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The Collection · New York

Luxury hotels
in New York

15 hand-picked stays in New York, independently reviewed.

15

Properties

The destination

Why stay at a
luxury hotel in
New York

New York has more genuinely five-star hotel rooms than any North American city — and a remarkable density of historic grands (the Plaza, the St. Regis, the Pierre, the Carlyle, the Mark) that have survived a century of Manhattan reinvention largely intact. What characterizes a luxury stay here is rarely the room itself, but the address: in Manhattan, what's outside the door matters as much as what's inside.

The Upper East Side (the Carlyle, the Mark, the Pierre, Surrey) is the residential luxury district — quiet streets, the Met, Central Park three blocks west. Midtown holds the iconic Plaza, St. Regis, Four Seasons, Lotte New York Palace — closer to the theater district and Fifth Avenue shopping but louder and more transient. SoHo and the Bowery (the Mercer, the Crosby Street Hotel, Public, the Bowery) is where the design-led contemporary stays live. The Financial District has been gentrified into a serious luxury option in the last decade.

Visit September–November for the best weather. December is magical but the Plaza-area rates double during the holiday weeks. January–February are the value months despite the cold. Avoid the UN General Assembly week (late September) — central Manhattan grinds to a halt and rates spike.

15 of 15 hotels
Pendry Manhattan West
★★★★★
The Langham, New York, Fifth Avenue
★★★★★
Conrad New York Downtown
★★★★★
Equinox Hotel New York
★★★★★
Mandarin Oriental New York
★★★★★
1 Hotel Central Park
★★★★★

New York

1 Hotel Central Park

4.5/5· 1,388 reviews

1 Hotel Central Park, located on 6th Avenue in the heart of New York City, offers a truly luxurious escape for discerning travelers. With a seamless blend of nature-inspired design and urban sophistication, this elegant oasis seamlessly brings the beauty of Central Park indoors. Guests are greeted by an atmosphere of tranquility and refinement, where every detail is thoughtfully curated to create a sense of calm and comfort. The hotel's standout amenities include a rooftop lounge with stunning views of the city skyline, a world-class spa offering rejuvenating treatments, and a farm-to-table restaurant showcasing the best of local and sustainable cuisine. From the moment you arrive at 1 Hotel Central Park, you'll experience unparalleled service and a warm, inviting ambiance that will make your stay unforgettable.Luxury awaits at 1 Hotel Central Park, where nature meets urban sophistication in the heart of New York City. Indulge in the tranquility of our elegantly designed oasis, where every detail is thoughtfully curated to create a sense of serenity and comfort. Experience breathtaking views of Central Park from our rooftop lounge, pamper yourself with rejuvenating treatments at our world-class spa, and treat your taste buds to the best of local and sustainable cuisine at our farm-to-table restaurant. From our unparalleled service to our warm and inviting atmosphere, every moment at 1 Hotel Central Park is designed to make your stay unforgettable.

From $559/ night

The Chatwal, in the Unbound Collection by Hyatt
★★★★★
The St. Regis New York
★★★★★
Lotte New York Palace
★★★★★
Times Square Edition New York
★★★★★
New York Marriott Marquis
★★★★★
New York Edition
★★★★★
InterContinental New York Barclay Hotel
★★★★★
JW Marriott Essex House New York
★★★★★
The Luxury Collection Hotel Manhattan Midtown
★★★★★

Editor's curation

The best New York hotels — by purpose

Our editors group every hotel into the trips it best serves. Pick the one that fits yours.

Best for design & character

Hotels where the architecture, materials, and rooms feel considered — not just luxe by amenity checklist.

The city guide

Where to go in New York

New York moves too fast to be planned, and the city most visitors describe — Times Square, the Empire State, an Olive Garden — is not the city that residents live in. What follows is a short list aimed at the kind of traveler who's staying at The Mark or The Carlyle and wants to know where actual New Yorkers eat, drink, and spend their Saturday mornings.

