Conrad New York Downtown

The old stereotype was that Midtown was for business and Downtown was for pleasure — and the Financial District, despite being more downtown than Downtown, went quiet within minutes of Wall Street’s closing bell. While you wouldn’t mistake Battery Park City for the Lower East Side, this is all less true than it used to be — nearby Tribeca is a nightlife center, for example, and hotels like the Conrad New York blur the lines between purely business-oriented luxury hotels and something with a bit more after-hours appeal.

Conrad took over the property from a relatively undistinguished business chain, resulting, even after a thorough renovation, in a couple of unusual features. It’s an all-suite hotel, for one thing, and there’s something a touch residential about the layout of the suites. And the towering central atrium is something you don’t see much anymore — in this case it’s livened up considerably by the inclusion of some space-filling sculptural elements and an enormous, colorful 13-story Sol LeWitt artwork called Loopy Doopy. The rooftop bar, with its views of the Statue of Liberty, takes the same name, while Atrio, the wine bar and restaurant, is the Conrad’s signature venue. Cross West Street for the World Trade Center, head north into Tribeca, and from there you’ve got all of Downtown proper at your feet.