The Best Boutique Hotels in Brooklyn

This art-inspired hotel takes eco-friendly steps with bike-loan programs and minibars stocked with locally sourced treats. It was the first boutique hotel in Brooklyn, with an understated design ethos, inspired by the idea of pairing a simple white T-shirt with luxury jeans. Local artists have been let loose in the rooms, splashing walls with swirling florals, bright David Bowie depictions and stormy pastel skies. A more muted setting is found in the neutral-toned Standard rooms – where you can doodle on the bathroom’s chalkboard walls – and in the Urban suites, you can reminisce about your day of sightseeing from the comfort of a hammock.

The McCarren Hotel bills itself as “Williamsburg Brooklyn’s Neighborhood Retreat” with good reason. With one of the largest heated outdoor pools in New York City, the McCarren Hotel often makes you feel like you’re poolside at a resort. Most of the action centers around the pool, which has plenty of comfy lounge chairs, day beds and towels, as well as live music and poolside cocktails. The rooftop bar follows suit with a beach bar vibe, overlooking McCarren Park. The accommodations are clean and simple in comparison, but nonetheless contemporary and locally furnished, with nice amenities like rain showers.

Known for the vintage yellow cab that sits outside its doors, this 19th-century textile warehouse-turned-boutique hotel in Brooklyn takes you down the rabbit hole with upside-down lamps, colorful mosaic flooring and warped brick walls. Rooms range from generously sized studios with pastel-toned bespoke art and original antique furnishings, to penthouse lofts – which step things up with local gourmet snacks and a private roof deck. Stretch your legs with a wander down to the East River waterfront or bask in the botanical beauty of Kingsland Wildflowers Project, a lesser-known treasure on the roof of Broadway Stages film studios, just 10 minutes away.

This designer boutique, opened in 2012, is one of the top art and design hotels in New York, helping to put Brooklyn’s boutique hotel scene on the map. Originally built as a factory in 1901, this waterfront property retains many of its original elements, including brickwork, cast-iron columns and windows, while bringing in contemporary features such as radiant heat floors, designer wallpaper and a nifty plug to turn your device into a surround-sound music system. The Reynard restaurant offers top-notch service and American fare, while The Ides rooftop terrace bar is considered one of the coolest in Williamsburg.

A far cry from the average metropolitan hotel, Urban Cowboy puts a Wild West spin on your city stay with a setting fit for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Stripped back to its bare bones and dressed in forest green furnishings, Navajo-patterned throws and apothecary-style cabinets, the charming bolthole invites you to throw back shots of whiskey under dreamcatcher-draped ceilings, cozy up by the wood burner and soak in the cactus-strewn courtyard’s hot tub. Upstairs, four rooms pair exposed brick with rough-hewn wooden beams, while out back is a cabin-style annex with a claw foot tub, private kitchen and vintage gramophone.