New York City Hotels
New York's best lodging options range from the stylish and boutique to venerable classics, with striking new hotels opening all the time. The slow season for high-end hotels is in the summer. Reserve as far ahead as possible for cheap hotels, and look out for specials. You can save a bundle by staying in outer boroughs, such as Long Island City in Queens, which is just across the East River from Manhattan.
The New York hotels below have been divided into three pricing categories:
Luxury (over US$400)
Moderate (US$200 to US$400)
Cheap (under US$200)
These prices are per room per night and exclude the 14.75% city and state taxes, and the US$3.50 per room per night occupancy tax. Service charges or breakfast are not included unless otherwise specified.
Luxury
Crosby Street Hotel
This chic downtown hotel features 86 individually designed guestrooms and suites, all with floor-to-ceiling windows, original artwork and a stylish contemporary design. Guests also enjoy the leafy garden, the private screening room and a whimsically designed bar. The hotel is beautifully located on a cobblestone street just a short stroll from the great dining and shopping in Soho and Nolita.
Address: Soho, 79 Crosby Street, New York City, 10012Telephone: +1 212 226 6400.
Website: http://www.crosbystreethotel.com
Lowell Hotel
New York hotels don't come too much classier than this 1927 landmark building, set on a leafy street in one of the Upper East Side's most fashionable spots. Discreet and aristocratic, the liveried doormen escort you to opulent rooms crammed with period furniture and antique décor. It manages to retain an understated air, though, and is the ultimate retreat for those that can afford it.
Address: Upper East Side, 28 E 63rd Street, New York City, 10065Telephone: +1 212 838 1400.
Website: http://www.lowellhotel.com
The Greenwich Hotel
This hip downtown spot fills a renovated historic building in the Tribeca neighbourhood. From the eclectic lobby with its comfy chairs and imported Moroccan screens, to the luxurious bathrooms featuring Carrara marble and hand-laid Turkish tiles, you'll feel a rich combination of style and decadence.
Address: Tribeca, 377 Greenwich Street, New York, 10013Telephone: +1 212 941 8900.
Website: http://www.thegreenwichhotel.com
Moderate
NobleDen
This sleek, contemporary hotel is well located in Little Italy, at the border with Chinatown, and boasts relatively spacious (for New York) guestrooms with hardwood floors, patterned walls and large flat-screen TVs. There's a rooftop terrace with great views, and an Asian restaurant downstairs.
Address: Soho, 196 Grand Street, New York City, 10013Telephone: +1 212 390 8988.
Website: http://www.nobleden.com
The Evelyn Hotel
Not far from the much-photographed Flatiron Building is The Evelyn, set in a historic building that has housed one hotel after the other since 1905. Recently renovated rooms feature soft cocoa colour schemes, crisp white linens and spacious bathrooms, and the location is superbly central.
Address: Madison Square, 7 East 27th Street, New York City, 10016Telephone: +1 212 545 8000
Website: http://www.theevelyn.com
The Paramount
There is nothing traditional about The Paramount, a post-modern showplace. For example, in the entrance, red roses are displayed vertically in vases set into the wall. The lobby bar, designed by Philippe Starck, has platinum walls and a glamorous staircase sweeping up to the mezzanine. Guests can gaze down from their tables to the music and theatre industry leaders reclining on the slightly off-kilter furniture below.
Address: Midtown, 235 West 46th Street (between Broadway and Eighth Avenue), New York, 10036Telephone: +1 212 764 5500.
Website: http://www.nycparamount.com
Cheap
City Rooms NYC – Chelsea
This small hotel – there are just 13 rooms - is popular for its keen pricing and convenient location near the transit hub of Penn Station. The simple rooms feature a splashy image on one wall and offer varying bed configurations, but only feature sinks – bathrooms are shared. They do have minifridges, though.
Address: Chelsea, 368 8th Ave, New York City, 10001Telephone: +1 917 475 1285.
Website: http://www.cityrooms.nyc
The Jane
For an affordable stay in a great downtown location, it's hard to top the Jane. Rooms are clean if decidedly small and play off a nautical theme. Those used to life at sea won't mind the 'cabins', which are a mere 5sq m (50sq ft) in size. The bigger 'Captain's Cabins' are roomier at 23sq m (250sq ft) and have flat-screen TVs and iPod docks.
Address: Greenwich Village, 113 Jane Street, New York City, 10014Telephone: +1 212 924 6700.
Website: http://www.thejanenyc.com
Ye Olde Carlton Arms Hotel
A somewhat divisive 'art' hotel that lots of people really love for its location and pricing, but which you're going to dislike if you're humourless, or are a stickler for high levels of cleanliness. The rooms are individually designed with striking, and sometimes shocking, motifs, and the casual air recalls a backpacker's hostel but with individual rooms. Bohemian, definitely.
Address: Gramercy Park, 160, East 25th Street, New York, 10010Telephone: +1 212 679 0680.
Website: http://www.carltonarms.com