Best hotels in New York: Where to stay in Manhattan, Brooklyn and more
The challenge with choosing where to splash out for some shut-eye in New York, the city that never sleeps, is that there’s no shortage of places to rest your head – especially since each district of this dynamic city has its own distinct personality, and discerning travellers can now stray from Manhattan’s thoroughfares in almost any direction.
So how to sift the wheat from the chaff? Pick a neighbourhood and decide whether you want to stump up for something fancy or if you’re happy to go back to basics, as long as it’s stylish. Here are the hotels that combine soul and style, that ditch buttoned-up service, and feel steeped in the spirit of this caffeinated city.
The best hotels in New York are:
Best for art: The Whitby,Booking.com
Best for design: The High Line Hotel, Booking.com
Best for value: The Marlton, Booking.com
Best for families: The Carlyle, Booking.com
Best for hipsters: The Ludlow, Booking.com
Best for views: Standard High Line, Booking.com
Best for shopping: The Mercer, Booking.com
Best for eco chic: 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, Booking.com
Best sense of place: The Wythe, Wythehotel.com
Best for New York first-timers: INNSIDE Nomad, Booking.com
Best for a touch of class: Soho Grand, Booking.com
Best for some zen: MADE Hotel, Booking.com
Best for atmosphere: The Bowery, Booking.com
Best for longer stays: Loews Regency, Booking.com
Best for art: The Whitby
Neighbourhood: Midtown
Tim and Kit Kemp of Firmdale Hotels were smart to create a Midtown sibling (two blocks north of MoMA) for their popular Crosby Street Hotel. Their London-centric design formula may be familiar – a slick 16-floor, 86-room newbuild filled with characterful design – but as in their other hotels, the interiors are a tonic of colour and textures thanks to Kit’s artful imagination (minimalists steer clear). Specially commissioned witty artworks and larger than-life-sculptures are scattered throughout the building. A wall glows with artist Martha Freud’s votive ceramics, each etched with different New York landmarks. In the bar, the cocktails are first class – try a tangy Whitby Paloma (Ocho Blanco tequila infused with house-made marmalade, fresh pink grapefruit, lime, agave and soda) – while the leafy Orangery terrace is a blissful retreat from the concrete jungle. JK
Best for value: The Marlton
Neighborhood: Greenwich Village
Hotelier Sean MacPherson is a master of creating a seemingly historical hotel that fits into the fabric of a once-seedy district – look no further than his most famous project, the Bowery Hotel, for evidence. For The Marlton’s 2013 opening, he gave this nine-storey, 1900-built building a new lease of life – a world away from its original incarnation as a student dorm.
A block north of Washington Park, the 107 rooms are small but well designed, exemplifying MacPherson’s shtick of crisp quality bed linens, Persian rugs and seemingly vintage yet utterly modern bathrooms. The sociable lobby lounge and bistro at the back make it a favourite with the music and fashion pack, and service is friendly but unashamedly low key. JK
Best for views: Standard High Line
Hip hotelier André Balazs may have sold his pop culture-loving hotel brand, but its most iconic 18-floor high-riser still straddles the High Line in the heart of the Meatpacking District, an arm’s length from Chelsea’s galleries and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Voyeurs and exhibitionists alike appreciate the wall-to-wall windows in the 338 rooms, which ensure you can see and be seen (remember that, as you reach for your bathrobe).
The Standard Grill steakhouse is another place to see and be seen, as is the street-level German pub, Biergarten, complete with ping pong tables. The rooftop Le Bain bar is as exclusive today as it was when it opened – non-residents have to queue, and though hotel guests aren’t guaranteed admission, they get priority. JK
Best for hipsters: The Ludlow
Neighborhood: Lower East Side
Part of the gentrification of the once gritty Lower East Side, the Ludlow opened in 2014 opposite Katz’s Delicatessen. The days of artists living in cheap lofts are long gone, but the hotel lobby evokes a louche 1980s vibe of dive bars and underground recording studios, with a sociable work-rest-and-play space with low-slung leather sofas and giant Marshall speakers.
