TRAVEL

ICONIC NYC HOTELS

From the rarified atmosphere of the Carlyle Hotel to the European bohemian vibe of the Greenwich Hotel, these hotels each tell a unique story about the city.

BY KERRIE KENNEDY

The Marlton Hotel

If you’re planning a weekend in New York City, one of the first things you have to do is decide which neighborhood will serve you best. While you can certainly get around using the subway or Ubers, nothing beats the convenience of being walking distance from the majority of the museums, shops, sights and restaurants you want to visit.

Whether you want to be uptown or downtown, here are 7 iconic hotels that reflect the vibe of their neighborhood:

UPPER EAST SIDE The Carlyle

Famous Guests: Princess Diana, Kate Middleton, Jackie Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Frank Sinatra

This Upper East Side institution of Pre-War Art Deco elegance has hosted numerous celebrities, royalty and politicians, including John F. Kennedy, who maintained a suite there for the last 10 years of his life. From the Dorothy Draper-designed decor to the personalized monogrammed pillowcases presented to suite guests, from the original murals in Bemelmans Bar painted by Madeline children’s book author Ludwig Bemelmans to the Café Carlyle cabaret (which was once home to Bobby Short and more recently has hosted such acts as Debbie Harry, Rita Wilson, Issac Mizrahi and Katherine McPhee), The Carlyle offers a quintessential Upper East Side experience.

MIDTOWN The St. Regis

Famous guests: Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio, William and Babe Paley, Salvador Dalí

Built in 1905 by tycoon John Jacob Astor IV, the 18-story Beaux Arts St. Regis, with its white-gloved butlers, gilded revolving doors and glistening chandeliers, is a lasting remnant of the city’s golden era. Just steps from Fifth Avenue, it’s the perfect place to position oneself for a weekend of shopping. No need to hoof it — there’s a Bentley house car available for drop-offs within a 10-block radius. After a long day of shopping, stop by the hotel’s King Cole Bar to sample the cocktail it invented: the Bloody Mary.

FLATIRON NoMad New York

Famous guests: Chance the Rapper, Usher, Beyonce

Housed in a turn-of-the-century Beaux Arts building with Parisian-inspired interiors by French designer Jacques Garcia, NoMad is a music industry favorite, thanks to its numerous atmospheric drinking and dining options, including the moody NoMad Bar, The Library — which features an antique spiral staircase imported from the South of France — The Elephant Bar, named after twin elephant statues that flank the back bar and the darkly romantic, ultra-luxe NoMad Restaurant.

GRAMERCY PARK

Gramercy Park Hotel

Famous guests: Humphrey Bogart, Babe Ruth, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Debbie Harry

Built in 1925, Humphrey Bogart was married at the Gramercy and Babe Ruth was a regular. In 2006, Studio 54 co-founder and hotelier Ian Schrager reopened the hotel with filmmaker/ designer Julian Schnabel, reimagining it with sexy lighting, rich jewel tones and artwork by Andy Warhol, JeanMichel Basquiat and Keith Haring. Home to celebrity haunt Rose Bar and renowned Italian eatery Maialino, when guests tire of the see-and-be-seen atmosphere, they can retreat to the pool (which becomes a hot tub in the winter) or head over to Gramercy Park next door. The only private park in Manhattan, guests are given a key to the ultra-exclusive secret garden.

GREENWICH VILLAGE

The Marlton Hotel

Famous guests: Jack Kerouac, Lenny Bruce, Lillian Gish, Dame Maggie Smith

Built in 1900, this Greenwich Village brownstone is famous for housing a number of struggling actors, poets and writers during the peak of the bohemian scene, when it served as a single room occupancy hotel. In 2012, it was bought and renovated by hotelier Sean MacPherson. While it’s no longer a hotel for starving artists, it still exudes a bohemian feel with its wood-paneled walls, antique carpets and lived-in leather sofas. Even by New York standards, the rooms are small, but to make up for it guests are given priority seating at the hotel’s charming in-house restaurant Margaux, which features seasonal Mediterranean fare and French cuisine.

SOHO The Mercer

Famous guests: Leonardo DiCaprio, Reece Witherspoon, Karl Lagerfeld, Calvin Klein Sister hotel to Chateau Marmont in L.A. and Chiltern Firehouse in London, The Mercer — housed in a 19th-century Romanesque Revival building — defined a new genre as the first loft hotel in Soho when it opened back in 1997. Now an icon of the neighborhood, the Mercer boasts white-painted brick walls and chic interiors by Parisian designer Christian Liaigre, a restaurant helmed by chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten and a staff famously dedicated to top-notch customer service.

St. Regis

TRIBECA The Greenwich Hotel

Famous guests: Jay-Z, Yoko Ono, Cara Delevingne, Kate Hudson

Located in Tribeca, not Greenwich Village, Robert De Niro’s Lower Manhattan hotel feels a little like being on a movie set, with its intimate, clubby book-filled drawing room and Grand Budapest Hotel-esque eccentricity. From the hotel’s lobby — decorated with De Niro’s late father’s abstract paintings — to its private courtyard, and from its Japanese spa with lantern-lit pool to its Italian neighborhood taverna Locanda Verde, The Greenwich Hotel offers a dazzlingly eclectic downtown experience that’s bound to include multiple celebrity sightings. •

The Greenwich Hotel

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