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11 min read<\/p>\n11 min read<\/p>\n
Visiting New York City makes for a jam-packed trip. From shows on Broadway to walks through Central Park, from exhibits at the museums (Met? MoMa? Take your pick!) to shopping Fifth Avenue, days here are booked from start to finish. Of course, it\u2019s then that the real fun starts\u2014Manhattan is full of the best bars<\/a> and restaurants<\/a> in the world.<\/p>\n Given the length of the to-do list, some travelers<\/a> think that where they stay while in town doesn\u2019t matter. We disagree. Just because you won\u2019t spend the bulk of your time lounging about in your hotel<\/a> robe doesn\u2019t mean you don\u2019t need a plush option to coddle you after an afternoon spent zipping from sight to sight or a long night out on the tiles. A big bed, crisp linens, and a killer lobby bar can make a visit, after all.<\/p>\n New York City is a town obsessed with the new. (It\u2019s even right there in the name: New York City.) And over the last five years it has seen an influx of hotels<\/a> that are as much the destination<\/a> as the line items on any itinerary. From the namesake brands that finally have a place to call home here, like the Faena to the most iconic renovation of the decade at the Waldorf Astoria, here is exactly where you should be booking right now.<\/p>\n FAENA<\/p>\n Book on Hotels.com<\/a> Book on Expedia<\/a><\/p>\n Faena shelters you from the city\u2019s chaos, but it\u2019s New York through and through. To the west, views of the Hudson River Greenway and Little Island. To the east, you can high-five people on the High Line from the terrace of the Living Room bar. The most N.Y.C. touch? The staff\u2019s suits are nicer than yours. Rooms from $1,395. \u2014Dave Holmes<\/p>\n WALDORF ASTORIA<\/p>\n Book on Booking.com<\/a> Book on Hotels.com<\/a><\/p>\n On the hotel\u2019s website, it says that \u201cto tell the story of New York is, in some sense, to tell the story of the Waldorf Astoria.\u201d For once, the marketing is correct. Like Manhattan, the hotel\u2019s story is a tale of outsize real estate ambitions. A global standard for hospitality ever since the combination of the Waldorf Hotel and the Astoria Hotel in 1897, the property became the prize in the most expensive hotel sale ever in 2014. Three years later, the new owners closed it for renovations. The project cost $2 billion and took eight years, during which time the property was traded again. The wait was worth it. From the rooms to the restaurants (there are three) to the sprawling lobby, where Cole Porter\u2019s piano anchors the room, to the Guerlain Wellness Spa, the hotel outright dazzles. It\u2019s the talk of Manhattan. And word is it\u2019s already back up for sale. Rooms from $1,295. \u2014Madison Vain<\/p>\n THE MANNER<\/p>\n Book on Tripadvisor<\/a><\/p>\n An understated facade on Thompson Street hides the sexiest hotel in SoHo. The Manner is the first of the latest brand by Standard International, and its flagship location is codesigned by the Standard\u2019s Verena Haller and Milanese architect Hannes Peer, so the whole place is Studio 54 stylish, yet comfortable. Speakeasy Sloane\u2019s is a great place for a cocktail and\u2014we swear\u2014the best chicken nuggets in town, while the Apartment is a cozy common space to use as your living room. Check out the penthouse, modeled after Halston\u2019s office, and dream of the party you\u2019ll throw there. There\u2019s no better center of operations for your next New York trip. Rooms from $799. \u2014D.H.<\/p>\n THE SURREY, A CORINTHIA HOTEL<\/p>\n Book on Expedia<\/a> Book on Hotels.com<\/a><\/p>\n Don\u2019t let yourself get swept away by the history. An Art Deco gem built in the 1920s at 76th and Madison, the Surrey was a longtime landmark in New York\u2019s glitziest neighborhood, playing host to the likes of JFK and Bette Davis. It closed after a century and, following a multiyear renovation, recently reopened as the first North American property under global luxury hotel group Corinthia. From the outside, the property could easily pass for a residential building. Inside, you\u2019ll find 70 rooms and 30 suites, each flawless. Muted terra-cotta-colored walls, crisp linens, and walk-in marble showers make for plush surroundings. The spa is small but divine. And the lobby bar and restaurant, Casa Tua (of Aspen, Miami, and Paris notoriety), is one of the hardest-to-get tables in town. Movie stars, politicians, famous divorc\u00e9es, influencers\u2014everyone here is someone. Including you. Rooms from $1,000. \u2014M.V.