The 46 Best Hotels in New York City
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New York is a city built on dreams—something evident during waking and sleeping hours alike. As a NY-based team of travel editors, we can honestly say that this town has perhaps the widest breadth of places to grab some shut-eye alongside excellent onsite dining, wellness, and entertainment options. From Brooklyn to NoMad to the Central Park-adjacent, the best hotels in New York are located alongside the places and people that make a beloved neighborhood exactly what it is. Heightening every Big-Apple experience with over-the-top design and premier hospitality chops, these urban retreats make it easy to linger a while, whether you're a midtown Manhattan visitor or seeking local-loved spaces downtown or in another borough. From hip Brooklyn hangouts to luxe Uptown escapes, here are the best hotels in New York City to check out—and check into—right now, including newcomers like the new Standard outpost The Manner, and iconic, longtime favorites like The Carlyle, The Bowery, and The Mark.
How we choose the best hotels in New York City
Every hotel on this list has been selected independently by our editors and written by a Condé Nast Traveler journalist who knows the destination and has visited that property. When choosing hotels, our editors consider properties across price points that offer an authentic and insider experience of a destination, keeping design, location, service, and sustainability credentials top of mind.
Read our complete New York City travel guide here, which includes:
- The Best Things to Do in New York City
- The Best Restaurants in New York City
- The Best Bars in New York City
Chris Mottalini/The MannerhotelThe Manner
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Hot List 2025Drenched in shades of ochre and warm reds, with varied textures of ceramic, cement, and tile throughout, The Manner in Manhattan’s SoHo is a “nostalgic utopia”—as its architect Hannes Peer puts it—combining Gio Ponti–esque Milanese midcentury modernism with glamorous New York flair. But what does that actually mean? It’s sexy. In the same way a really good jazz song is. And its guests play their roles accordingly. From 20-somethings attending Fashion Week parties to chic married couples reading by the fire, everyone here is either good-looking, interesting, or both. Or maybe it’s the hotel itself that instills its inhabitants with this mysterious cinematic aura. Whichever is the case, the sex appeal of this place isn’t one that’s intimidatingly aloof, or exclusive, or weirdly dark-lit. To quote the film Crazy, Stupid, Love, it’s the perfect combination of sexy and cute—a home base where you can rest your head after dancing late into the night or tuck in early with a burger and a book.
Jonathan Maloney / Inga Beckmann for What The Fox Studio / The SurreyhotelThe Surrey, a Corinthia Hotel
$$ | Hot List 2025 
Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021Originally built in New York City in 1926, The Surrey is a historic Art Deco gem that was once a residential hotel frequented by celebrities like JFK and Bette Davis. It has since been completely renovated and now operates under the management of the global luxury hotel group Corinthia. But despite its new conglomerate boss, the hotel has retained its famous residential ambience. Guests are immediately welcomed by stylish doormen into what looks like the lobby of an elegant Manhattan townhouse (complete with a Museum Mile–worthy art collection). These Easter egg odes to The Surrey’s fabled past are in part thanks to interior designer Martin Brudnizki, mastermind behind The Beekman and the Fifth Avenue Hotel, among other properties. Instead of the colorful maximalism Brudnizki is best known for, The Surrey favors subtle geometric details and muted pastels, with a light touch of the designer’s signature patterns and textures sprinkled throughout. It all feels expensively zen and secretly high-taste, as is the Upper East Side way. From $1,000. —Hannah Towey
Courtesy W New York Union SquarehotelW New York-Union Square
$$$Union Square is one of New York’s most vibrant crossroads where the gloss of uptown meets the grit of downtown, and since opening in 2001, the W New York – Union Square has been an unofficial living room to the neighborhood’s coolest denizens. An enormous floating staircase greets you in the lobby, and a technicolor, metamorphic rug appears to be flow down its stairs and through the check-in area, pulling your interest upstairs to the hotel’s soaring Living Room. In the very same room where Gossip Girl filmed a pivotal fashion show scene for Season 1, you’ll now find serpentine couches, intimate socializing areas, and a bar that offers cappuccinos by day and cocktails by night. Here, perhaps more than any other W Hotel in the world, the brand’s central Living Room concept feels most fully realized. In the rooms, natural light helps the colorful custom furniture pieces positively glow with warmth; curved lacquer panels soften the vibe. Subtle nods to New York’s heritage abound, like wall sconces that emulate the subway, or original terrazzo flooring from before the building was even a W. And when you’re here, you’ll feel like a true part of the Union Square community.
The Four Seasons Hotel New York DowntownhotelFour Seasons Hotel New York Downtown
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024This Four Seasons hotel occupies 24 floors of an 84-floor building (with condos making up the rest of the space). There is also a pool, spa, steam room, and 189 total rooms, including 28 suites designed by Yabu Pushelberg, who also handled interiors for the NYC hotel debut from the Equinox fitness brand. The two crown jewels are the Tribeca Suite and Empire Suite—the latter, at 2,400 square feet, has space for a dinner party and sweeping views of downtown New York. The Four Seasons Downtown's ground floor is home to the only New York City outpost of Wolfgang Puck's Cut, serving fresh fruit and upscale takes on egg sandwiches by day, and steaks by night.
