I am hotel obsessed — I'll readily admit it. I can hardly visit a new city without popping in for at least a drink, if not a night, to as many accommodations as I can possibly fit into an itinerary. Sightseeing for me is replaced by hotel-seeing, and I always say the hotel scene in a given city reveals as much about its character as anything else. When I visit a place for the first time, it's the patterns between hotels that I look for — how the best hotels in Austin express the city's love for live music, for instance, or how the great hotels of Antwerp put forward a bold, avant-garde design as innovative as the city's famous fashion scene.
But in my own city, the hotels that most excite me aren't the ones that exemplify the trends; they’re the ones that feel completely removed from them. In New York, that means removed physically — hotels in the corners of this metropolis that are rarely on a first-timer's itinerary.
With perhaps one exception, the spots below aren't for those first-timers. Instead, they are the spots that fulfill the needs of New Yorkers themselves: places we can escape to within our own town, or suggest knowingly to visiting friends and family. For visitors to the city, they are thrilling spots to try — but only once the must-sees, the Times Squares and the Central Parks, have already been ticked off the list. In common parlance, these are the hidden gems of the New York hotel scene. To me, they’re the New York hotels New Yorkers need most.
On the island between Manhattan and Queens, best accessed by aerial tramway over the city, the tiny Roosevelt Island isn’t where you’ll find MICHELIN restaurants — or much of a nightlife scene at all, compared to most NYC neighborhoods. It is, however, where you’ll find some of the most staggering views in the city, either level with the water in one of the island’s parks, or up at the top of the Graduate Roosevelt Island.
The Graduate hotels usually attract visitors associated with a nearby university. Here, visitors don't just arrive for Cornell Tech. The only MICHELIN hotel on the island offers a wonderful lobby — filled floor to ceiling with books and dominated by an eye-poppingly whimsical, 13-foot statue of a dude in pilot goggles — and one of the best vantage points in the city. Check in or not, but the Panorama Club is without a doubt among the best rooftop views in the city. And the hotel is a wonderful entry point to a destination so unassuming even most New Yorkers forget to enjoy it.
“This is worth an Uber” is the hotel’s unofficial catchphrase. Along with its sister hotel, the Box House, the Henry Norman is part of the only hotel group operating in Greenpoint, a neighborhood just far enough removed from the famous Williamsburg in vibe and location to escape the kiss of fatal trendiness. Not to say that Greenpoint has none of that Brooklyn cache, but it's a neighborhood that still feels down-to-earth and local. The Henry Norman, with its stained glass motif, large rooms in all different shapes and layouts, refrigerators and desks that come standard, is a perfect reflection of that appeal — and a favorite for long stays as well as parents visiting their early-20s children scattered throughout the borough. No restaurant, but the hotel amenities include a common space terrace on the third floor, laundry for guests and a fitness center with its own dry sauna and steam showers.
Here’s the one hotel on this list in Manhattan. On the Upper East Side and a block from Central Park, it’s in fact a great choice for hitting the main sites — but the clientele are usually repeat or VIP guests, who appreciate the under-the-radar vibe and incredible respect for privacy. Much of the staff has been here two decades, and the homey feeling that creates extends to the amenities. There are working fireplaces in the rooms, a club room for guests, cocktail lounge, restaurant and gorgeous garden. Families may book rooms near one another, and the hotel welcomes plenty of long stays and guests visiting friends or family who live in the area. The Lowell is like the famous Carlyle, on a slightly more intimate scale.
If a new hotel opens in the overcrowded room that is the New York hospitality scene, it means they’re confident they have a new niche to fill, something untapped and completely novel. Big Apple glamping was certainly that when Collective brought their brand of luxe-rustic living to the heart of New York City some seven years ago, and our bet is it will never be duplicated.
On Governors Island, a scene all its own — think art installations, green space and seafood restaurants — on this special stretch of former military land in the middle of New York Harbor, families and couples enjoy tents and cabins set on the Collective campus along the water. Opportunities for campfires, lawn games and happy hour are plenty. New Yorkers will rave about Governors Island when they’re recommending the 10-minute trip here from Manhattan on the ferry — they’ll be legitimately awed to hear you’re staying the night.
Hero image: Collective Governors Island © Sara Fox
