The Standard Red-Eye Guide

Contrary to popular belief, red-eye flights are both a blessing and a curse. The curse: it’s hard to sleep in a freezing tin can, and touching down on no rest is no fun. The blessing though: you get to hit the ground running and have a full day at your destination upon arrival. 

Now you can feel more blessed than stressed, because our new service Standard Time lets you check in and out of our hotels at the time of your choosing—including bright and early, which comes in handy for curing red eyes and helping you make the most of your time on the ground. 

Since the jet lag is far worse going west to east, we devised a little insider’s guide to help you game it all out when flying from LAX > > NYC. Here’s our trusty guide to ace-ing the red-eye morning, afternoon, night, and late night. 

This is no time to play games with that taxi line. Hop in an Uber. Local’s trick: tell your driver to meet you at departures. (45 minutes.) 

Check in at The Standard, East Village or The Standard, High Line. Thanks to your new best friend, Standard Time, you can check in well before the usual 3pm check-in. (8 minutes) 

Once in your room, do the obligatory jump (collapse)-on-the-bed. Then take a quick shower and catch a 45-minute catnap. Whatever you do, don’t sleep all day or you’ll hate yourself. (1 hr. 30 seconds: (30 seconds of jumping, 15 minutes of showering, 45 minutes of napping)) 

Post-nap, head to Liquiteria. If you’re at The Standard, East Village, there's one on 2nd Avenue. If you're at the The Standard, High Line, try the one on 8th Ave and 15th St. Opt for something full of leafy greens, such as the All Greens with lemon and ginger. It will help reset your system and leave you feeling revived. (15 minutes) 

Not quite fully revived? Grab an espresso at Abraco on 7th, or Ninth Street Espresso in Chelsea Market for a pick-me-up. (10 minutes)

Stay awake with a little eye candy: the world’s greatest collection of American art at The Whitney Museum. Art must have some sort of jet lag curative powers, right? Hard to say, but what’s not to love about a light-filled museum full of more the 22,000 works of art by some of the greatest talents from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries? (2 hours) 

After the Whitney, rest your feet and refuel with lunch at Santina nearby or Untitled at the Whitney. Also, don’t forget to drink plenty of water—your body is likely still dehydrated from that flight. (45 minutes)

Working out might be the very best cure of all when it comes to recovering from a night flight. If you stretch out those aching legs and sweat out the toxins, you’ll feel like a new person in just a half hour (or more, depending on how energetic you’re feeling). The gym at The Standard, High Line has stunning views. Or go for a run along the West Side Highway waterfront if you are staying at The Standard, High Line (you’re literally steps away from the one of the city’s greatest running paths), or hit up one of our in-house classes taught by Madonna's former trainer and fitness guru Nicole Winhoffer (she’s got both morning and evening classes, but scheduling depends on the day). If you’re at the East Village location, the nearby Barry’s Bootcamp, Mile High Run Club, SoulCycle, and Flywheel are good bets. (1 hour)

Photo of Nicole Winhoffer at The Standard, High Line

If you don’t feel like actually moving your body or doing a workout, there’s another option: infrared body wraps at Higher Dose. Your body will thank you for it later. All you have to do is lie in the wrap and listen to music, and you’ll feel detoxed and rejuvenated in no time. (30-60 minutes)

Take your second shower of the day—or a bath if your room comes equipped—and get ready to go back out there. (1 hour)

Before you go too crazy with the rosé, we suggest a nice long dinner at The Standard Grill. Must haves: bi-valves (oysters), the steak tartare, the New York strip, or the Standard Burger. (1.5 hours)

When you finish your meal, power up with an espresso shot or two. At this rate, you might be the last one standing. (15 minutes) 

You’ve made it to a reasonable bedtime (pretty early, we’d say, but no judgment). You could go to sleep, or since you just had that espresso, may we suggest: Le Bain and/or Top of The Standard. The door is at our discretion, but if you look nice and act nice, you just may be partying with us on Top. 

Download an app called Entrain (it’s free) to help your body clock adjusted to your new time zone quickly. Since light exposure is a key element to adjusting to a new time zone, the app records your lighting history, simulates your body clock, and then gives you suggestions accordingly, so you can sleep better and recover from jet lag faster. 

Put the Do Not Disturb sign on your door.