<\/p>\n THE FIFTH AVENUE HOTEL<\/p>\n Book on Booking.com<\/a><\/p>\n The Fifth Avenue Hotel leans into what New Yorkers with good taste who live in small spaces know is the secret to making their apartments feel luxurious: Love every single piece of furniture, adore every square inch. Nothing is wasted. If you\u2019re lucky, you\u2019ll get something like the rooms and hallways of the Fifth Avenue Hotel. It\u2019s like rich-aunt maximalism: Missoni-style upholstered chairs and couches, an armoire that\u2019s actually a giant bar adorned with dragons and birds. The wallpaper looks as though it\u2019s hand-painted. Lots of tapestries and tufted pink walls. Unlike in many N.Y.C. apartments, you\u2019ll get a great night\u2019s sleep here\u2014the room feels pin-drop quiet, and the bathrooms are serene marble white. This is New York, but you might not leave the hotel. There\u2019s in-room martini service, and downstairs is one of the city\u2019s best new restaurants, the old-school-luxe Caf\u00e9 Carmellini, as well as the Portrait Bar, home to some of the town\u2019s best martinis<\/a> (outside of your room). Rooms from $895 \u2014K.S.<\/p>\n MAISON HUDSON<\/p>\n Book Here<\/a><\/p>\n Hotels where you pay by the month can be dicier than a Vegas craps table. But Maison Hudson is the polar opposite. Located on the banks of the Hudson and at the fringe of the West Village, the property straddles a blurry line between ultra-luxurious hotel and supremely plush apartment. The minimum stay is a month, and the price starts at thirty g\u2019s. Sounds absurdly high? Maybe. But when suites in N.Y.C. go for several thousand dollars per night, a stay at Maison Hudson can feel kind of like a good deal over time. Boy math! Okay, so say you hit it big on a stock investment\/crypto\/inheritance and want to live like a 0.01 percenter in New York\u2019s coolest neighborhood. Here\u2019s what you get: a chic, tastefully decorated, ridiculously massive thousand-square-foot living space, complete with heated bathroom floors, automatic shades, a fully stocked kitchen, and an in-unit washer\/dryer. The concierge\u2014who is really like your own personal assistant\u2014will get you anything you could possibly desire. (Think concert tickets, a rare bottle of wine, an endangered animal to eat for dinner\u2014kidding!) There\u2019s an in-house spa that offers massages, facials<\/a>, and antiaging treatments in a Zen-like setting. Marius, the French-inspired restaurant helmed by Michelin-star chef S\u00e9bastien Sanjou, feels intimate with only a handful of tables. While the eatery is open to the public, don\u2019t worry: Maison Hudson guests get first priority for seatings, natch. Rooms from $32,500 per month \u2014Daniel Dumas<\/p>\n ARLO WILLIAMSBURG<\/p>\n Book on Tripadvisor<\/a> Book on Expedia<\/a><\/p>\n The brand\u2019s three Manhattan locations have long been the smart traveler\u2019s pick for affordable city lodging, and now, like so many city people, the Arlo group has made the jump into Brooklyn. On the site of the former Hotel Williamsburg, the most eye-catching of the luxury hotels to hit the hip \u2019hood in the 2010s, Arlo Williamsburg is the exact right home base for a New York City getaway. Brooklyn buzzes outside each room\u2019s floor-to-ceiling windows, while a rooftop pool and a bar and event space inside the Arlo\u2019s landmark water tower offer views of the full sweep of Manhattan\u2019s skyline. It seems so close you could touch it, but with all of Billyburg\u2019s bars, restaurants, shops, and general people-watching just steps from the front door, you may decide to skip the quick trip on the L and stay local. The company\u2019s focus on art and interesting programming has survived the trip across the river. And out here you can stand in the middle of your room, extend both arms, and not touch a wall. Try that in Manhattan. Rooms from $400 \u2014D.H.