Courtesy Mandarin Oriental New YorkhotelMandarin Oriental, New York
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Gold List 2025 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024A cornerstone of the city’s five-star hotel scene, Mandarin Oriental’s New York City outpost is known for its elite service, a fantastic spa, and impressive vistas—the 75-foot lap pool overlooks the Hudson, the high-end MO Lounge boasts the Manhattan skyline as its backdrop, and the best rooms have bird’s eye views of Central Park. The rooms feel equal parts timeless in their definition of luxury—think heaping, decadent curtains for privacy, dark wooden desks, rich shades of the brand’s go-to purple—and contemporary, with modern artworks hung on the walls, shimmering structural light fixtures, and reflective metal details accenting every room. And the Mandarin Oriental’s spa is a destination in its own right. They offer standards like detox wraps and aroma stone massages, plus beauty treatments like hydradermabrasion and sculpting facials.
The Ned NoMadhotelThe Ned NoMad
$$$A short walk from the Empire State Building and flanked by landmark buildings, the location of The Ned positions it perfectly in relation to downtown Manhattan and Midtown’s business district. The NoMad neighborhood itself, which has seen tremendous transformation while also retaining its wholesale commerce underpinnings, is also worth discovering. Located in the Johnston building, a limestone-fronted 1908 Beaux-Arts landmark, it draws its character from the architecture of the building it's housed in. Once inside, spaces reveal themselves one after another like nesting Matryoshka dolls, and are served with a heap of Art Deco glam, including jewel-toned upholstery, marble floors, and mahogany wood—and plenty of moody corners to slink into.
Simon BrownhotelCrosby Street Hotel
$$$Pattern, color, whimsy—walking into Crosby Street Hotel is like entering a world representing the best of modern English design, as dreamed up by Brit founder and designer Kit Kemp. Everywhere you look, there's a special artwork or piece of furniture you'd want to stare at for awhile. It's all a big visual treat in the middle of SoHo. There's nothing better than making it through a hectic day out and about and coming back to perhaps the city's most perfectly designed (yet supremely comfortable) guest rooms. Aside from being a visual treat, the location is nearly perfect—a quiet block in the heart of SoHo, next to public transportation, but also in the most pleasingly walkable neighborhood you could find, with endless amounts of great restaurants, bars, bookstores, cafés, and shops.
The Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMadhotelThe Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad
$$$ | Gold List 2025 Hot List 2023 Readers' Choice Awards 2023, 2024When the Ritz-Carlton flung open the doors of its new Manhattan flagship at West 28th Street and Broadway in 2022, the classic brand was making a bit of a daring declaration as to its direction. Moody and modish, the property is a far cry from the (splendidly) prim and proper Central Park location some 30 blocks north. There’s glass everywhere, for one thing, with the 50-story sleek slice of skyscraper designed in part to make the most of that killer location’s downtown views and light. The sun-soaked interiors are dramatic and textured—concierge desks in the grayscale lobby are made of almost zebra-print granite. A leafy, book-lined bar just off it leads to the excellent Spanish-Japanese fusion restaurant The Bazaar from José Andrés upstairs with its plush upholstery, coffee-and-plum palette, and scenery-chewing jamón Ibéerico centerpiece (Andrés’s group also designed the complimentary menu in the very worth-it club level). Rooftop bar Nubeluz is a jewel-toned wonderland of wallpaper; highlights include the pleated emerald fabric of the elevator vestibule and the feathered Schumacher number that hugs each booth. Wrapped from floor to ceiling in blond wood, my suite on the 36th floor, with its deep, deep sofa of chocolatey crushed velvet, offers grand views of Manhattan; I could even see all the way down to the World Trade Center. All of this style would matter little, however, were the service anything less than superlative. It absolutely is. Despite bookings being full to the brim most nights, there’s no indication that the staff have eyes for anybody but you from check-in to checkout. From $895. —Charlie Hobbs
Durston SaylorhotelThe Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel
$$$ | Gold List 2018, 2019, 2022 Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024Since it opened in 1930, The Carlyle has become something more than the sum of its extremely alluring parts, a living legend that embodies, if not the spirit of New York City, at least one of her spirits: her brightest, most sparkling, most elegant self; witty, worldly and nostalgic. An entire movie has been made about this property—Always at The Carlyle—in which present-day tribal elders such as George Clooney, Sofia Coppola, Wes Anderson, and Naomi Campbell discuss their fondness for the joint. Broadly speaking, the rooms get better the higher the floor. Plus, you get to spend more time in the elevators—not an activity to enjoy in everyday life, but this is not everyday life. The ones at The Carlyle are the stuff of legend, as much admired as the astounding Dorothy Draper lobby or Bemelmans Bar. Imagine if you had been there when Princess Diana, Michael Jackson, and Steve Jobs all piled in (true story). You would have been in awe. Not of them, of course, but of the real superstar—the unflappable, icy-calm, white-gloved Carlyle elevator operator.
