The Best Hotels in New York City

The Plaza has been the most iconic hotel address in New York since it opened in 1907, and it remains the one hotel that non-New Yorkers name when they think of staying in the city. The location (Fifth Avenue and Central Park South, at the southeast corner of the park) is unmatched. The rooms facing Central Park are among the most coveted in the city. The Oak Room and Oak Bar have hosted more deals, proposals, and celebrations than any other hotel space in New York. The renovation completed in 2008 added residential condominiums to the upper floors and updated the public spaces, but the essential character of the hotel (the grand staircase, the Palm Court, the sense of occasion) remains intact. It is expensive, occasionally inconsistent in service, and worth it for the address alone. The Carlyle on the Upper East Side is the most discreet luxury hotel in New York, and for a certain kind of traveler (one who values quiet, service, and the company of people who do not need to announce themselves) it is the best hotel in the city. Bemelmans Bar is the reason to come even if you are not staying: the murals painted by Ludwig Bemelmans, the creator of Madeline, cover the walls and are among the most charming pieces of public art in Manhattan. Café Carlyle hosts live jazz most nights of the week and has featured Woody Allen's New Orleans Jazz Band on Monday nights for decades. The rooms are large by New York standards, the service is old-school attentive, and the location on Madison Avenue at 76th Street puts you in the middle of the best museum mile in the world. The Mercer in SoHo is the best hotel in downtown Manhattan, and it has been since it opened in 1997. The building is a Romanesque Revival landmark on the corner of Mercer and Prince Streets, and the interiors by Christian Liaigre set the template for the downtown luxury hotel aesthetic that has been copied everywhere since. The rooms are loft-style (high ceilings, exposed brick, oversized windows) and the Jean-Georges restaurant in the basement is one of the best hotel restaurants in the city. The location puts you in the middle of SoHo's shopping and restaurant scene, a short walk from the West Village and Tribeca, and close enough to the subway to get anywhere quickly. The Mark on the Upper East Side is the most stylish hotel on the East Side, and the one that has most successfully combined old-money neighborhood energy with genuinely contemporary design. The interiors by Jacques Garcia are theatrical and precise; the black-and-white lobby, the custom furniture, the sense that every detail has been considered. The Mark Restaurant by Jean-Georges is excellent, the bar is one of the best in the neighborhood, and the service is the kind that anticipates rather than reacts. The location on 77th Street and Madison Avenue is ideal for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Frick, and the Neue Galerie. 11 Howard in SoHo is the best value luxury hotel in downtown Manhattan; a Scandinavian-designed property that opened in 2016 and has maintained a level of quality that most hotels at its price point do not. The rooms are clean and well-considered, the rooftop has a view of the SoHo roofscape, and the location on Howard Street puts you equidistant from SoHo, Tribeca, and the Lower East Side. The breakfast is good, the staff is genuinely helpful, and the building itself (a converted 1920s office building) has the bones that new construction cannot replicate. The Bowery Hotel on the Lower East Side is the most atmospheric hotel in New York, and the one that best captures the energy of the neighborhood it sits in. The lobby has a fireplace, mismatched vintage furniture, and the feeling of a private club that happens to be open to the public. The terrace is one of the best outdoor spaces in the city in warm weather. The rooms are small by the standards of the other hotels on this list, but they are well-designed and the windows look out over the neighborhood that has been the entry point for successive waves of immigrants and artists for 150 years. The restaurant and bar draw a neighborhood crowd, which is the best sign a hotel can give. 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge in DUMBO is the best hotel in Brooklyn and one of the best hotels in New York. The location (directly under the Brooklyn Bridge, with a view of the Manhattan skyline that is among the most dramatic in the city) is the main event, but the hotel earns its place on this list on its own merits. The sustainability focus is genuine rather than performative: reclaimed wood, living walls, organic linens. The rooftop pool is open in summer and the view from it is extraordinary. The restaurant, Neighbors, is good enough to visit even if you are staying in Manhattan. The neighborhood (DUMBO, with its cobblestone streets and converted warehouses) is one of the most interesting in Brooklyn. A few booking notes for New York hotels: Midtown is the most convenient location for first-time visitors (you are close to the major attractions and the transit connections are excellent) but the hotels are often the least interesting. Downtown (SoHo, the Lower East Side, Tribeca) has the best atmosphere and the best restaurant access. The Upper East Side offers the quietest luxury and the best museum access. Resort fees are less common in New York than in Las Vegas or Miami, but they exist; read the fine print before booking. The best rooms in any New York hotel face Central Park, the skyline, or the water; always ask when booking.