The Standard East Village

For some time now the East Village has suffered from a certain imbalance — plenty of places to dine and drink, but nowhere to stay. It’s a situation that’s found some resolution in recent years, as a building boom in Manhattan’s south-eastern quadrant has made space for a new wave of modern boutique hotels, some of them, like the Standard, East Village, situated in gleaming modern high-rises.

It’s hard to miss the towering curves and angles of the Standard, surrounded as it is by a relatively low-rise district. And from inside the rooms it makes for unique perspectives on the East Village rooftops as well as the downtown bridges and classic uptown skyscrapers. Windows are floor-to-ceiling, and the in-room amenities are pure luxury-boutique: huge HD screens, Bluetooth-enabled sound systems, mosaic-tile bathrooms and three different bathrobes to choose from. All this and warmth too — the sunny rooms are fitted with subtly retro furnishings and dreamy beds with fluffy down pillows.

The other half of a New York boutique hotel package is the nightlife — though this, it’s been said, will be a somewhat more restrained affair than the to-the-wall excess of its cousin in the Meatpacking District. Café Standard is a fine start. A casual but stylish indoor-outdoor venue serving classic American cooking, cocktails and draft beers, it somehow feels both like a well-kept secret and like a part of the neighborhood. The real standout, however, is Narcissa, where Michelin-starred chef John Fraser serves California-style cuisine from a gleaming open kitchen. The restaurant takes its name from the first dairy cow at hotelier Andre Balazs’s Hudson Valley farm, where many of the ingredients are sourced.

Of course there’s plenty to see beyond the hotel’s walls as well, and the location places you within striking distance of most of the best of lower Manhattan — check out one of the Standard’s loaner bikes and see for yourself.

Also known as: The Standard Hotel East Village