Courtesy The Peninsula HotelshotelThe Peninsula New York
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021Opulence greets you the minute you walk through the doors set just off of Fifth Avenue, where flower arrangements and a grand staircase serve as the lobby's centerpiece. It's a formal atmosphere, but not an unwelcoming one. Huge, luxurious guest rooms, a top-notch spa, swimming pool, an excellent restaurant (Clement), and one of the best service staffs in NYC make for an exceptional experience. While the rooms and facilities are grand, it's the staff's warmth that encourages repeat visits.
hotelFouquet's New York
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2023, 2024The French hotel line known for its Paris and St. Barth’s properties arrived in the U.S. in 2022 by way of New York. At a cobblestoned intersection in the Tribeca North Historic District, an industrialist red brick facade gives way to eight floors of ethereal Art Deco interior design straight out of the South of France. Fouquet’s New York’s pastel-colored luxury includes three dining options, an indulgent underground spa (complete with a sauna, hammam, and hydrotherapy pool), and a Cannes-inspired cinema space true to Tribeca’s popular annual film festival. The theater hosts programming like screenings and film premieres, and can be reserved for corporate and artistic events. The street-level outpost of the famed Champs d’Elysee bistro, Brasserie Fouquet’s is a destination in itself, with signature red and black bar mirroring its Paris (and Louvre Abu Dhabi) counterpart. A French lavender, mint green, and cream color scheme includes custom-made wallpapers with France-linked illustrations of New York City scenes like Lady Liberty, pizza-eating Central Park goers, and cartoon pigeons with croissants in their beaks.
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Donna DotanhotelPark Hyatt New York
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2019, 2024If James Bond had an apartment in New York, it would probably look a lot like one of the guest rooms and suites here. It's all crisp, cool minimalism with contemporary furniture, stone floors, and dark wood. And even entry-level rooms clock in at 530 square feet, making them some of the biggest in the city. Take in city views and breakfast on the patio on one of several Terrace Suites. An entire day can be spent at the hotel's 25th-floor Spa Nalai. After a treatment, you can try the eucalyptus steam room, whirlpool, and saltwater lap pool, which has to be the most beautiful in Manhattan (and also features underwater speakers with a curated playlist by Carnegie Hall). After a day of respite, get ready for a night on the town with a hair treatment and blowout at world-renowned Rossano Ferretti Hairspa. This is a chance to stay in one of the tallest buildings in Manhattan at the cross-section of the city; Central Park is just a block away.
The Wall Street HotelhotelThe Wall Street Hotel
$$In a part of the city often overlooked by travelers—at least when it comes to choosing a home-base—The Wall Street Hotel is a unique boutique stay in downtown Manhattan whose interiors nod to the area’s history and beaux-arts buildings. The Wall Street Hotel is not only an exciting addition to the landscape, but it also provides a great reason to reconsider Wall Street as your landing pad for a trip to the city. Nearly every train runs through the nearby Fulton center, meaning easy access to just about anywhere in Manhattan (Brooklyn is just a couple stops away, as is Jersey). The neighborhood is jam-packed with history dating back to the 17th century, and a little Googling or a great tour guide can help pull stories out of the landmark buildings in the neighborhood (George Washington hung out at nearby Fraunces Tavern, to give you an idea).
Teddy Wolff/Chez ZouhotelPendry Manhattan West
$$$ | Hot List 2022Pendry Manhattan West aims to bring a West Coast vibe to Hudson Yards (just outside of Midtown Manhattan), with 30 sprawling suites—all with floor-to-ceiling windows—and 164 guest rooms, modern furnishings, abundant greenery, and warm recessed lighting in both the rooms and common areas. The resulting crowd is mostly cool creatives looking for a place to hole up, whom you’ll spot posted up on laptops in the lounges during the day, and beelining to the ground-floor Bar Pendry for an innovative cocktail with friends in the evenings. Arrive with plenty of busy days planned out in the Manhattan West development, knowing you’ll have a calm space to recharge at night—complete with soft slippers and bedside macarons via turndown.
The MercerhotelThe Mercer
$$$The Mercer is practically synonymous with SoHo. The Romanesque revival building itself, built in 1890, is an icon of the neighborhood, and once inside, it's pretty much what you'd expect from a cool-yet-sophisticated downtown luxury hotel: muted colors and modern furniture; a wall of coffee table books; and guest rooms that seem outfitted by the ultra-cool furniture showrooms that inhabit the area. It all adds up to a quintessential downtown Manhattan experience. The staff at the Mercer will go to the ends of the earth to take care of any request for their guests. It's a big reason people keep coming back for repeat visits.
Annie Schlechter/Hotel ChelseahotelHotel Chelsea
$$ | Hot List 2023Hotel Chelsea may not be filled with famous musicians anymore, but the rock-and-roll vibe remains. Long-term residents who have been grandfathered into their apartments in the building still float around, and most guests—usually drawn by the hotel’s history—have a knowingness to them, whether they’re in their 30s or 60s. The 155 guest rooms and suites have wood floors with the Hotel Chelsea monogram now inlaid; the sun dapples through ivory eyelet fabric on the windows; and the bathrooms are classically done with light and dark grey marble accentuated by bronze details. Animal-print chairs maintain a bit of spunk in the now bright, airy rooms, as do ornate dark wood bedside tables. Massive closets, their interiors a riot of wallpaper, make it even easier to imagine unpacking and sticking around for a while. If you visited the Chelsea back in the day, you’ll recognize the original fireplaces, stained glass windows, and those iconic wrought-iron balconies leaning over West 23rd Street, which have been restored.