<\/p>\n NINE ORCHARD<\/p>\n Book on Booking.com<\/a><\/p>\n On one end of the travel-fantasy spectrum, there is the blissed-out, blue-skies-and-beaches vacation. The stuff postcards are made of. Nothing wrong with seeking that. Toward the other end is the kind where you imagine yourself as a neighborhood local. You tap into the rhythm of the vibrant daily life in the blocks around you and feel as if you\u2019ve merged with a hipper, alternate-universe version of yourself. That\u2019s what Nine Orchard<\/a> will do for you.<\/p>\n We know the \u201chotels for locals\u201d shtick, where there\u2019s a lobby filled with folks on laptops. This is not that. Nine Orchard is more about creating the fantasy of residence. It starts with your room number. 4L, 3G, 8A. You might think you\u2019ve stepped into someone\u2019s apartment. Each room has an appreciation for the analog\u2014the handmade ceramic lamps, the paintings from local artists, the wooden Ojas speakers that tune in to stations curated by DJ Stretch Armstrong and Devon Turnbull. You\u2019ll want to hole up and write a memoir here.<\/p>\n Of course, the hotel\u2019s unlikely location is what makes the neighborhood-local fantasy really work. Inhabiting the Jarmulowsky Bank building, a beaux arts landmark at the junction of the Lower East Side and Chinatown, Nine Orchard is at the heart of an area (often referred to as Dimes Square) that has become a hotbed for a certain type of fashion\/media\/art\/skate cool kid. But you don\u2019t need to subscribe to that ethos to take in the most breezily cool spots in N.Y.C.: wine bars like Parcelle and Le Dive, Scarr\u2019s Pizza for quick eats, and the Chinatown BYOB classic Wu\u2019s Wonton King. And Nine Orchard\u2019s own Swan Room and Corner Bar, from chef and restaurateur Ignacio Mattos, are destinations in their own right, where everyone, no matter where they\u2019re from, seems to have the look of a local celebrity who is chill about being a local celebrity. Maybe that\u2019s the real fantasy that Nine Orchard delivers. Rooms from approx. $500 \u2014K.S.<\/p>\n THE RITZ-CARLTON NOMAD<\/p>\n Book on Booking.com<\/a> Book on Tripadvisor<\/a><\/p>\n Lying in a cloudlike king bed, facing downtown, with One World Trade Center glimmering in the distance, I watched the sunset, thirty-four stories in the sky, and thought, What a thing to experience in a city where you thought you\u2019d seen it all. As a gleaming, fifty-story glass tower, the Ritz-Carlton New York NoMad offers that Ritz-Carlton tranquility, but the bars and restaurants here have made it an unlikely nightlife destination in a decidedly non-touristy hood. You\u2019ll have a sanctuary in your room with a tub\u2014rare in N.Y.C.\u2014but there\u2019s also a buzzy lobby bar, the Jos\u00e9 Andr\u00e9s rooftop lounge Nubeluz as well as his Bazaar Meat on the second floor, the first-floor Mediterranean delight Zaytinya, and, in the summer, the vibrant fifth floor terrace bar, Dahlia\u2019s Garden. It\u2019s an uncommon New York hotel combo, where you can be serene or all-out energetic. Rooms from approx. $1,500 \u2014K.S.<\/p>\n THE HOTEL CHELSEA<\/p>\n Book on Booking.com<\/a><\/p>\n You can\u2019t talk about the Hotel Chelsea without checking off the names of its famous tenants and guests. The building, finished in 1884, was conceived as a kind of commune for musicians and novelists and has had a bohemian artistic energy since then. Mark Twain, Stanley Kubrick, Patti Smith, Andy Warhol, and Jimi Hendrix are just some of the notable folks who have graced this Queen Anne\u2013style building over the past century. Today it might lack a raucous clientele, but that\u2019s all for a better night\u2019s sleep. Expect laid-back service, marble-and-brass bathrooms, animal-print furniture. From the pitch-perfect El Quijote, a Spanish restaurant that opened in 1930, to the iconic stained-glass windows and wrought-iron balconies, checking into the Chelsea feels like entering a time warp. Rooms from approx. $300 \u2014K.S.