The Best Places To Sleep In New York
UPTOWN
The Mark (£££)
One block from Central Park, minutes from the Met, the Mark is an Uptown institution. In a handsome century-old building on Madison Avenue, the hotel today is as spectacularly lavish as it’s ever been. Just look at the names dotted around the building: John Lobb is in charge of the shoe shines, Frédéric Fekkai runs the hair salon and Jean-Georges Vongerichten looks after the food – from in-room dining to meals served on the sailboat the Mark offers for private charter from Tribeca’s North Cove Marina.
Visit TheMarkHotel.com
The Carlyle (££)
The Carlyle is another Upper East Side icon. A sister to the Rosewood London, it’s a marble-floored favourite of Hollywood sophisticates like Sofia Coppola and George Clooney – and where Marilyn Monroe used to sneak meetings with JFK. If you can’t stretch to a stay, the martinis at its Bemelmans bar deserve their legendary status. The spa is a luxurious showcase for Swiss skincare specialist Valmont.
Visit RosewoodHotels.com
MIDTOWN
Aman New York (£££)
A couple of blocks below Central Park – and therefore just into Midtown – the Aman is the most important Manhattan hotel opening of recent years. It’s also the most expensive place on this list, but the returns on investment are dazzling. In a Beaux Arts building that used to house the Museum of Modern Art, its suites exude an eastern calm and, in a city first, they have working fireplaces. An underground speakeasy-style Jazz Club offers a classic New York experience. The beautiful spa, the big pool, the state-of-the-art gym – it has it all.
Visit Aman.com
The Whitby (££)
One street down from the Aman, the Whitby was the second New York opening from London’s Firmdale Group. Kit Kemp’s interiors remain as eye-catching as ever, even in a neighbourhood that’s known for its designer names – Gucci, Dior and Prada are close by.
Visit FirmdaleHotels.com
The Made (££)
The higher up the Made you go, the bigger the rooms and the better the views. But even the standard options on floors two to seven come with king beds, floor-to-ceiling windows and assorted nice touches like Malin+Goetz shower products. After a down spell in the 20th century, the surrounding NoMad area has recaptured the glitzy status it enjoyed during the Gilded Age when the Manhattan cocktail was invented here.
Visit MadeHotels.com
The Ned NoMad (££)
The Ned NoMad is a near neighbour of the Made. Like its London sibling, it is both a hotel and members club, with room for a Cecconi’s modern Italian restaurant. Bedrooms give off a 1920s glamour which is matched by Little Ned’s bar.
Visit TheNed.com
Freehand New York (£)
A couple of blocks from the landmark Flatiron building, the Freehand is tucked into Manhattan’s high-rise Midtown. This might be the city’s central business district, but Freehand has an artistic focus. Cleverly designed micro-rooms for one, two, three or four channel the building’s past as a creative hub for writers, painters and musicians.
Visit FreehandHotels.com
Hotel Chelsea (££)
Hotel Chelsea is an official New York City Designated Landmark. This is the place where towering creatives from Jack Kerouac to Bob Dylan have based themselves. Edie Sedgwick once called it home. So did Madonna, who shot some famous photos here, while Leonard Cohen wrote two songs about it and Andy Warhol made a film about it. A recent overhaul embraces all the stories and retains many original features, while achieving a new level of comfort with marble bathrooms, rainfall showers and king beds.
Visit HotelChelsea.com
DOWNTOWN
The Ludlow (££)
The Ludlow is in one of Manhattan’s trendiest neighbourhoods. The Lower East Side wasn’t always this way – the nearby Tenement Museum is a powerful reminder of how things used to be – but today the Ludlow offers everything from mini-studios for one to a sprawling penthouse that could easily host six for dinner.