Courtesy Annie Schlechter/The Bowery HotelhotelThe Bowery Hotel
$$Walking into the lobby at The Bowery feels like stepping back into a Gothic version of the nineteenth century—or at least, a movie set from someone with a gothic vision. Dimly lit and oozing atmosphere, it's a world of crimson velvet, dark leather and wood, threadbare Oriental rugs and oil paintings. The effect is transportive to another time, but somehow still rooted in downtown NYC. The view from one of the upper floors is something you'll never get tired of, and is worth the splurge. The Bowery's in-house restaurant, Gemma, is a solid choice on warm evenings—grab an outdoor table and get ready for some of the best people-watching in NYC. After dinner, few places are better for a glass of red than the lobby lounge (its fireplace makes the atmosphere even better).
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The MarkhotelThe Mark
$$$ | Gold List 2023 Readers' Choice Awards 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024The polished black-and-white floor that greets you in the lobby is the first sign that the Mark is no ordinary hotel experience. Contemporary light fixtures, furniture, and modern art combined effortlessly by designer Jacques Grange give the hotel a sense of cool elegance. The restaurant, by chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, is high-end New York all the way. The classic Upper East Side location combined with the contemporary, Art Deco–inspired design make for an unforgettable stay.
William Abranowicz/Fifth Avenue HotelhotelThe Fifth Avenue Hotel
$$$ | Hot List 2024 Readers' Choice Awards 2024Modern master Martin Brudnizki’s latest riot of colors, patterns, and curiosities is perhaps his most impeccably orchestrated yet. The vaulted lobby is dressed up in ornate wall panels; corridors are bedecked in vivid wallpapers; rooms are filled with painted screens and pagoda-style lamps that are an ode to the travels of hotel owner Alex Ohebshalom. A go-for-broke assemblage of art, from old-world oils to modern photography, greets you around every corner. It’s the bold palette Brudnizki is known for, a dreamlike pastiche that would have been chaos in the hands of a less practiced hand. Just as adept is the hospitality, which extends from the ready-to-please butler service on every floor to extra touches like the candle that’s slipped into your room after you’ve complimented the scent in the lobby, a martini cart that appears at your door when you need a nightcap, and the warm welcome you’ll get when you return. And you will return, even if just for a perfect Negroni at the hotel’s Portrait Bar or an extravagant dish from Café Carmellini—but most of all, for the chance to wake up in a giant cabinet of curiosities in the heart of New York’s NoMad district.
Stephen Kent JohnsonhotelAce Hotel Brooklyn
$$ | Hot List 2022 Readers' Choice Awards 2023The lobby in any Ace hotel is the place to be, and its Brooklyn outpost is no different. There are public workspaces galore—including a long, library-style table, a plant-filled garden, and a moody bar area with cozy seating—and plenty of guests, locals, and staff making use of them all. Many of the hallmarks of Ace decor are present in the 287 rooms: plywood furniture that offers both form and function, local art, and pops of color (in this case, a deep green). But the room design also leans into the industrial building’s architecture, with exposed concrete and warehouse windows.
Stephen Kent JohnsonhotelNine Orchard
$$$ | Hot List 2023Ask any in-the-know New Yorker for their favorite neighborhood, and chances are the Lower East Side will be it. The place teems with urban cool. Tattoo parlors on every corner. Low-key restaurants where the plates rival those in SoHo, but the crowd is a blend of skaters, designers, and musicians. When Nine Orchard opened June 2022 on a historic corner in the neighborhood, it brought with it a degree of sophistication seldom celebrated here. There are the historical bones, for one, located inside an old, grand bank, with an airy lobby bar humming under old vaulted ceilings that rival those up at Grand Central. Classic dishes like steak au poivre and frites are exceptional at the attached Corner Bar (the tables are lovely with their minimal settings, but the pick of seats is one of the 40 stools at the wraparound bar). With a full belly, you’ll happily plunk down into one of the property’s 113 guest rooms with simple wood bed tables and hand-carved chairs that feel like a groovy space to tune into the custom radio stations created for the hotel by DJ Stretch Armstrong and Devon Turnbull, New York-based DJ and producer who focus on New York inspired music on all four of the in-hotel stations. Whatever station you choose, this landmark hotel offers locals and visitors alike a sense of being grounded in a place, and pays homage to the neighborhood and its city as one of the very best in the world. —Lara Kramer
The Greenwich HotelhotelThe Greenwich
$$$ | Gold List 2020, 2024 Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2021In an era of the ever-more-exclusive members’ club luring the black-card-carrying wolf pack, Robert De Niro’s hotel makes privacy feel refreshingly effortless. Built more than a decade ago in a cobblestone quarter of Lower Manhattan, it creates the sensation of stepping into the actor’s own salon. The lobby is hung with abstract paintings by De Niro’s late father, and beyond it more inner sanctums await: A book-filled drawing room merges into a pocket garden, where topiaries cast an Italianate charm. Each of the 87 rooms is idiosyncratically arranged with antique silk rugs, the odd vintage table, and marble bathtubs, while the Tribeca Penthouse is earthy and minimalist. But the enduring revelation is the Shibui Spa, where the lantern-lit pool glimmers under the beams of a 250-year-old Japanese farmhouse. A festive din still kicks up at Locanda Verde, which serves rustic plates of duck orecchiette, and New York fixtures such as Yoko Ono and Jay-Z go pretty much incognito, but things settle down early. The wolf pack can go elsewhere.
