Retreat from the noise and chaos of Times Square with the M Social Hotel.
New York City has rightly been called the city that never sleeps, but Times Square, with its bright lights, flashing billboards and awe-struck tourists, is in another realm entirely. Therefore, many will be shocked to know that in the middle of all of the noise and movement, there is the perfect getaway for visitors and New Yorkers alike.
The M Social Hotel New York Times Square has everything guests need to rest and restore themselves from all the liveliness New York City has to offer. During the US Open, it even hosted star tennis players Yannick Hanfmann and Hamad Medjedovic.
Amid the US Open’s fan week and qualifying rounds, M Social Collective, which is M Social’s global brand activation and creative community, hosted a panel and several wellness activations. The curated pop-ups showcased not only the hotel’s beautiful (and soundproof) accommodations but also some of its more unique offerings, including an active beehive, its massive wraparound terrace overlooking Times Square, and several ways for guests to incorporate movement and restoration.
M Social Hotel New York Times Square
During a “Where Sport Meets Culture” panel at Beast & Butterflies, the hotel’s lifestyle restaurant and bar concept, M Social Resident Trainer Keoni Hudoba led a lively discussion with the US Open players, the founders of Coffee+Chill and beekeeper Kristen Rydberg. German tennis player Yannick Hanfmann shared his experience at the M Hotel.
“Hamad and I, we’re going to play the US Open next week,” Hanfmann said. “So right now it’s a heavy preparation phase for us. We’re having long days practicing. When we’re done, it’s nice to come back here. My room is spacious enough to have a massage table there so I can be with my physio there. I can be with my fiancé. We have a good gym here, so we can use the hotel facilities, which is big because at the [USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center] right now there are so many players and we have to share everything there. So it’s really good that we have some space here. I can have a chill night: get my treatment done, go to dinner. We’re in the middle of the city, so we have endless possibilities. We have everything that we need to feel welcome. I think that’s important because you can’t get caught up too much in the tennis stuff. At least for me, I need a good balance. I need to be with my people and really, really enjoy the company from them.”
Like his tennis colleague, Serbian tennis player Hamad Medjedovic was also enthusiastic about the accommodations at M Social Hotel Times Square. For him, it was all about the hotel’s extensive food options. “I have a good breakfast to start with, go to the gym and then hit the courts,” he said. “I try to take eggs, a lot of eggs, then some breast for the protein, a little bit of meat, and that’s it. That’s a good feel for the match.”
M Social Hotel New York Times Square
In addition to the panel, M Social Hotel Times Square also threw a Coffee + Chill experience on the hotel’s iconic terrace that included a few rounds of pickleball with Hanfmann and Medjedovic, coffee, music and ice plunges with the Coffee + Chill team, IV Therapy stations with Drip Hydration and other wellness activations including creatine tastings, permanent jewelry and a dead hang competition station.
For Coffee + Chill founders Liz Lindenmeier and Micah Lundstrom, finding community in a massive, vibrant city like New York City is one reason they are so passionate about their wellness social club.
“Whether you’re living here or visiting, the ability to find a community or a place where you can connect, you can expand your horizons, you can integrate yourself deeper in the city is really valuable,” Lundstrom said. “To be able to start somewhere like M Social and to be able to come to experiences like Coffee + Chill that are already built into the hotel and to be able to use the hotel as both a place to be and to connect and hang, but also as a place to explore and find other possibilities is really impactful. At its core, Coffee + Chill aims to create a place to make friends, make new connections and be healthy outside of the bar. There are a lot of bars in New York.”
Photo by The Knockturnal
Lundstrom also reflected on Coffee + Chill’s partnership with M Social and why she believes it’s the perfect fit. “I look at traveling as a moment for expansion in people’s lives,” she said. “It’s a moment for enjoyment. If you’re not traveling for work, you’re usually traveling to explore and move. And I think that that’s so important when you choose your hotel and your place of stay, that it is beyond just the thing that you come back to at the end of the day after a 15-hour itinerary in a city that you haven’t been before. I think it’s a place where you really feel at home. I also think you want connection to the place that you’re going to be staying at. I think M Social using experiential hospitality activations like Coffee + Chill is so important because you are tapping into the culture of the place you’re visiting and the community.”
In addition to wellness, sustainability is also a key component of the M Social Hotel Times Square’s DNA and the M Social Collective. Tucked on the side of the hotel’s gasp-worthy terrace is the Bee Social, an active beehive that houses 50,000 bees. The honey the bees produce is even used in several of the Beast & Butterflies’ specialty cocktails, including the Lola Spritz.
Photo by The Knockturnal
Beekeeper Kristen Rydberg, the Alvéole Northeast Territory Lead, and her team work tirelessly to ensure that the Bee Social and several other hives across the city are healthy and thriving. Rydberg is often on hand to showcase the hive to guests, provide honey tastings and answer any questions about the hive and the bees themselves. The Bee Social is just another component of what makes the M Social Hotel Times Square so unique.
“It resonates with today’s travelers because what we’re seeing is more intentional modern travelers,” Rydberg said. “Over 75% of travelers nowadays, they’re actually intentionally seeking out places that care about sustainability. So bees is something that’s a visible action of sustainability, something that they can resonate with, connect back with. It’s not just a passive lodging. It’s something where you’re enjoying staying. You want the place that you’re actually staying at to be part of the experience, not just the city that you’re going to. It really elevates that experience.”
Though the evening was full of plunge pools, coffee and meet-and-greets, the wellness experience at M Social Times Square didn’t end there.
The next morning, guests headed back to the terrace for an intense core session with Trainer Keoni Hudoba. The workout was well worth it. Afterward, M Social indulged guests in a massive spread of pastries, eggs, pressed juices, French toast and sausages for breakfast.
Despite the rain, Alvéole beekeeper Kristen Rydberg showed off the hive (though it remained unopened because the rain inhibits bees’ ability to fly) and, inside, shared some riveting facts about bee life while offering a honey tasting that ranged from monofloral to multifloral honeys, including blueberry- and chocolate-flavored varieties.
“We come every three weeks to maintain the honeybee hive,” Rydberg said. “We have a social platform that’s called My Hive. So the [M Social] hotel guests, or anyone interested in following along, can follow that page and get updates. It’s a great way to educate and engage and connect people even further by using those sensory experiences.”
To ground guests in the final hours of their stay, the M Social Collective hosted a tranquil Sound Bath Meditation led by Sound Off. Using noise-isolating headphones, guests were guided through a peaceful hour-long meditation that included a melodic singing voice, crystal and metal singing bowls and quiet chimes.
Overlooking the bustling hub of Times Square, M Social Hotel proves that retreating from the city doesn’t mean you have to leave it.
