The 11 Best Hotels in Lower Manhattan

Experience New York City like a local at the East Village Hotel, situated on a busy corner of 1st Avenue (above popular coffee shop, The Bean). Young travelers will feel right at home with the somewhat austere and dorm-like furnishings, but seasoned travelers will appreciate the kitchenette and dining areas, a rarity for New York City hotel rooms.

The Bowery Hotel is stylish and grand without necessarily being a “scene.” Located on Bowery between 2nd and 3rd Streets, it’s the ideal base for exploring Manhattan’s East Village, Lower East Side, NoHo and SoHo. Curl up by the fire with a stiff drink in the hotel’s cozy, inviting lobby bar, or brush elbows with celebrities for a low-key brunch at one of the sidewalk tables lined up outside its restaurant, Gemma. The elegantly decorated rooms are well appointed and yet quirky; each bed is graced by the presence of a hotel teddy bear, Bo. The Bowery is a welcome respite between shopping and sightseeing in Lower Manhattan.

This gorgeous boutique hotel in the heart of Greenwich Village has bohemian roots; its history of housing transient writers and artists since 1900 influenced the redesign of the space in 2013. The rooms are small (and bathrooms even smaller), but luxurious details, such as faux-fur throws and gilded bed frames make it feel like a vintage gem less than a block from Washington Square Park.

The neighborhood was named SoHo because it is South of Houston Street; the NoMo in NoMo Hotel stands for Nostalgic and Modern. Is there any better way to describe the hipster aesthetic? Rooms are a white-walled oasis of calm and serenity in one of the most tourist-heavy areas of Manhattan. By contrast, the graffitied NoMo Kitchen is a trendy hotspot for brunch.

Technically in Nolita (North of Little Italy), this ultra-modern hotel was designed for guests who appreciate form as much as function. Outfitted with floor-to-ceiling windows, cement spiral columns and a sleek soaking tub separate from the bathroom, the guest rooms feature furniture with more of a mid-century flair. LA-based Eggslut chef, Alvin Cailan, opened his first NYC restaurant, The Usual, in the ground floor of The Nolitan in 2018.

Set on a quaint cobblestone street, the Crosby Street Hotel is as sophisticated as it is stylish. Not for those on a budget (prices start at $800 (£640)), each guest room is uniquely designed and decorated so that no two are alike. The Fernando Botero sculpture of a giant cat on the sidewalk outside the lobby is not the only piece of art to find here; a sculpture garden in its courtyard can be enjoyed exclusively by guests of the hotel.

The Mercer offers quintessential NYC loft living with all the amenities and comfort you would want from a luxury hotel – such as incredible dining, incredible Face Stockholm toiletries and in-room spa treatments. Sister to Hollywood’s iconic Chateau Marmont, it attracts much of the same notable clientele – especially to subterranean in-house eatery The Mercer Kitchen. Helmed by renowned chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, the restaurant serves up a modern Asian-French fusion menu, and fills up with both visitors and locals on a nightly basis. Understated yet effortlessly cool, this is New York living at its best.

The Standard High Line has become as well known as the innovative park it’s named after, thanks to its cool German beer garden, and cooler rooftop club, Le Bain. Expect to see low-key crowds at the garden, and lines of wannabes outside behind the velvet rope for the club. Rooms overlook the Hudson River and the elevated train tracks of the High Line, which run up through Chelsea. The Standard Grill hosts Not Your Standard Bingo, billed as the best Sunday-night party in the city.

Sitting poolside at the Gansevoort, you will likely (and quietly) congratulate yourself on your excellent choice of accommodation. The rooftop pool is only accessible to guests, meaning plenty of space to swim and sit back as you admire the sky-high views. Begin your evening at B on Top, the hotel’s other rooftop destination. A dining and eating concept, the bar comprises five separate spaces that offer unique menus and atmospheres. Stay up late with a DJ any night of the week, or join the hip crowds for cocktails out on the terrace. Rooms are perfectly designed for sleeping off the night’s revelry, with giant plush beds and in-room tea and coffee facilities to set you up for the day ahead.

The High Line Hotel is not to be confused with The Standard High Line; while it is also named after lower Manhattan’s most popular park, that’s where the similarities end. The High Line Hotel is a gorgeous landmark brick building from the 1800s that wraps around its own private park and courtyard. It is truly a unique (and surprisingly affordable) experience to stay here: the hotel shares space with the Episcopal Church’s General Theological Seminary. Guest rooms feature vintage embossers and Western Electric rotary phones from the 1920s, evoking a stylish old-world feel in a super trendy neighborhood of New York.