Bedrooms are bright and breezy, and most have incredible views over the city. A perk of staying in this place is that you can also leapfrog the techpreneurs and art-world hotshots who hang out here to get into the popular ground-floor restaurant, Dirty French, which is always booked up. JK
Best for shopping: The Mercer
Neighborhood: SoHo
If the hotel industry had its own almanack, the birth of this 75-room hotel (Andre Balazs’s creation) in 1998 would be catalogued as having set the blueprint for the boutique trend. Twenty years on, the exposed brick and wooden floorboards in the bedrooms are as on point as ever. Here, near Apple’s HQ, in a 1890 Romanesque Revival mansion, SoHo’s media and music wranglers and fashion luvvies still head to chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Mercer Kitchen restaurant down below to schmooze, booze and make their moves. JK
Best for eco chic: 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge
Neighborhood: Dumbo
Barry Sternlicht declares this the best hotel he’s ever created – and as the founder of W Hotels, he knows what he’s talking about. A 25ft living wall of figs and ferns in the lobby, decor made from reclaimed materials, wind-powered electricity and a dedicated triple-filtered drinking water tap in every room confirm that this a seriously eco-friendly hotel – there’s even a Tesla available for local transfers. The bedrooms are a warm and welcoming tableau of upcycled wood and natural, organic fabrics. Be sure to book one which enjoys epic views over the Brooklyn Bridge and East River, but for the full scene in high definition head to the tenth-floor rooftop where there’s also a pool. JK
Best sense of place: The Wythe
Neighborhood: Williamsburg
A former textile factory, The Wythe’s pine-beamed, brick-walled, cast-iron-columned bedrooms overlook Brooklyn’s (current) beer brewery, making this the most authentic of the crop of hip hotels in this corner of Brooklyn. It’s also the most appealing, thanks to the attention to detail by the owner Andrew Tarlow, the man behind hipster delicatessen, Marlow & Sons. The minibars are packed with superior snacks, and there’s a tip-top brasserie, Reynard.
In the rooms, specially made wallpapers by local artists reference the neighbourhood, while Goldie’s natural soaps are among the hyperlocal amenities. Cocktails should be taken on the Manhattan-view rooftop bar – the hotel is only a couple of blocks from the East River. JK
Best for New York first-timers: INNSIDE Nomad
Neighbourhood: Chelsea
This hotel is the United States’ first INNSIDE, a sub-brand of Spanish company Melia, which has several outposts across Europe. On the periphery of Broadway, the INNSIDE Nomad is a sleek addition to the streets of Chelsea, which doubles as both a cosy bolthole for tourists and a handy base for business travellers working in Midtown.
