stay was hosted by The Manner. As always, I only share experiences that I genuinely love, and all opinions and recommendations are entirely my own. Thank you for reading and supporting my work!
I have always marked special occasions in hotels.
Birthdays, anniversaries…no matter the kind of celebration, my instinct is to check in somewhere beautiful. There’s something about the choreography of a hotel stay that makes a moment feel official. Someone else making your bed. A cocktail at a swanky bar. Room service eaten in bed guilt-free. A place that exists purely for pleasure and nothing else. Things that aren’t part of my everyday life.
In years past, those stays were always shared. There was always someone else in the room. A suitcase laid out next to my own. Someone to clink glasses or split an order of fries with.
This time, it was just me. And that was the whole point.
A hotel for one
For my first Valentine’s Day as a single woman in a decade, I checked into one of the sexiest new hotels in New York, a place that’s topped my staycation bucket list for months: The Manner.
Tucked into a quiet SoHo side street, The Manner is intimate and mood-driven in a way that feels distinctly downtown. It’s part of Hyatt’s Unbound Collection, which immediately caught my attention as a longtime Hyatt loyalist who has happily structured much of my travel life around that ecosystem. The Unbound Collection spotlights independent, design-forward properties with strong points of view, and The Manner fits squarely within that ethos. It feels layered and residential, evoking its own private world—truly the perfect setting for a solo retreat and a little intentional self-care.
The pleasure of privacy
I checked into a King Studio Suite, which was cozy in footprint but expansive in feeling. Like the rest of the hotel, the design leans sensual and warm, layered with midcentury textures and rich jewel tones. It feels genuinely residential in the way a very chic friend’s SoHo loft might.
My favorite details: nightstands featuring built-in speakers you could connect to your phone, a well-curated bookshelf, and bath products featuring a personal favorite, more under-the-radar brand called Costa Brazil (which doubles as the hotel’s signature scent).
An evening on my terms
For my evening of self-care, I started with drinks at the bar downstairs with a friend before retreating upstairs for a solo room service dinner.
Sloane’s, The Manner’s cocktail bar, is tucked behind a heavy velvet curtain on the guests-only second floor. Inside, you’ll find rich textures and impeccable service. My friend and I both ordered lychee martinis: delicately sweet, beautifully balanced, and easily one of the better cocktails I have had in recent memory.
Later, back in my room, I faced a far more important decision: the salmon or the filet mignon?
I chose the salmon—the safer option—paired with herbed fries and shrimp cocktail. I’m normally very skeptical of room service; too often, the restaurant downstairs shines while what arrives at your door feels like an afterthought. But this was excellent. It genuinely felt like a restaurant meal served privately, which is not often the case when ordering in. It felt intentional, not secondary, like the experience upstairs mattered just as much as the one below.
And that, I think, is what The Manner gets right.
The spaces are romantic, yes, but not dependent on romance. They are designed for mood—for pleasure—whether you are accompanied or not. Mood, as it turns out, does not require a plus-one.
The ritual remains
For a long time, I associated celebration with togetherness. I thought the hotel was about the shared memory—the clink of glasses, the “remember this?” years later. But during my Valentine’s week stay at The Manner, I realized something: the hotel was never about the other person.
I’m still someone who celebrates in hotels. I’m still someone who marks occasions with intention. The only difference was that this time, the room was entirely mine.
Oh—and I didn’t have to share my fries.
Tori Simokov is a Travel Writer and Graphic Designer/Strategist based in New York. To get in touch, email tori@v1projects.com. Want more? Check out Instagram, TikTok, or shop her curated favorites.
Hotels are controlled environments. That’s part of the appeal.
When life feels transitional, a hotel room can feel like neutral territory - contained, aesthetic, temporary. A place to recalibrate without rewriting your whole life.
That’s powerful. 🚀
Happy belated Valentine's. I love this tradition of spending special occasions at a hotel, may have to copy it.