Courtesy The LowellhotelThe Lowell
$$$ | Gold List 2020 Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024The Lowell, on the Upper East Side, reopened in 2017 after a three-year renovation. Its 74 rooms got a refresh, but the important touches stayed the same: wood-burning fireplaces, grisaille wallpaper in the lobby, tasseled key fobs. Nowhere in the city feels quite as refined. Every room has fresh flowers, while huge marble bathrooms have separate tub and shower areas, Frette bath robes, and custom-made products from the high-end line DDC28. Unlike big luxury chains, there's a small-scale, quiet, and personalized feeling here that's worth the lack of extras (like a swimming pool or spa).
Nikolas KoenighotelModernHaus Soho
$$If you’re looking for someplace close to all the action of New York’s buzzy, see-and-be-seen SoHo neighborhood—but that at once feels coolly removed from it all (and has its own rooftop pool, to boot)—this is the place for you. Formerly The James New York - SoHo, the hotel reopened in Spring 2021 after a nearly year-and-a-half-long renovation. There are 114 rooms spread across 14 floors—10 different room categories, all generous in size. (By Manhattan standards, anyway; Modern Queen rooms start at about 280 square feet.) Its Twenty Three Grand restaurant touts global flavors and elevated classics with a Mediterranean flair. The year-round restaurant is primed to be a destination for al fresco dining and features a glass-enclosed space with a retractable roof. The hotel features premier wellness amenities, including a 400-square-foot gym on the 17th floor (equipped with state-of-the-art fitness equipment) and a seasonal partnership with HigherDOSE.
Simon Brown/Warren Street HotelhotelWarren Street Hotel
$$$ | Hot List 2024To step into the Warren Street Hotel is to immerse yourself in the whimsical and wacky world of Kit Kemp. As the interior designer’s third New York City property with the Firmdale hospitality group (and 11th overall), each space is packed with her trademark eccentricity and magpie-like knack for sourcing eclectic artworks and inspiration from around the world—from the British craft and ceramics on display in the light-filled “Orangery” downstairs to the abstract sculptures greeting guests in the buttercup yellow lobby. Even the carpets are done up in a limited edition batik pattern, courtesy of Kit Kemp for Wilton Carpets. Meanwhile, no two rooms are the same—all have been designed by Kemp to exude their own personality, whether it be through the patterned headboards above king-size beds, one-of-a-kind artworks spanning all sorts of creative movements and styles, custom-made wallpaper and egg-shaped lighting, or even an occasional mishmash of antique furniture. Downstairs at the restaurant, where Tribeca locals jostle with guests for a prime-time table, dishes like a rich foie gras terrine and spaghetti alle vongole are served beneath custom-made wallpaper so beautiful it almost rivals the murals at the Carlyle’s legendary Bemelmans bar uptown. Kemp is a master when it comes to transforming a space into a riot of color and wit, and this latest endeavor may just be her most playful yet.
Robert Rieger/Aman New YorkhotelAman New York
$$$ | Hot List 2023 Readers' Choice Awards 2023, 2024In the four decades since Aman was founded and its first property opened its doors in Phuket, the brand has come to represent a certain kind of experience for a certain kind of traveler: discreet, expansive, and intimate, with a full-bodied approach to wellness (with a NYC haven best spas in New York) and an almost chameleon-like ability to adapt to the surrounding landscape. Aman New York is the brand’s very first urban outpost in the United States, and only its second urban property in the world after Aman Tokyo. And what a crown it is: Taking up residence in Midtown Manhattan’s iconic Crown Building, a Beaux-Arts landmark carefully renovated with Belgian designer Jean-Michel Gathy of Denniston Architects, the space dazzles with a 7,000-square-foot outdoor terrace, a spa and wellness center spread over three floors, and serene, high-ceilinged guest suites (each with its own fireplace). The kitchen is where Aman’s sustainability efforts are most clearly at play: The hotel is committed to sourcing ingredients locally, from the seafood—purchased from the Bronx Fish Market—to its produce, much of which is sourced through a network of local purveyors.
The Langham, New York, Fifth AvenuehotelThe Langham, New York, Fifth Avenue
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021Three blocks north of the Empire State Building on Fifth Avenue, this polished hotel has spacious rooms starting at 420 square feet—generous for New York. All units have walnut furnishings, wondrously comfortable Duxiana beds, and deep soaking tubs, while the apartment suites each have a full stainless-steel kitchen. The hotel holds the largest private collection of original paintings by New York City artist Alex Katz. Start your journey of exploring his work in the lobby. Tired and don't want to go too far for a good meal? You're in luck; Ai Fiori is downstairs as part of the hotel, serving everything from top-tier pasta dishes to classic Italian negronis made with vintage Campari.