Visit LudlowHotel.com
The Mercer (££)
With an enviable location in the middle of SoHo, The Mercer has long been a go-to for the fashion set and celebs. Since its opening in 1997, it's been a pioneer of what we now refer to as 'quiet luxury', thanks to its chic, minimal décor and discrete staff who go to great lengths to ensure you have the best stay – just ask, and the team will happily oblige. The hotel recently renovated its 73 rooms. Some have spacious marble bathrooms with free-standing tubs, while one spacious loft room has French doors that open onto private courtyard – something of a novelty in the city. Guests have access to a 24-hour private gym, the hotel’s newly revamped lobby (you could easily spend a couple of hours here people watching with a martini) and its subterranean nightclub. Make time to visit the glamourous Italian restaurant Sartiano’s, which opened back in 2023 and is headed up by chef Chris Lewnes.
Visit MercerHotel.com
Moxy Hotels (£)
Moxy Lower East Side is in the old heart of countercultural New York, where hippies hung out in the 60s before punk rock took hold. The area today is young and creative – and the Moxy is a great base for exploring. A mile north is Moxy East Village, where rooms are compact, contemporary and comfortable, with options for groups of two, three or four. Its buzzy Cathédrale restaurant offers French-Med cuisine beneath a spectacular ceiling sculpture, and the Ready is a bouncing rooftop bar. In 2023 Moxy crossed the East River and opened its sixth New York property – and first in Brooklyn. You won’t miss it as you can see its huge pop-art mural from the Williamsburg Bridge.
Visit Moxy-Hotels.Marriott.com
The Bowery (££)
No matter how difficult you find it to navigate the New York grid system, you’ll always be able to find your way back to The Bowery. It stands 17 storeys tall in a relatively low-rise part of Manhattan ¬– as a point of honour, all 135 rooms and suites have floor-to-ceiling windows. When it opened 15 or so years ago, its dark-wood, old-school charms drew a rock-star crowd (Paul McCartney had a wedding celebration here) and sparked the gentrification of a once gritty area. The clubby atmosphere endures today.
Visit TheBoweryHotel.com
Standard Hotels (£)
The Standard’s global mini-chain of hip hotels extends to two properties in New York. In the Meatpacking District, The Standard, High Line occupies a cool, brutalist block that looks right onto the famous railway-turned-public park that shares its name. The Standard, East Village is in a tenement-style building with that rarest of things on Manhattan – a tranquil garden courtyard.
Visit StandardHotels.com
Public (££)
In the 70s, Ian Schrager co-owned New York’s legendary Studio 54 night club. In the 80s, he co-invented boutique hotels. Part of his portfolio today is Public. On the lively Lower East Side, pass through its calming front garden and you’ll enter a luxe world that recalls the heady days of the disco era. The Roof is the place to catch summer sunsets and, with similar views, the Microclub is for late nights.
Visit PublicHotels.com
Crosby Street Hotel (££)
On a cobbled side street in SoHo, Crosby Street Hotel is Firmdale’s original NYC opening. Introducing Kit Kemp’s great British design to Downtown New York, its location is as good as any, with Nolita, Chinatown, the Lower East Side and Tribeca all in easy walking distance.
Visit FirmdaleHotels.com
Fouquet’s (££)
Close to One World Trade Center, Tribeca might be New York’s newest hotel hotspot. After Paris institution Fouquet’s opened a property here in 2022, Firmdale is preparing to launch the Warren Street hotel in spring 2024. While Fouquet’s offers chic Martin Brudnizki interiors, French-inspired cuisine and a rooftop space that channels Versailles, Warren Street promises Kit Kemp’s bold patterns across 57 rooms and suites – and 12 residences with private terraces and Hudson river views.
Visit HotelsBarriere.com
The Hoxton (£)
Cross the East River and you’ll find an outpost of the Hoxton that sleekly incorporates Williamsburg’s post-industrial hipster vibes into the group’s own, well… post-industrial hipster vibes. The signature living room-style lobby and fun rooftop bar are both here. You can still see Manhattan from some of the rooms, but Brooklyn’s cooler, calmer atmosphere could be just what you need.
Visit TheHoxton.com
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