Laundry Luxuries: Pickup & Delivery

Slate
646-261-7613
Slate is perfection-obsessed — from their ecofriendly cleaning technologies to sleek packaging techniques.
And it’s a cinch to partake. Go online and select pickup and delivery times. They’ll send you a hamper for your laundry. (Slate charges you a weekly flat fee, so go ahead and smush as much as you can into that bag.)
Then they’ll pick up, sort, separate, and determine which garments need to be hand- or machine-washed, line-dried, or dry-cleaned. Incredible shrinking jeans, graying whites, and violent wash and dry cycles will become a distant memory.
Two days later, your clothes are delivered — wrapped up, tagged, and good as new. Slate even includes a free gift — usually some cool, local thing the team found and wants to share with you. (Daily Candy got organic chocolate bars.)


Ladies Who Launder
Very Disappointing
212.828.3800
Despite the hype, I've ben very disappointed with LWL. I was thrilled with my first 2 or 3 pickups/deliveries, but right about the time I started to feel confident that this service was the best thing EVER and I had solved my laundry quandry, their service really started to fall apart for me. Many scheduled pick-up times and deliveries were botched (they didn't show up and didn't call to tell me that they weren't going to show up OR reschedule). I found myself stalking my laundry bags ... I actually felt like my laundry had been kidnapped. Not great when this is supposed to be a premium service to help me SAVE time. Last week I was dismayed to find that all of my laundry had been dried in the dryer despite my very specific, typed instructions for items that required drip-dry. How do I know that they dried my drip-dry itmes in the dryer? Shrinkage. 2 of my favorite garments no longer fit (sleeves are short, shirts are too short to cover my torso). My loss, Housing Works gain, I guess. When I called Iris, she basically told me that the "lady who laundered" my laundry last week would be "fired on the spot." Not exactly the result I was hoping for. That solution doesn't really help me replace a Lacoste polo ($85) and a Caypso linen top ($125), nor does it give me a warm and fuxxy feeling about the "Ladies" in general.


Urban Convenience
212.772.8412
$1.25 per pound, Drycleaning price list on-line. $10 at-home tailor service.
48-hour turnaround.
Mission: To provide the finest quality dry cleaning services at the lowest prices, catering to the busy lifestyle of the urban professional. Daily Candy

Travel Like a Big Shot

Luggage-Free Courier Service
800.361.6871
Does packing give you nightmares? Are you still dreaming of Miranda Priestly (The Devil Wears Prada) ordering her assistants to individually wrap her clothing (in velvet, no less)? Then try Luggage-Free Courier Service. The Company will pick-up your necessities, wrap them in plastic, then tag and deliver them to any destination in the U.S. Luggage-Free Courier Service is, hand's down, the easiest way to avoid security hassles and arrive at your resort relaxed and with your bags waiting for you.
At $1.65/pound regardless of destination, we're talking affordable luxury. pick up, plastic-wrap, and tag your bags at home, then deliver them so they'll be waiting for you--skis to the mountain, stroller to the amusement park -- at any U.S. destination.


Alternatively, luggage concierge will come also to your home, pick up any size bags, and deliver them right to your destination. Just provide them with the details and the dates you'd like your luggage to arrive. Quotes are available on-line by entering zip codes (for example, it's less than $53 for round-trip travel between New York and Florida), and bags can only be fetched Monday thru Friday. (considering over 2.2 million people arrived at airports in 2003 wondering where their bags were - it may be just what the travel doctor ordered.)
800.288.9818

While visiting Chelsea (and staying in our apartment), if you have 2 hours to wander and you are interested in walking to a REALLY interesting art exhibit/installation, walk over to the Hudson (the river on the west side, so left as you leave our building) and then down a few blocks to ashesandsnow. It is a beautiful, breathtaking installation, and the museum itself is an integral element. Takes about 2 hours to really experience the whole thing.

If you want to grab a burger or salad (or healthy, full breakfast) at diner prices, but in a "cool" spot, Cafeteria on 7th Ave and 17th St. is great. No problem sitting on your own here as long as it isn't peak seating time. Another neighborhood gem is City Bakery -- they put a VERY gourmet spin on the salad bar concept. Just walk up 6th to 17th? 18th? and hang a right. City Bakery is on the North side of the street. AMAZING quick breakfast, and great for putting an evening meal together on your own and toting it home. They close on the early side since they are mainly take-out, so call to check their hours before if you choose to get dinner there.

The RMA (Rubin Museum of Art) is across the street on 17th (between 6th/7th) -- a brand new Himalayan art museum fully funded by the Rubin family and stocked with treasures from their own collection. A stunningly designed space. Worth stepping into just to soak up the zen-like vibe of the coffee bar without committing to the museum entry fee.

Union Square has the farmers market on most Saturday mornings. Just hang a right out of the apartment and walk a few blocks east on 16th. Great place to grab an artisinal bread or fresh squeezed juice. Hang a left out of our building's front door and visit Chelsa Market for fresh bakery goods, dairy products, an amazing array of fruit and vegetables or an alternative spot to Starbucks for your morning cup o' joe.