01

Restaurant

Eleven Madison Park

Flatiron$$$$

Three Michelin stars, now plant-based

Daniel Humm's flagship reopened in 2021 with a fully plant-based tasting menu — a controversial pivot that didn't cost it the three Michelin stars. The room remains one of the most beautiful in the country: soaring ceilings, marble, the corner of Madison Park outside. Reservations open four weeks in advance and book out the same morning.

  • Three Michelin stars
  • Plant-based menu
  • Reserve 4 weeks ahead

02

Restaurant

Estela

NoLita$$$$

The reservation Obama used to land

Ignacio Mattos's NoLita restaurant has held a Michelin star since 2017 and the same wine list — small, Italian-leaning, almost all natural — for almost as long. The room is dim, loud, perfect. The burrata with charred bread and salsa verde is essentially required.

  • One Michelin star
  • Burrata is the order
  • Natural wine list
View on map →Visit website ↗47 East Houston Street

03

Restaurant

Russ & Daughters Café

Lower East Side$$$$

A 100-year-old appetizing shop, now sit-down

Russ & Daughters has been on Houston Street selling smoked fish, caviar, and bagels since 1914. The café (a 2014 spinoff) is the sit-down version: house-cured lox, hand-sliced sturgeon, blinis with caviar, and the best babka in the city. The original storefront is still there a block away — buy a bagel for the plane.

  • Century-old shop
  • House-cured lox
  • Brunch reservations needed

04

Restaurant

Le Bernardin

Midtown West$$$$

Eric Ripert's three-star fish room

Eric Ripert's flagship has held three Michelin stars longer than any other Manhattan restaurant — 14 years and counting. The room is corporate and the cooking is fish-only, technically perfect, French in the Escoffier sense. The four-course prix fixe at lunch is the value: the same kitchen for roughly half the dinner price.

  • Three Michelin stars
  • Lunch prix fixe is the play
  • Strict dress code

05

Attraction

The Frick Madison

Upper East Side$$$$

Old Masters in a Marcel Breuer brutalist box

While the Frick mansion is closed for renovation, its collection — Vermeers, a Rembrandt, the Bellini St. Francis — has moved into the old Whitney building on Madison. The juxtaposition of 15th-century Italian painting against Breuer's 1966 brutalist concrete is one of the most quietly thrilling installations in the city. Returns to the mansion in 2025.

  • Vermeers under one roof
  • Marcel Breuer building
  • Skip-the-line by booking ahead

06

Attraction

Storm King Art Center

Mountainville, NY (1 hr upstate)$$$$

500 acres of monumental sculpture, an hour upstate

An hour and a quarter from Midtown by car, Storm King is 500 acres of rolling field, woodland, and meadow dotted with monumental sculpture — Calder, Serra, Goldsworthy, Bourgeois. A full day, ideally rented bicycle. The kind of New York day you fly home and tell people about.

  • Day trip — rent bikes there
  • Mid-May to mid-November
  • Lunch on-site
View on map →Visit website ↗1 Museum Road, New Windsor

07

Attraction

Dia Beacon

Beacon, NY (1.5 hr upstate)$$$$

A converted Nabisco factory hosting minimalism's heavyweights

Dia's main location is in a former Nabisco box-printing factory in Beacon — an industrial cathedral now hung with Richard Serra, Donald Judd, Agnes Martin, Sol LeWitt. Take the Metro-North from Grand Central (90 minutes, riverside views the whole way) and you arrive at a town that's worth lingering in for lunch.

  • Metro-North from Grand Central
  • Closed Tue/Wed in winter
  • Full day with the town
View on map →Visit website ↗3 Beekman Street, Beacon

08

Bar

Bemelmans Bar at The Carlyle

Upper East Side$$$$

Madeline murals, a pianist, time slowing down

Ludwig Bemelmans painted the murals — the only public space anywhere with his original work — in exchange for a year and a half of free room and board for his family at The Carlyle. Eighty years later the bar is essentially unchanged: gold-leaf ceiling, Earl Rose at the piano, $30 martinis served with a small bowl of nuts. The line forms early after dinner.