Courtesy Freehand New YorkhotelFreehand New York
$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2020, 2021, 2022It’s a given that young visitors to New York don’t want to blow their budget on a fancy hotel room. Better to book something that’s at least clean, comfortable, and strategically located, and spend the extra cash on that restaurant everyone has been talking about. Freehand takes this compromise and somehow manages to make it feel sexy and stylish. Rooms, with queens, kings, or bunk setups for four, are basic—verging on dorm-like—but brightened up with artwork that sometimes snakes across the walls and ceilings. Like the model that Ian Schrager engineered with Morgans Hotel in the 1980s, here it’s all about the public spaces, which the design studio Roman and Williams filled with glossy tiles, dark woods, and walls in deep turquoise, with quirky touches such as sheepskin rugs and plants in mismatched ceramic pots. Most importantly, there’s a feast of food and drink options: an outpost of award-grabbing cocktail joint Broken Shaker on the roof; a to-go counter off the lobby, an offshoot of downtown favorite breakfast spot the Smile; two recently opened restaurants and a Southwestern-inspired new bar. Freehand captures everything travelers come to New York for, under one well-designed, well-priced roof.
Courtesy Baccarat HotelhotelBaccarat Hotel New York
$$$ | Gold List 2020 Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024No one knew what to expect when a 260-year-old French luxury brand opened its first property, Baccarat Hotel, on West 53rd—except that there had better be at least one over-the-top chandelier. The hotel did not disappoint, but what was surprising was how wonderful its opulence felt, after all that industrial, bare-bulb, and rough-hewn everything—like a return to Champagne after years of lager. Unabashed opulence is what you get as soon as you step into the lobby, where there are about 15,000 pieces of the brand's crystal throughout, including glassware and chandeliers. Arrangements of fresh red roses everywhere add a touch of color. But even though the hotel is a singular vision, it may be the little touches—like Baccarat tumblers in the bathroom—that make a stay special.
David MitchellhotelGansevoort Meatpacking NYC
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2017, 2018, 2019, 2024At the corner of Ninth Avenue and 13th Street, the Gansevoort Meatpacking is a short stroll away from the art galleries of Chelsea, the brasserie-style restaurants of the West Village, and the smart boutiques of the Meatpacking District. Highlights include the 45-foot-long, heated rooftop swimming pool with underwater lights; the Duplex Penthouse Suite with a wall of windows looking out towards the Hudson River; on-site restaurant The Chester; and the service, which is remarkable for a boutique hotel. Up on the rooftop, savor classics and shareable dishes crafted with Union Square Greenmarket produce in the lounge, or head to the tucked-away Saishin by Kissaki at the Gansevoort Rooftop for excellent a la carte and omakase sushi with a view of the downtown skyline.
Dave Burk/Soho House New YorkhotelSoho House New York
$$Those already familiar with Soho House will feel instantly at home here, where a few of the company's signature design elements are in place, like distressed wood floors and beamed ceilings, velvet chairs and sofas, exposed brick, and flattering lighting. As befits a members' club, it feels intimate, though not exclusive (the hotel portion is open to anyone). Not only are the rooms charming, but the supremely comfortable common spaces are places you'll want to spend a lot of time in—especially if you need to get some work done or just sit and read. When you book a room here, you're welcomed into the world of Soho House like a member, which is a nice feeling in this big, busy city. Plus, the location is prime, within a short distance of the High Line.
The HoxtonhotelThe Hoxton Williamsburg
$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2021, 2023The London-founded hotel brand known for its properties across Holborn, as well as Amsterdam and Paris, arrived in the US by way of New York. The Hoxton is known for its chic and modern design, with a focus on creating a warm, inviting space. The UK-based Ennismore designed the hotel to feel extremely Brooklyn, dotting it with locally sourced vintage furniture and bookshelves displaying hefty tomes on contemporary art, and ’70-style chandeliers hanging from the lofty ceiling. Once you step inside the suite, you’re met with floor-to-ceiling windows that flood the rooms with natural light. Wood furnishings are situated around the room with gold hardware. The beds are dressed with soft, pristinely white cotton sheets with teal and khaki pillows resting on the plum-hued velvet headboard. The room layout is intentional as it fits a small wardrobe rack, a wall-mounted desk, and a small fridge for snacks that can be purchased in the lobby. Reflective of the diverse residents of the neighborhood, the local eateries include Caribbean, Italian, Kosher, and Polish cuisine, just to name a few. The Hoxton fits right in with its extensive list of elevated Israeli entrées and desserts to enjoy at Laser Wolf, K’Far, and Jaffa.
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Read McKendreehotelThe William Vale
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023Its distinctive white criss-crossing exterior can be seen from lower Manhattan, but The William Vale, in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, also makes an impression when seen up close. Each of the hotel’s 183 guest rooms has balconies, most with views looking over the East River and at the Manhattan skyline. The decor is light, airy, and of-the-moment with hardwood floors, glass-enclosed showers, patterned rugs and curated coffee table books from Phaidon. The hotel also has its own elevated public park, a 60-foot outdoor pool (known as the longest outdoor hotel pool in NYC), and two restaurants from famed chef Andrew Carmellini: Southern Italian-inspired Leuca and rooftop bar Westlight (complete with 360-degree city views).
