Saturday, December 4, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
"Be Their Guest" Washington Post Article: Toshi Apartments
I walked past the building -- and the keeper of the apartment key -- twice before realizing that the early-1900s brick structure with the doorman was my home for the night. I followed Hotel Toshi (of Toshi Apartments) intern Paul Chiang, as friendly as the boy next door, through the black-and-white-tiled lobby and into the elevator. Chelsea "is the hip place to live," he said. "It used to be the West Village."
Chiang held open the door as I stepped inside, yes, a real New York apartment: small but not suffocating, with wood molding on the white walls, hardwood floors that creaked slightly and a cubbyhole kitchen with a cutout window into the main room, ideal for a drive-through dinner party.
I could nest here, I thought, as I scoped out the workstation with free WiFi, the black flat-screen TV, the duvet-draped bed dappled in sunlight. "This is the best apartment, location-wise," Chiang said, running through the nearby subway lines. Before leaving, he wrote down his phone number. "Definitely call me if you need anything," he said. "Anything" meaning additional towels, a replacement light bulb, subway directions, restaurant suggestions: basically whatever a guest would ask of a hotel concierge.
Checkout the next day was at 11 a.m., but I had lost track of time while eating breakfast on the roof deck. When I contacted Chiang for a later checkout, he invited me to evening cocktails at Hotel Toshi's headquarters (Toshi Apartments). "Toshi loves drinking with clients," he explained about his boss. He also enjoys interrogating his guests, at least the ones from across the river.
"What went wrong?" he exclaimed after meeting me, the pinot grigio splashing slightly in his glass. "The only reason someone comes in from Manhattan is to yell at me. Did something happen?"
Everything was great, I assured him. Loved the place, the location, Chiang, the doorman, the neighbor who recommended a good sushi restaurant and the invitation for cocktails. Now, how about adding some liquid to my glass?
We sat on white leather couches and talked about Toshi, a.k.a. Robert Chan, a very interesting topic indeed. "I throw parties, that's what I do, that's what I am good at and enjoy," said the 35-year-old San Francisco native, adding that he'd been kicked out of Columbia University for his fete-ing ways. "Everything else I fell into." In addition to real estate, he also stumbled into acting, appearing in several films and TV commercials here and abroad. "I was in Spain throwing a party when I got a call: 'Martin Scorsese wants to meet you,' " he said. He flew to Los Angeles and was eventually hired for a part in "The Departed."
For the past year, Toshi has taken a hiatus from party planning to focus on rental management. His portfolio includes dozens of places around New York. The Chelsea apartment I stayed in, for example, was recently inhabited by Chiang; however, after he graduated from New York University, his parents stopped covering his rent. Toshi is helping him sublet the place through August, turning my vacation rental into a social cause.
Read Full Article
Chiang held open the door as I stepped inside, yes, a real New York apartment: small but not suffocating, with wood molding on the white walls, hardwood floors that creaked slightly and a cubbyhole kitchen with a cutout window into the main room, ideal for a drive-through dinner party.
I could nest here, I thought, as I scoped out the workstation with free WiFi, the black flat-screen TV, the duvet-draped bed dappled in sunlight. "This is the best apartment, location-wise," Chiang said, running through the nearby subway lines. Before leaving, he wrote down his phone number. "Definitely call me if you need anything," he said. "Anything" meaning additional towels, a replacement light bulb, subway directions, restaurant suggestions: basically whatever a guest would ask of a hotel concierge.
Checkout the next day was at 11 a.m., but I had lost track of time while eating breakfast on the roof deck. When I contacted Chiang for a later checkout, he invited me to evening cocktails at Hotel Toshi's headquarters (Toshi Apartments). "Toshi loves drinking with clients," he explained about his boss. He also enjoys interrogating his guests, at least the ones from across the river.
"What went wrong?" he exclaimed after meeting me, the pinot grigio splashing slightly in his glass. "The only reason someone comes in from Manhattan is to yell at me. Did something happen?"
Everything was great, I assured him. Loved the place, the location, Chiang, the doorman, the neighbor who recommended a good sushi restaurant and the invitation for cocktails. Now, how about adding some liquid to my glass?
We sat on white leather couches and talked about Toshi, a.k.a. Robert Chan, a very interesting topic indeed. "I throw parties, that's what I do, that's what I am good at and enjoy," said the 35-year-old San Francisco native, adding that he'd been kicked out of Columbia University for his fete-ing ways. "Everything else I fell into." In addition to real estate, he also stumbled into acting, appearing in several films and TV commercials here and abroad. "I was in Spain throwing a party when I got a call: 'Martin Scorsese wants to meet you,' " he said. He flew to Los Angeles and was eventually hired for a part in "The Departed."
For the past year, Toshi has taken a hiatus from party planning to focus on rental management. His portfolio includes dozens of places around New York. The Chelsea apartment I stayed in, for example, was recently inhabited by Chiang; however, after he graduated from New York University, his parents stopped covering his rent. Toshi is helping him sublet the place through August, turning my vacation rental into a social cause.
Read Full Article
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Welcome to Toshi Apartments
Thanks you for joining us. Please stay tuned as we will soon be announcing very exiting developments.
Toshi Apartments Team
Toshi Apartments Team
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