NYC, Where to stay?

May 23, 2005 10:43 AM

What's the best high-end place to stay in NYC? I'm not looking for absurdly priced penthouse rentals, just a weekend stay in NYC that's somewhat more unique than a Hilton. I'm specifically looking at the Soho House and have family that raves about the Waldorf (a little too blueblood for me). Any suggestions?

Great service and willing to help me get good shows and dinner reservations a plus -- spa treatment and other non-essentials are not high on my list. I'm looking to spend ~$500 or less a night. A young and hip area would be best. I'd like my best to stay way from a too snobby crowd but I understand that comes with the territory.

posted by geoff. to travel & transportation (18 comments total)

I've never been, but the Library Hotel seems very cool, and is pretty pricey.
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 10:52 AM on May 23, 2005

Hmm, I'm probably not the best qualified to answer this, but let me get the ball rolling...while I was getting wined and dined by NY Law firms last year, my two favorite boutique hotels were:

The Tribeca Grand - which had a great location, decent service, excellent rooms and definitely came in under $500 a night

and

The Dylan Hotel - which is fairly close to Grand Central and is, imho, absolutely beautiful.
posted by buddha9090 at 10:56 AM on May 23, 2005

I got to stay at The Hudson on central park back in 2001, when it was still new and I was a guest of a magazine. Very nice and designy.
posted by mathowie at 10:57 AM on May 23, 2005

60 Thompson is swanky swank and in the heart of SoHo.
Carlisle Hotel is 1920's old-money chic on the upper east side
Hotel Gansevoort is starfucker trendy in the Meatpacking district
posted by remlapm at 11:00 AM on May 23, 2005

I'm not at all a fan of the Waldorf either. I am a NYC resident, but we did stay at the Library Hotel a couple of times - great atmosphere, but Madison & 40th is hardly hip.

The Peninsula Hotel in the fifties is supposedly EXCELLENT for reservations, show tickets etc. It's in the 50s, maybe 57th and Fifth? The rooms are very nice there too, but I'm not sure how much they cost. I'm sure they have a few for under $500 per night though.

The Hotel on Rivington is where my trendiest architect clients stay. Great neighbourhood, great design, can't speak to the level of concierge service.
posted by dublinemma at 11:11 AM on May 23, 2005

The Hudson Hotel, as mathowie suggests, is supernice and supercool, especially the Library Bar inside.

I would also suggest both the Soho and Tribeca Grand hotels, which feature beautiful rooms and uberhip bar scenes, and are in (generally) younger, hipper, less touristy areas (at least as far as nightlife is concerned).
posted by saladin at 11:18 AM on May 23, 2005

Jesus H Tapdancing Christ, the Dylan is gorgeous.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 11:29 AM on May 23, 2005

I used to stay at the Soho Grand fairly regularly and found it to be very nice, but if you're not hip yourself, you'll get patronized/shit on like mad by the uber-snooty staff.
posted by briank at 11:40 AM on May 23, 2005

The Waldorf is trading on their name only, IMHO - I seems like the owners have not put any cash into that place for years. I took GalPal to New York on the QM2 last year, and Cunard put us up in the Waldorf.

The suite had cracked sinks, banging plumbing, chipped paint, a window that wouldn't open and another that once open, wouldn't close. Since we got to New York at 7:30AM I booked the room the night before so we'd be able to check in as early as possible and get out and about. They classless capitalists knew we were arriving on the QM2, so they took a chance and booked the suite to someone else. The first day was shot as we had to wait until 12PM or so.

On the last night the fire alarms malfunctioned and we got almost no sleep. I went ballistic and had a list of thirteen complaints I pitched to the Manager. We got two nights off our bill but I'll never go back.

I've been to New York on biz three times this year, and each time stayed at The Soho Grand. Nice people, nice rooms, downtown location and good energy.
posted by Mutant at 11:41 AM on May 23, 2005

The Muse is great, nicely located.
posted by darsh at 11:53 AM on May 23, 2005

As a note - I was just at the Soho Grand. I'd wanted to stay there for ages and a friend got me a deal. And... eh - not all that great. The rooms look like they were really nice in the mid to late 90s. Its due for a refresh. They do have a nice bar, though.
I love the Royalton (in the 300-400 dollar range) - but I've not been there in forever and it wouldn't surprise me if they were suffering the same fate.
Be aware that the rooms at the Hudson are microscopic.
I've never heard a bad word about the Peninsula - it is the favorite hotel of a few people I know. The Tribeca Grand was also on my list for my last trip and ended up being just a bit too expensive.
posted by Wolfie at 12:01 PM on May 23, 2005

If you like large hotel rooms, the Affinia hotels are difficult to beat.

The Four Seasons is always great ( the Pierre is awesome).

The Crown Plaza right by Times Square is nice, but not necessarily ritzy.

For a funky place, in a great locale (Chelsea), check out the Maritime hotel.
posted by stovenator at 12:29 PM on May 23, 2005

Kind of what Wolfie said. Back when I was visiting NYC often in the mid-90s and had money to burn I always stayed at the Royalton. Later, I booked into the Soho grand the first month after they opened (they were hungry for customers) mostly because of location. I've stayed at the Pierre and the Ritz and whatnot but most of the most expensive hotels are kind of stuffy.

The Mercer hotel in Soho is probably where I'd stay now. I like the rooms at the Soho Grand but the lobby itself feels too chain-hotel ish to me. The Mercer feels more like an exclusive hideaway.
posted by vacapinta at 1:04 PM on May 23, 2005

I'll offer a point of dissent on the Hudson. I've stayed there a couple of times and it's got the expected Ian Schager hip vibe and does have cool bars BUT (a) the rooms are tiny tiny and (b) I had my laptop and a prototype mobile phone stolen from my room and the staff were just bastards. Very uncooperative, treated me with suspicion as if I was scamming them and provided none of the customer service I would have expected from being a paying customer. You might want to look at the SoHo Grand.
posted by donovan at 1:31 PM on May 23, 2005

I second donovan's opinion on the Hudson -- tiny rooms like those on a boat, with mirrors to make it seem big enough that you don't want to kill yourself. But the food delivered by room service was excellent. I've heard good things about the SoHo Grand. I've been to the bar in the Tribeca Grand, however, and didn't like the crowd. Rich pseudo-cool investment bankers, to my eyes.

I stayed at the W in Times Square for a wedding and it was great -- amiable staff, good room service food, plus the option of ordering up ice cream sundaes for two, plus a camera and a plastic sheet. I wouldn't stay in Times Square again for any reason, but they have a hotel in Union Square that would be my pick.
posted by xo at 6:24 PM on May 23, 2005

No doubt about it -- The Tribeca Grand. Dimly lit, really swanky lounge, and very NYC atmosphere.
posted by seinfeld at 7:42 PM on May 23, 2005

The St. Regis is an amazing elegant old hotel. You get starpoints - and get this - your own personal butler. That's definitely where I would stay if I had money to burn.
posted by CunningLinguist at 8:09 PM on May 23, 2005

Ooooh, I want to stay in the journalism room in the Library Hotel. Anyone know if you can go in the reading room and writer's den if you are not a hotel guest?
posted by SisterHavana at 3:00 PM on May 24, 2005