Courtesy Edition HotelshotelThe New York Edition
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2023Understated, elegant, and reminiscent of a private club, the Edition New York isn't really a hipster hangout, nor is it an opulent, tricked-out palace. It expertly straddles the line of cool and sophisticated, with a predominately whitewashed interior accented with hits of warm mahogany and creams. The effect is a feeling of exclusivity. There are a lot of business travelers, given its convenient location to all parts of Manhattan. But they're the kinds of business travelers who care about their surroundings and who value great design, food, and amenities. Appreciate the restful simplicity of the white wood floors and little touches like the soft, faux-fur bed throw—If we had a U-Haul with us, we'd take the massive, beautiful walnut headboard against the bed. Plus, it's a couple hundred dollars less than the luxury mainstays you'd find further uptown, and right next to one of the city's best parks, to boot.
Annie SchlechterhotelThe Ludlow
$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2019Fitting into its Lower East Side location, the Ludlow feels just cool and just hip enough without overdoing it. There are brick walls, low leather sofas, a roaring fireplace, and plenty of good-looking people sipping wine or working away on their laptops. In other words? It perfectly represents its neighborhood. Although not as buzzy as it was when it opened in 2014, the restaurant, Dirty French, is still a hopping place during dinner and weekend brunch (get the spicy pork chop with celery remoulade).
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JAMES BAIGRIEhotel1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge
$$ | Hot List 2018 Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023Few things are as classically New York as the 1 Hotel's location at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge. Aside from the prime real estate, it's a thoughtfully designed, supremely attractive place to call home for as long as you're a guest here. Plus, it has one of the prettiest farm-to-table restaurants in all of Brooklyn: The Osprey. You can feel even better staying here knowing that the hotel is sustainable and eco-friendly, using recycled and repurposed materials for furniture, LED lighting, and a rainwater harvesting system. The rooftop pool has amazing views out over Manhattan and is where you'll want to be on warm days.
The St. RegishotelThe St. Regis New York
$$$ | Gold List 2019 Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2019, 2024Even the most unaffected New Yorkers can’t help but feel a tinge of nostalgia when passing through the gilded revolving doors of the St. Regis, promptly greeted by a gentleman with white gloves and a smile. The sense of the city’s golden era lingers in that lobby, where shining chandeliers warm the pale walls to create a necessary calming counter to the crush of cabs and suits in Midtown Manhattan. It’s precisely the atmosphere John Jacob Astor IV sought to capture when he opened this 18-story, Beaux-Arts landmark at the turn of last century. Today, there’s more Michael Kors than mink in the King Cole Bar, though the order hasn’t changed: Ignore the lengthy cocktail list and go for a note-perfect dry Martini or a Bloody Mary, the house speciality, and fall into conversation with the bankers in from Boston sitting at the bar. For those who do stay on for another martini (or three), it’s nice to know that your suite is just an elevator ride away. It may be done up in lipstick-ruby wallpaper or blue velvet curtains and striped white walls, with classic pieces such as silk-stitched love seats and oil paintings to resemble that glamorous pied à terre everyone fantasizes about. This is a New York institution that channels the city’s glamorous past like no other, steps from the Fifth Avenue buzz.
Courtesy Thompson HotelshotelThe Beekman, A Thompson Hotel
$$ | Gold List 2019 Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023When a hotel opens in New York, it’s not uncommon for locals to barely bat an eye. This is, after all, a city crawling with them—big, small, modern, classic. It takes an exceptional property to capture the collective consciousness, which is exactly what happened in 2016, when The Beekman opened. The landmark was built in the 1880s with a nine-story, glass-ceiling atrium, but throughout the past century, the atrium had been covered up as the building functioned as just another office. Now the glass skylight soars once again above the lobby’s Art Deco bar where New Yorkers flock to—come 6 p.m. it’s nearly impossible to find a free bar stool. The rooms all have vintage furnishings, with dark wood floors and distressed leather headboards: comfortable but not so much so that you don’t want to leave and miss out on everything happening around you. So many hotels like to say they’ve made the neighborhood, but in the case of the Beekman it’s actually true.
33 Hotel New York City Seaporthotel33 Hotel, New York City, Seaport
$$Old World meets New York at this downtown hotel, complete with views of the Brooklyn Bridge, East River, and New York City skyline. The overall look here is contemporary elegance, and you’ll find plenty of it in the 66 well-sized rooms (with details like marble bathrooms, soft natural light, and plush textures). For some private outdoor space, book one of the Premier Seaport King Terrace or Premier Front Street King Terrace rooms, which are located on the sixth and seventh floors and have furnished verandas. The hotel is also home to recently opened Urban Cove Society & Kitchen, which faces the cobblestone-lined Peck Slip and offers a casual yet refined dining room, bar, and outdoor seasonal patio. Visit for dinner or weekend brunch for modern American cuisine with global twists, paying homage to the rich tapestry of cultures of downtown New York.
