Best New York Hotels

After nearly colonizing Midtown with his brand of elevated hotels and apartment buildings, Donald Trump has gone downtown. This 46-floor SoHo skyscraper, by far the tallest structure in the neighborhood, boasts the bland architectural style Trump seems to favor. But step inside and it’s a whole other world. The 391 guest rooms (including 132 one-room suites) include extra-soft beds (thanks to high-thread count Egyptian cotton bedding), deep-soaking tubs, 42-inch plasma TVs, iPod docking stations, and spectacular views. If it’s enough to make Trump not fire anyone, you know it has to be good.

Opulent and classy, this top New York City hotel is a Beaux Arts landmark (part of the prestigious Preferred Hotel Group), presenting an impressive blend of old and new, iconic and contemporary. The 1904 property was redesigned by David Rockwell, adding a bit of 21st century to the design. The amenity-packed rooms include complimentary WiFi, Molton Brown bath products, iPod docking stations, and huge plasma-screen TVs. For the big spender, the penthouse suites are 1,000 square feet, which is twice the size of the average New York City apartment.

With 731 retro-chic, cedar and cheery wood-paneled rooms, this top New York City hotel is a bit of downtown in Midtown. Guest rooms are ergonomically inspired and include extra-large desk space (which makes road warriors very happy), plus all the usual amenities you’d expect from a hotel of this caliber (WiFi, huge TVs, great views, dual phone lines). The two casual in-house restaurants are New York classics: Norma’s, the place to brunch on weekends and Burger Joint, the quasi-hidden restaurant that many local foodies swear is the best hamburger joint in the city.

Set in a former flophouse (called the Breslin) in the Flatiron District, this posh 12-floor property from the Portland-based Ace Hotel chain combines a nice blend of comfort and cool while still being affordable. Like soft drinks, rooms come in small, medium, and large (there are also a few lofts). But each room is designed with a punk rock, almost lived-in feel: refrigerators look like rock amplifier containers and the walls crawl with original art. WiFi is complimentary and most of the furniture is vintage. The ground floor gastropub, The Breslin, is worth a bite and so is the in-house sandwich shop, No. 7 Sub.

It wasn’t too long ago when the Lower East Side was a place to score drugs or at least drink strong booze for pocket change. All that has changed, impressively marked by the opening of this hotel in 2008. Owned by ultra-cool hotelier Jason Pomeranc (who also owns the 60 Thompson in SoHo, among others), this 18-story dark-glass tower is a bastion of luxury. The 141 rooms have some impressive perks: rainshower heads, Sferra oversized terry robes, bath products by C.O. Bigelow, an in-room movie library, and floor-to-ceiling windows. The in-house eatery, Shang, is where celebrity chef Susur Lee’s cooks up elevated pan-Asian fare.

Named for the popular, leafy hang-out spot for which it sits, this tile-and-dark-wood clad hotel offers a decent amenities in its 150 rooms, such as plush robes, comfy duvets, tasteful Art Deco-style furnishings and complimentary WiFi. But that’s not why the property is a favorite place to stay. It’s all about location, right in Greenwich Village, where bohemians and artists and students (from nearby NYU) still linger about and best bars and restaurants bustle. Skip the in-house eatery, North Square, and try to snag a table at Mario Batali’s Babbo across the street.

This fun hotel on the border between the uber-sceney Meatpacking District and the slightly more sedate (but stately) West Village took over what was a flophouse called the Riverview Hotel and has never looked back. With prices like these (they come down to their lowest during weekdays and shoot up high during the weekend), don’t expect much elbow room. The cruise ship cabin-like standard rooms are technically single rooms but the staff has been known to encourage double occupancy if you don’t mind spooning your traveling mate all night. Not all rooms have en suite toilets so be sure to ask when making a reservation. All rooms are equipped with complimentary WiFi, iPod docks, DVD players, and flat-screen TVs.

Perhaps the most famous low-budget hotel in the world, the “Chelsea Hotel,” as everyone refers to it (as opposed to its official name, the other way around), is a top New York City hotel to consider if only for its monumental history of American pop culture. Built in 1883, the hotel was the tallest building in New York until 1899. Since then a procession of musical and artistic legends have laid their head on a pillow at this 10-floor structure. These names include William S. Burroughs, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Arthur Miller, and Jasper Johns, among others. What the hotel lacks in amenities, it makes up for in artistically inspired rooms, designed with the hotel’s history in mind. Eccentrically matched furniture and colors help make this hotel a home away from home for scores of travelers.

Sitting next to the oversized, postmodern airplane hanger that is Baruch College in a quiet section of Murray Hill, there’s absolutely no way to be prepared for this eccentric hotel until you lay your eyes on it. And that’s not a bad thing. If Picasso and Fellini collaborated on a hotel together it might look a little something like this. The walls of each room are coated in unique, curious, strange, and beautiful paintings. Some rooms have extravagant four-poster beds (which somehow match the theme of the room) and not every room has an en suite bathroom. If it’s comfort you want, go somewhere else; if it’s an inspiring artistic setting, this is the place for you.