1 Hotel Central Park

Heavily weathered reclaimed wood, industrial-style windows, and dense vegetation climbing green walls — these are not exactly commonplace sights on 58th Street, between Billionaires’ Row and Central Park. It’s a statement of intent from 1 Hotel Central Park, the flagship of the 1 Hotels group, headed by Barry Sternlicht, founder of Starwood and the W hotels — and the intent behind 1 Hotels is to combine quality hospitality with social responsibility.

So the exterior makes sense as a gesture toward sustainability. And once you’re inside, it’s clear that it’s more than a gesture. A huge proportion of the interior surfaces are made from salvaged materials, from the salvage lumber and brick in the guest rooms to the fitness center’s floor, which once belonged to the University of Wisconsin’s basketball team.

Of course all these eco-friendly trappings mean little if guests prefer to stay at the traditional luxury hotel down the street. Fortunately this seems not to be the case. Along with its socially responsible ethos comes plenty of attention to creating a desirable product. The rooms are visually stylish quite apart from their construction, and the textured, organic look of the hotel’s public spaces stamps an immediate identity on the place. Combine it with a restaurant, Jams, that serves impeccably sourced farm-to-table cuisine, and you’ve got a recipe for success — and the perfect antidote to the excessive gilt and polish that’s normally par for the course in this particular corner of Manhattan.