Its well-designed and bright guest rooms, fitted with floor-to-ceiling windows, offer superb views of Midtown and the Freedom Tower; while signature restaurant The Wilson does a neat line in fresh seafood dishes. The 24-hour fitness centre and proximity to Midtown will suit business travellers, but it's first-time visitors to New York that the hotel really caters for. The hotel offers the INNSIDE Urban Guide, packed full of New York tips from locals, to make the most of your stay. JS
Best for a touch of class: Soho Grand
Neighbourhood: SoHo
The gorgeous interiors at this celeb hangout channel old-school New York glamour. Draperies, velvet couches, vintage rugs and plush fabrics all recall the Gilded Age, while the The Parlour – found at the back of the genteel Club Room – is like a cosier version of a gentleman’s club, replete with roaring fire and leather recliners. What the guestrooms lack in space, they make up for in style: think wood floors, leather headboards, Frette robes, and great views of Manhattan landmarks (if you score a high floor). Soho was once famed for artists’ lofts, but today it’s probably the chicest part of Lower Manhattan: known for expensive boutique stores and NYC food icons Balthazar and Dominique Ansel Bakery (home of the ‘cronut’). LC
Best for some zen: MADE Hotel
Neighbourhood: Nomad
Though it’s plum in the middle of the Midtown madness just north of Madison Square Park – and just five blocks from the Empire State Building – the airy design at this boutique address says “... and relax”. Wall-to-wall reclaimed wood, handwoven textiles and abundant greenery make the surroundings earthy-luxurious, extending even to the bedrooms, where mattresses sit on trendy wooden platforms, and pendant lights dangle from concrete ceilings. The 18th floor tiki bar, Good Behaviour, offers floor-to-ceiling Manhattan views, but gets unbearably crowded. Our advice: head here early, before diving into the hustle and bustle beyond the lobby. LC
Best for atmosphere: The Bowery
Neighbourhood: Lower East Side
There’s something irresistibly cinematic about the lobby at The Bowery, all low lighting, wood-panelled walls, worn Turkish rugs and red velvet. It’s precisely how a hotel lobby should look, and you’ll want to spend as much time here as possible, sipping cocktails on sumptuous couches, and keeping your eyes peeled for the odd A-lister. Bedrooms have a completely different vibe: white painted brick walls and factory windows reference the edgy neighbourhood outside, and the bathrooms, while small, are contemporary-luxe (marble, brass, rain shower). Do tear yourself away from that lobby at some point: the LES is a brilliant nightlife district, and bar-hopping the narrow streets below East Houston is equally atmospheric. LC
Best for longer stays: Loews Regency
Neighbourhood: Midtown
Following a recent $100m renovation, the ritzy Loews Regency on New York's Park Avenue gained six bespoke signature residences fitted out with a living room, dining area, kitchen, bedroom and balcony, ideal for longer stay guests in search of a place to decompress. Elsewhere in the hotel there's even an entire floor dedicated to its spa, which should help return calm after a day wandering nearby Central Park; and the Art Deco-in-feel Regency Bar & Grill, which serves its much-loved Power Breakfast. It's a convenient base for exploring Midtown or the museums of the Upper East Side. With the look of a classic New York City apartment block, returning to Loews Regency is like coming home. JS
Best for design: The High Line Hotel
Neighborhood: Chelsea
In the heart of Chelsea’s gallery district, this neo-Gothic former seminary with its Intelligentsia coffee truck and bar parked outside is an expert at blending heritage with hip. eBay-sourced Victorian and Edwardian antiques are among the furnishings, perfect for the Instagram generation.
Not to be confused with the much flashier Standard High Line, which is a few blocks south, this is off the tourist trail on Tenth Avenue, a block from the High Line park and close to Chelsea Market’s many foodie delights. Service and facilities come with a light touch; in the absence of a concierge desk, this quirkier spot is suited to seasoned visitors to the city who don’t need their hands holding by the kind of brass badge-flaunting staff in starched suits you get at the big chain hotels. JK
Prices: Doubles from $385 (£295)
Best for families: The Carlyle
Neighborhood: Upper east side
Having the top-hatted bellhops at this Beaux Arts brick building (now owned by Rosewood Hotels) open the door to you in the same way they do for high-profile dignitaries is enough to give you a thrill. Find your way to one of its 188 rooms and suites, and you don’t know which VIP or celebrity you might pass; last time I was there, Daphne Guinness was getting a blow-dry in the salon.
The eye-popping cityscape views from the upper floors evoke sweeping opening scenes from the movies. George Gershwin spent time here in the 1930s, and today Woody Allen is known as a weekly regular, having played the clarinet with Café Carlyle’s resident jazz band. Although it recently underwent a refurb, Bemelmans Bar is as atmospheric as ever, with murals hand-painted by – and named after – Ludwig Bemelmans, author of the Madeline children’s books, who painted the bar in return for living here in the 1950s. Because of the link, the hotel is a good bet for well-heeled families, with Madeline-themed packages and good provisions for children. JK
Price: Doubles from $800 (£600)
Read the full The Caryle review
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