Donna DotanhotelThe Pierre, A Taj Hotel
$$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2018, 2020, 2021Stately and imposing, The Pierre lives up to its prime location across from Central Park on the Upper East Side. Think black-and-white marble floors, gilded moldings, and big, fresh flower arrangements. You can't help but feel important when you're here. The hotel’s Les Clefs d’Or Concierge team can create crafted itineraries with insider’s access to New York’s most sought-after attractions, and back onsite, a meal at Perrine restaurant showcases elegant, seasonally-inspired dining. Royal vibes continue in the rotunda—with its iconic murals, it’s one of the city’s most romantic rooms.
Photo by Simon BrownhotelThe Whitby Hotel
$$$ | Gold List 2020 Hot List 2018NYC’s second import by British brand Firmdale Hotels, is designer Kit Kemp at her playful best. She has created a place that's the antithesis of the staid, neutral-heavy luxury options in the area. It's like an English summer garden come to life in hotel form. A welcome addition to Midtown, it’s that rare find that is both family-friendly and sophisticated. A gorgeous hotel two blocks from Central Park with an excellent restaurant and afternoon tea, the Whitby is worth every cent.
Casa CiprianihotelCasa Cipriani
$$$ | Gold List 2024This New York hotel is a Cipriani property, so it’s luxury to the max, but in that effortlessly chic Italian sort of way. Picture it: presidential suites featuring cashmere-covered walls by Loro Piana Interiors—that’s the sort of luxurious detail you’ll find in every nook and cranny of the guest rooms at Casa Cipriani. The sheets on the bed are from the century-old luxury linen house Rivolta Carmignani based in Macherio, just outside of Milan. Prior to check-in guests can choose between Italian cotton or Italian linen. It’s hard not to fall completely under the spell of the hotel from the minute you step into your room or suite. Maybe it’s the Art Deco light fixtures or artwork on the wall. Maybe it’s the jazz playing softly in the background, or the way the setting sun hit the lacquer furniture and the shiny brass knobs. But perhaps the most remarkable thing about the guest rooms at Casa Cipriani are the private terraces. The spacious private terraces. Be sure to request a river-facing room because there’s really nothing like this view anywhere in town: Next to the hotel, you’ve got the Staten Island Ferry pulling in and out of Whitehall Terminal; that’s Governor’s Island straight ahead, and beyond that, Brooklyn. To your right, you’ve got the Statue of Liberty. But there’s also so much going on inside Casa Cipriani that no one would blame you if you spent your entire stay on the premises: the Club restaurant, the Jazz Café, the Pickering Room, the Promenade Bar, and the Living Room. On top of all that, the hotel service is attentive but not at all intrusive. They truly make you feel like you’re the most important person in the room, and who doesn’t want to feel like that for a few nights?
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Matthew WilliamshotelWythe Hotel
$$ | Readers' Choice Awards 2021The Wythe Hotel defines Williamsburg style for many—a former industrial building given a hipster makeover with exposed-brick walls, factory windows, concrete floors, and plenty of reclaimed wood. The 6th floor Bar Blondeau, which serves French plates and natural wines, offers killer river views of Manhattan. The restaurant, Le Crocodile, has earned raves for its bold brasserie fare. If you're choosing to stay in Williamsburg, you probably want an industrial-chic vibe, and the Wythe delivers.
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Todd MasonhotelAKA Central Park
Designed for stays of a week or more, this upscale long-stay property blends the atmosphere (and some of the services) of a hotel with contemporary, condominium-style suites larger than many Manhattan pads. Your home base choices range from one-room, 300-square-foot Studios to suites with furnished outdoor space and Penthouses with useful extras like DVR-equipped TVs and a dining table that seats six; the largest options run close to 1,500-square feet. Most popular are the one- and two-bedroom suites, which have full kitchens stocked with fridges, stoves, ovens, dishwashers, cookware, tableware, and even dishwashing supplies, plus large living rooms with space to work and comfortable beds. (Studios have smaller kitchenettes, but they also come with most everything you might need.)
Photo by Adrian GauthotelPublic
$$ | Hot List 2018, 2019As the name might imply, the public spaces are a big factor here, and once you walk through the ground-level garden and take the glowing, futuristic elevators up to the lobby, an entire community awaits—one with big white sofas, work spaces, and plenty of locals who come to get some work done in a setting that's a bit more exciting than their neighborhood cafe.
Courtesy The MarltonhotelThe Marlton Hotel
$$Walking into the Marlton feels like being transported to the 19th century, where there's little evidence of modern technology, and where guests and locals hang out in the dimly lit, fireplace-warmed lobby, which features lots of dark wood and antique rugs. The beauty of being here is forgetting what era you're in. Rooms are small, but beautiful, and if you feel too cramped, you're right in the middle of Greenwhich Village and all it has to offer. Hotel guests move to the top of the list at the in-house restaurant, Margaux. That's a good thing, as you'll want to try the Amish rotisserie chicken with smashed sweet potato and burnt lemon. Having a glass of wine by the fireplace in the gorgeous lobby is the perfect thing to do on chilly evenings. As is being able to take the elevator right upstairs to the room afterwards.
This gallery has been updated with new information since its original publish date.
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