There are certain storied cocktail bars that are as beloved as the hotels. In fact, sometimes the ideal way to soak up a hotel’s scene is to order a cocktail at their bar. We've rounded up a list of swanky spots at MICHELIN Guide hotels with skyline views, buzzy bars with cool crowds, and downtown spots that feel like you're stepping on to the set of a vintage film, just to name a few.
For more spots on this list, read below.
Hard to believe an architectural gem of the Beekman’s stature went neglected for so many years, but we’re happy to report that it’s back in business, and it’s been put to the best possible use. (We would say that, wouldn’t we?) The Beekman, a Thompson Hotel, to give it its full name, is an Old New York original, an 1881-vintage skyscraper from the days when a skyscraper meant nine stories of terraced red brick. And if the silhouette doesn’t convince you of its landmark status, a glance upwards surely will, as you walk across the towering central atrium with its pyramidal glass skylight.
Bowery Lobby at The Bowery Hotel
From the outside it’s clear enough that the Bowery Hotel is a relatively recent addition to the neighborhood, but what’s inside is such a faithful homage to classic New York you’d be forgiven for starting to think it’s been here forever. Its eclectic, bohemian look helped usher in a new kind of romance in boutique-hotel style, and the timelessness of its aesthetic means the romance is still fresh long after the glossy minimalism of some of its contemporaries has begun to fade.
Guests of Williamsburg's hip Hoxton Hotel who seek to sip a cocktail while enjoying a stunning sunset over Manhattan need to just hop on the elevator and head to the rooftop to reach Laser Wolf. Of course, scoring a reservation at this hot spot is not as easy. Michael Solomonov's and Steve Cook's skewer house is especially buzzy, where lights are strung overhead and trendy music and a bustling open kitchen add to the vibe.
Panorama Room at Graduate New York
The Graduate hotels tend to play an outsized role in the hospitality scenes of the college towns they call home, but this one stretches the traditional definition of “college town” just a bit. Even many New Yorkers are still unaware that Roosevelt Island is home to the Cornell Tech campus, a satellite of the Ithaca-based Ivy League university. Graduate Roosevelt Island is the island’s only hotel, and in typical Graduate style it’s dedicated to the campus that it serves.
Whether or not the phrase Dimes Square means anything to you, you’ll appreciate the mini-neighborhood Nine Orchard calls home. Here, at the east end of Canal Street, where the Lower East Side meets Chinatown, there’s a buzz that’s reminiscent of some of Downtown’s earlier golden ages — and, in Nine Orchard itself, there’s a hotel with enough character and personality to become a proper neighborhood institution.
Titsou at Hotel Barrière Fouquet's New York
Hotel Barrière Fouquet’s New York is a combination of two well-loved phrases we never thought we’d see together; the Parisian luxury hotel brand has indeed set up shop in Tribeca, marrying some very French Art Deco–inspired interiors with a post-industrial brick structure that could hardly be more Lower Manhattan. The result, as you might imagine, is a hit in both the fashion and food worlds, and gets to the heart of what people love about both Tribeca and Paris.
Hero Image: Hotel Barrière Fouquet's New York - Titsou Bar
