Why?

The hottest, most celebrity-spangled destination in le tout Manhattan is not a sneerily exclusive private members club of the Soho House variety, nor is it a ruinously expensive, terrifyingly decadent boîte de nuit like Lindsay Lohan's fave, Bungalow 8. It is, instead, an open-to-the-general-public, pretension-lite, quietly civilised, minuscule jewel of a hotel bar, set in a leafy, graceful mid-town square.

You've been, I take it.

Naturally. The Gramercy Park Hotel is a venerable old New York institution which fell into a state of disrepair latterly. Ian Schrager, alpha hotelier, bought it a couple of years back, and set about spamming it up, which caused some consternation, because Schrager's signature white, minimalist, modern aesthetic was considered completely contrary to the ramshackle, eccentric tradition of the GPH. But then, when it finally opened to the public in August the Gramercy Park had been transformed into a fabulous Dracula-ish folly of an extravaganza, a 'scary gothic sex castle' as one reviewer put it. I popped in a couple of weeks after the launch, and marvelled at the vaulting and the lush tapestries and the stupidly handsome doormen.

But what of the bar?

The Rose Bar is a small, high-ceilinged affair, all burgundy drapes and black and white tilted floors, with furniture designed by Julian Schnabel and art by Jean-Michel Basquiat. The waitresses are as lovely as the doormen are fit, and furthermore, they're clad in S&M-y leather frocks with exciting-looking zip detailing, and vertiginous tart shoes with ankle straps. It's the first time I remember being jealous of staff uniforms. The drinks are silly money, inevitably; but well, the whole environment makes one feel super-special, which makes a glass of Pinot Grigio worth $11 of anyone's money, surely?

Knowing you, I imagine there's some celebrity angle to this review?

But of course! While I didn't actually spot anyone while I was there, my sources assure me that celebs flock to The Rose Bar on an hourly basis. The Olsen twins, Orlando Bloom, Winona Ryder, Josh Lucas, Sienna Miller... Marc Jacobs had a party there, as did Bill Clinton; the Rolling Stones, Jack White, Lucy Liu, Chelsea Clinton have all popped along. But better yet, Ian Schrager has banned Paris Hilton from the premises, saying: 'I have absolutely nothing personal against Paris Hilton - in fact, I've never even met her. We're just trying to do something different here.' And because Schrager pioneered the culture of hotel lobby socialising, and because the Rose Bar is a touch teeny, the lobby of the GPH is beginning to get super-hot too, because it's conveniently located so that the A list boozers can overflow into it.

The Rose Bar at the Gramercy Park Hotel, 50 Gramercy Park North, New York (00 1 212 920 3300). Reservations required in the Rose Bar after 10pm: Gramercy Park Hotel