  • Ludwig Bemelmans murals
  • Live piano nightly
  • Arrive before 8pm

09

Shop

The Strand — The Rare Book Room

Union Square$$$$

Three floors below, the actually valuable books

Everyone knows the Strand's eighteen miles of books. Few know about the Rare Book Room on the third floor — by appointment only — where first editions, signed copies, and 19th-century leather-bound sets are quietly priced. Worth ten minutes even if you're not buying. Bring a list of titles you've been hunting.

  • 3rd floor, by appointment
  • First editions
  • Better than auction prices

10

Shop

ABC Carpet & Home

Flatiron$$$$

Six floors of design as theater

Less a furniture store than a slowly unfolding stage set — six floors of antique rugs, hand-blown glass, brass beds, vintage Murano. Restructuring in recent years has trimmed some of the magic, but it remains one of the most pleasant places to spend an hour browsing in New York. The ground floor's ABC Kitchen is one of Manhattan's better lunch rooms.

  • Antique rugs are the strength
  • ABC Kitchen for lunch
  • Flatiron afternoon

Editor's picks · Updated regularly · No paid placements

Good to know

Common questions about New York

The questions our readers actually ask — answered honestly.

Which is the best 5-star hotel in New York?+

The Mark, The Carlyle, and The Pierre on the Upper East Side are the consensus top tier for old-money discretion. The Plaza is the most iconic but trades on the address; the rooms have been better. For modern luxury, The Beekman, Aman New York (opened 2022, the most expensive luxury hotel in the country), and the Park Hyatt are the contemporary picks. The Greenwich Hotel in Tribeca is the editorial favorite for design.

How much does a luxury hotel in New York cost?+

Five-star rooms in Manhattan run $700–$2,000 per night. The Pierre, The Mark, and The Carlyle start around $900; The Plaza and Aman New York start at $1,800 and $3,000 respectively. Suites at the named Upper East Side hotels begin around $2,500. December (holiday weeks) and September (UN/Fashion Week) are the peak rate periods.

What's the best neighborhood for a luxury stay in New York?+

Upper East Side for a quiet, residential luxury experience near Central Park and the Met. Midtown for the historic grands and the most central walkability to theater and Fifth Avenue. SoHo for a younger, design-led, gallery-and-restaurant-heavy stay. Tribeca (The Greenwich, Roxy Hotel, the Beekman) for a quieter downtown option. Avoid Times Square — many hotels look luxury but the area is unrelentingly tourist-driven.

When's the best time to visit New York?+

October–early November is consistently the strongest window: comfortable weather, the major museum exhibitions opening, manageable crowds. May and early June are equally pleasant but compete with graduation and the start of summer tourism. December has the most magic (the tree, the windows) but rates double. January and February are bargain months — the city is still alive, rates drop 30–40% at most luxury properties.

Are New York's luxury hotels family-friendly?+

The Plaza, the St. Regis, the Mark, the Pierre, and the Four Seasons all run robust kids' programs, offer connecting rooms, and can stock cribs and child-sized robes. The Mark is the editorial favorite for families — the suites have separate sleeping areas and the children's afternoon tea is genuinely well done. Aman New York and the Greenwich Hotel are less geared toward young children.

Do New York hotels offer airport transfers?+

Most do — via partnered black-car services rather than in-house fleets. JFK and Newark transfers run $90–$150 plus tolls; LaGuardia is $60–$90. From JFK, the AirTrain to Jamaica Station then LIRR to Penn Station is the locals' option (under an hour, around $13). The Carlyle, the Pierre, and the Mark all run dedicated black-car services for guests.

Also worth considering

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Editorial

T

Edited by Tor Lindberg

Founding editor

First published
Last reviewed

We refresh ratings and prices monthly; full editorial review at least twice a year.

How we choose

Every hotel on this list is cross-checked across Google, Booking.com, Tripadvisor, Agoda and Hotels.com — plus first-hand traveler accounts on Reddit, Instagram, and TikTok. We screen aggressively for fake or incentivised reviews and weight only verified, recent, substantive guest feedback. We accept no paid placements and no sponsored reviews. When affiliate links earn a small commission, we disclose it; it never influences which hotels appear here.

Read our full methodology →