New York City is a tourist mecca, so after an exhausting day of sightseeing or business events, follow up with a relaxing evening, delectable dinner or festive get-together to hasten your recovery for the next day. There is a hotel (or hotel-like variation) for every taste and budget. Most of the hotels in New York City are in Midtown Manhattan, a total of 114 hotels in this area. There are 75 in Times Square area and 39 on Midtown’s East Side. So how do you pick a hotel to stay in? Which is right for you? Which is in the perfect location to allow you to maximize your vacation time and budget?
Best answer: talk to your travel advisor - the person who knows the hotels, the inside scoop and the general managers’ phone numbers should that need arise; the same person who ensures you receive your Virtuoso benefits:
Upgrade on arrival, subject to availability
Full Breakfast daily for two guests per bedroom
$100 USD Hotel credit to be utilized during stay
Early check-in/late check-out, subject to availability
Complimentary Wi-Fi
Here are five of my favorites:
The sumptuous Park Hyatt New York is the global flagship of the Park Hyatt brand. The hotel's palatial guest rooms offer among the largest entry-room size of any luxury hotel in New York City at 475 square feet, with a majority of deluxe rooms spanning 530 square feet. Across the street from Carnegie Hall, one block from Central Park, and near MoMA and Lincoln Center, Park Hyatt New York is a Five-Star Award-winning hotel offering close proximity to icons of culture and industry.
Inspired by New York's most illustrious Upper East Side homes, and in keeping with the residential feel of the hotel, each guest room is experienced as a series of chambers, with dedicated spaces for sleeping, dressing, resting, and working, defined by unique architectural screens and custom walnut millwork. Partnering with New York City icons such as Carnegie Hall and Central Park Conservancy, Park Hyatt New York offers guests a culturally authentic experience. The hotel has also partnered with luxury brand, Le Labo, to offer guests one-of-a-kind custom bath amenities: Tubereuse 40. Personalize your wellness experience at Spa Nalai, with its indoor saltwater swimming pool, eucalyptus steam room, oversize hot tub, and 24-hour fitness center overlooking the Manhattan skyline. I wasn’t going to tell you about the six treatment suites, most of which include outdoor private balconies, but I just did. You can also enjoy world-class dining and craft cocktails in The Living Room, the hotel's contemporary American restaurant overlooking historic Carnegie Hall.
The Peninsula New York has received Five Star and AAA Five Diamond Awards. With its 235 luxuriously appointed guest rooms and suites, state-of-the-art wellness center, enticing dining, bar and lounge options, and five function rooms are ideally located on the southwest corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street, The Peninsula New York is just steps away from world-class shopping, museums and the magic of Broadway.
Clement restaurant, and its adjoining bar, feature fresh dishes, hand-crafted cocktail menu and seasonal events. Salon de Ning rooftop bar features two outdoor terraces complemented by an intimate interior. Perfect NYC!
Mandarin Oriental, New York redefines luxury as the City's most striking and sophisticated hotel. Standing at the northwest arc of Columbus Circle in the Time Warner Center, just steps away from Central Park, this unrivaled location offers the best of New York's cultural epicenter. Renowned performance venues such as Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall are within walking distance (yes, I’ve walked it), while the world-class shopping of Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue are but a stroll through Central Park.
Floor-to-ceiling windows permit spectacular views of Central Park, the Hudson River and the Manhattan skyline. Guest rooms provide a home theater experience with digitally delivered high-definition video on large flat panel LCD, televisions with surround sound stereo including CD and DVD options, comprehensive in-room video-on-demand system and DVD player...but you didn’t come to New York to watch TV, did you?
Worn out from sightseeing? Enjoy an oversized marble bathtub with LCD flat panel television, glass-enclosed shower, or a unique soaking tub with picture windows overlooking the Hudson River or Central Park. These are found in all suites and some guest rooms.
The 14,500-square-foot Spa at Mandarin Oriental, New York is the ultimate urban escape: vitality pools in separate men’s and women’s areas, amethyst crystal steam rooms, experience showers, his and hers Relaxation Lounges, a shared oriental-style Tea Lounge and a private VIP Spa Suite with separate changing room, steam sauna and fireplace. The high-performance fitness center includes a 75-foot naturally-lit indoor lap pool. On a rainy, steamy-hot or snow-bound day, this is your oasis.
My perennial favorite: The Four Seasons located in Midtown, not to be confused with the Four Season’s Downtown. Experience five-star New York hotel living in this modern-deco landmark between Park Avenue and Madison Avenue, steps from Central Park and Madison Avenue shopping. The Four Seasons sparkles with natural light, and panoramic park and city views, providing you with serenity and luxury high above Manhattan’s ceaseless whirlwind.
Overlooking the Hotel’s towering Grand Lobby, The Garden provides a dramatic, forest-like restaurant setting in New York. Select a table in between the twisting, trunks of enormous African Acacia trees, or enjoy the warm morning sunlight from the over-sized windows. Taking the mantra of “Eat Drink Local” to heart, The Garden takes “East Drink Local seriously, and offers exceptional breakfast, lunch and weekend brunch menus featuring local ingredients. Ty Bar is a stylish, soaring space designed with Art Deco inspiration and is ideal for private conversations or lively, see-and-be-seen socializing. I am told that the martinis a the Ty Bar “start the conversations that change the world”. So take your seat near the soaring windows, intimate fireplace, or overlooking the Grand Lobby.
It is difficult to limit this article to only five, but I must.
Andaz 5th Avenue offers attentive, uncomplicated service in a relaxed, sophisticated environment designed to accommodate guests’ personal preferences and style. Andaz faces the iconic New York Public Library and is steps away from Bryant Park in the heart of Midtown. Entering the building, you are greeted by an artistic lobby lounge with eye-catching sculptures and murals rivaling a NYC gallery. Visit the secret library nook in the corner of the lobby and check out books from a rotating collection curated by the New York public library.
Andaz 5th Avenue has a range of on-site amenities, including event space complimentary WiFi and mini bars with non-alcoholic beverages and snacks, and a 24 hour gym with two Peloton bikes. There isn't a spa facility on site, so the hotel provides in-room services through a partnership with NOMI Beauty. Guests may book a massage, blowout, makeover, or signature Duo Escape any day of the week. Guests can cap off their night with an artisan cocktail and delectable bar bites from its onsite speakeasy, The Bar Downstairs.
How do I know all this? As your travel advisor it’s my job, and it’s a tough one, darn it. Actually, part of our responsibility to our clients is to do hotel site visits whenever possible, so that we have first-hand experience with the product - the ambiance, amenities, guest offerings, staff, and vibe of hotels around the world. I have not toured all of NYC’s hotels, but as I mentioned I do have access to management directly, so that I can meet your needs as a savvy traveler.
When you need to book a hotel you may contact me, or you can explore Virtuoso’s partner hotels at this link, and make your own reservation.
'til next week.
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I create indulgent, transformative vacations for people who crave immersive travel. If you don't have the time to plan the details of your own well-deserved escape, don't know where to begin, or are simply longing to make unforgettable memories with those you love, then don’t wait another day. Let's talk.
Contact: GLOBAL EXOTIC ADVENTURES
- Juliet Weller, Founder