<\/p>\n THE WALL STREET HOTEL<\/p>\n Book on Booking.com<\/a> Book on Tripadvisor<\/a><\/p>\n Want to see something beautiful? Come stand on the corner of Wall Street and Water in Lower Manhattan and stare at this gorgeous mass of concrete. The Paspaley family, Australians who were pioneers in the pearl industry, lovingly and painstakingly brought the beaux arts facade of the Wall Street Hotel to life over the course of several years. And what\u2019s inside is even better. Spacious suites (for Manhattan!), oversize bathrooms (see previous parenthetical), a chic-meets-fun bar that draws locals and guests, plus an absolutely killer in-house French brasserie\u2014this place doesn\u2019t miss. Rooms from $465 \u2014M.V.<\/p>\n THE NED<\/p>\n Book on Booking.com<\/a><\/p>\n You\u2019ll quickly lose track of how many food and beverage options there are at the iconic London brand\u2019s NoMad location. Rooftop bar, lobby bar, library (with bar service), a trendy Italian spot, a private table in a water tower, and a formal dining room for table-side service. All have their own vibe and are worthy of inspection, but only some are available to hotel guests. The rest are reserved for Ned members. But worry not; there\u2019s plenty of fun to be had for those who book here. Rooms from $375 \u2014M.V.<\/p>\n HOTEL BARRI\u00c8RE FOUQUET\u2019S<\/p>\n Book on Booking.com<\/a><\/p>\n The committed traveler, it stands to reason, always looks for authentic local color. So a stay in New York\u2019s TriBeCa neighborhood should naturally involve a few nights in a soaring, modernist hymn to the twenty-four-hour possibilities of twenty-first-century New York. Right? Non. Hotel Barri\u00e8re Fouquet\u2019s, which opened recently on Greenwich Street, whiffs unmistakably and quite charmingly of Paris. For more than a hundred years, Fouquet\u2019s existed as one of the grandest of all Parisian caf\u00e9-restaurants. In 2006, it entered the hotel business when it was reopened with more than one hundred luxury rooms added by the Barri\u00e8re Group above and around the original caf\u00e9. The New York hotel is the first U.S. venture of the group, which maintains properties in some of the most chichi resorts in Europe. Its inherent Frenchness is both obvious and lightly done. The staff offer a singsongy \u201cBonjour\u201d when you pass them in the corridor. In the rooms, the furnishings are postmodern, curvy takes on deco, and the toile de Jouy\u2013style wallpaper is about as French as you can get in room decor, until you stand up close and realize it\u2019s actually composed entirely of cartoony New York street scenes. With a relatively low room count\u2014just ninety-seven in total, including a two-story Grand Appartement Terrasse\u2014the hotel feels quiet and intimate. There\u2019s just a single low-key bar, the Brasserie Fouquet\u2019s New York, and the Par Ici Caf\u00e9, which doubles as the breakfast spot and where, reassuringly, the prices have been imported from Paris along with the style. Rooms from $900 \u2014Nick Sullivan<\/p>\n ACE HOTEL BROOKLYN<\/p>\n Book on Booking.com<\/a><\/p>\n As with many Aces around the globe, the Brooklyn outpost is very much about building a cool community hangout the only way the Ace can. The purpose-built, brutalist structure of concrete and wood is home to a lobby with a buzzing bar anchoring all of the loungy furniture, where folks Zoom on laptops by day and old-fashioneds are being stirred come nightfall. Each month features different DJs spinning soul, and the Atrium on the second floor often hosts poetry readings and film screenings. The woodshop-chic rooms aren\u2019t bad either. Rooms from $199 \u2014Omar Mamoon<\/p>\n CASA CIPRIANI<\/p>\n![\"Stylish](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/289cb341-5174-430f-9c75-b86f37f7eb58.jpg\" "\\"Stylish")
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