Penny Williamsburg

Long before it was a nightlife destination, much less a hotel hotbed, Williamsburg was Brooklyn’s creative capital — and it’s this aspect of the neighborhood that the Sydell Group aims to honor with Penny Williamsburg, an 118-room boutique hotel at the east end of North 8th Street, just yards from legendary hipster nightspot Union Pool. The concept is the classic North Brooklyn apartment, but done properly: rooms include kitchenettes, hardwood floors, and a carefully curated selection of artworks and art books. And the art is hardly limited to just the accommodations — there’s an in-house art gallery as well.

In fact, Penny Williamsburg comes with artists, too — a subset of its residents are fine arts graduate students from Bard College. For their benefit (and yours) there’s a touch of the Hudson Valley here in the form of a surplus of greenery, from a garden terrace to the in-room plants. And while the food and beverage offerings are a work in progress, the rooftop terrace is soon to be home to a restaurant and bar, complete with a DJ booth and a stage for live performances. Short of subletting an artist’s loft, it’s as close as you can get to the classic Williamsburg residential experience.