25 May 2026
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Mysterious celebrity deaths, unofficial presidential palaces, mafia meetings — the most historic hotels in New York City are living landmarks commemorating some of the country's most colorful chapters. Of the institutions below, many are revered for their glittering guest lists, others for their memorable moments on screen. All of them have kept up with the times, earning their place in the MICHELIN selection not for past but current excellence. And yet, there's something about their long decades of history that remains: a sense of grandeur befitting the city that never sleeps.
The Plaza
What it’s all about: Perhaps the most storied hotel in all New York sits on the edge of Central Park, an inspiration over years to authors, designers and film directors.The word "iconic" gets thrown around a fair bit, but if any deserve the label, it's the Plaza. Sitting at the southeast corner of Central Park in a French Renaissance style, it's the setting for the 1955 children's book Eloise — one of plenty pop-culture connections. A scene set here from Home Alone 2 is another.
While much has changed since its 1907 opening, the Beaux-Arts atmosphere remains as ornate as ever — it's The Great Gatsby's New York, frequented by everyone from Christian Dior to heads of state.
The Beekman, A Thompson Hotel
What it’s all about: Nine floors of red brick where Edgar Allan Poe published a journal and Mark Twain studied, today a convenient landing place in the Financial District.Before the 1880s, buildings rarely surpassed five stories. So when the old Temple Court rose to nine red-brick floors, it was a momentous moment in the history of the United States' most impressive skyline. The lobby's pyramidal glass atrium — framed by iron railings and arched balconies — is still arresting even to the jaded modern traveler.
The Beekman, once home to NYU and the Mercantile Library Association, survived the destruction of 9/11 but was left largely abandoned, save a few Law & Order shoots and music videos. The Thompson swooped in to renovate the landmark in the 2010s, bedecking the interiors with its signature retro-modern look while maintaining spacious guest rooms and oversized windows.
The Hotel Chelsea
What it’s all about: A bohemian New York icon recently and lovingly revived in the heart of Chelsea.Any list like this one requires the Hotel Chelsea. Its recent renovation has turned it into a chic, gorgeous, trendy hub with plenty of nods to its eras past. In the 1960s in particular, the hotel played host to a New York counterculture scene that led to such tales as Warhol muse and Pop Art "It Girl" Edie Sedgwick setting fire to her room and Leonard Cohen and Janis Joplin having an on-site affair. Years later saw the Sid and Nancy affair, when the girlfriend of the Sex Pistols bassist was found murdered.
The dark stuff takes the headlines, but this Chelsea institution dates back centuries, its guests a straight line from Mark Twain to Madonna. Built in the early 20th century, the current space keeps its exposed pipes and iron staircase and decorates with the creative works of art some tenants used to give in lieu of rent.
The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel
What it’s all about: Old-money Manhattan glamour, Bemelmans Bar and a guest list that reads like a 20th-century history book.Few hotels pack the historical punch of the Carlyle, a hotel with an old-school Manhattan sophistication and a historic roster of famous guests that's almost unbelievable.
This Art Deco skyscraper was originally built as a luxury apartment during the Great Depression. After a decades-long struggle to survive, the concept flourished in the postwar period when Bemelmans Bar was added — where the Madeline creator enclosed its leather banquettes in a series of whimsical, Central Park-inspired murals. The jazz-and-piano bar remains one of New York's most coveted hangouts, with wait times often stretching past an hour.
Guests skip the line entirely, and guests at the Carlyle have ranged from Princess Diana to Michael Jackson. John F. Kennedy spent months — dare we speculate, with Miss Monroe? — in the 34th-floor penthouse. Some have called it the New York White House.
The Marlton Hotel
What it’s all about: A Greenwich Village bolthole that Jack Kerouac once called home.Since opening in 1900, the building that would become today's Marlton went from cheap, single-room occupancy hotel to student dormitory, attracting starving artists and Village oddballs. Then the Beat Generation drifted in, and cult writers like Jack Kerouac and his muse Neal Cassady found the Marlton perfectly suited to their needs.
The 2013 revival protected the building's historical threads: original coffered ceilings, moldings and herringbone floors were all kept intact. New owners added modern touches — a restaurant and sleek cocktail bar where locals gather for a martini and a bit of old Manhattan. Their attempt at "polishing a little overlooked gem" was a success, and while the hotel is ritzy enough to rank alongside other baby-grand darlings off Washington Square Park.
Waldorf Astoria New York
What it’s all about: Rising from a rich family's feud, an Art Deco beauty with so much celebrity it claims its own famous salad.It took seven years to restore this Park Avenue landmark: murals uncovered, silver corridors gleaming, the Grand Ballroom primed to reclaim its place as one of the city's largest and most theatrical. Think gold leaf adornments and the 1893 Waldorf Astoria Clock glittering at the center of it all.
The original hotel was composed of two buildings: the Waldorf, built by William Waldorf Astor, and the Astoria, built by his cousin John Jacob Astor IV — two feuding relatives trying to outdo each other, until the two towers became the largest hotel of its time. Over the years, the Waldorf Astoria hosted the first Tony Awards and Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier's engagement celebration. Cole Porter lived and wrote music here; his custom Steinway piano is kept just off the lobby. Still, the most enduring legacy was a simple dish of celery, apples and mayo on lettuce, known 130 years later as the Waldorf salad.
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Hero Image: The Bar Room, one of many impressive public spaces at the Beekman. © The Beekman
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