These are unusual times, and the state of affairs can change quickly. Please check the latest travel guidance before making your journey. Our writers visited these hotels pre-pandemic.
Central Park makes every tourist’s wish list. Curious jetsetters from across the globe venture to New York City to see if the urban oasis lives up to the hype, only to experience the serenity of this outdoor refuge and its 843 acres of gardens, greenery, and grandeur. Clearly, it’s no surprise, then, that some of Manhattan’s most reputable hotels dot the surrounding streets. From timeless classics to hospitality icons to uptown retreats, here’s our pick of the best hotels near Central Park.
Mandarin Oriental New York
New York, United States
Set on floors 35 to 54 of the north tower of the Time Warner Center, with a view of Central Park below, this is the ultimate in modern New York luxury. Décor-wise, Asian accents merge with retro elements. City View rooms looking out on the Manhattan skyline from the 38th and 39th floors come with Asian cherry wood furnishings, marble bathrooms, Fili D’Oro linens and floor-to-ceiling windows. Still, we prefer the Central Park View rooms done in subtle beige and cream tones, Asian art on the walls, and views of the sunrise over the park from the king-sized bed when you wake up.
From
£
584
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
The Pierre
New York, United States
Built in 1930, this beloved 41-storey Art Deco hotel overlooking Central Park (at Fifth and 61st) is the ultimate in understated luxury. It was the first hotel to offer radios and televisions in its guest rooms, in 1950. Elegant interiors reflect a sense of quiet luxury, paying homage to the vibrant history of the hotel. The marble-floor, checkerboard lobby is redolent of old-world grace, while the sumptuous gold, black-and-olive-green tones and textures of designer Alexandra Champalimaud’s Two E Bar and Lounge off the lobby are sleek and modish without being trendy. Those vintage wood-panelled lifts with white-gloved operators complete the timeless picture.
From
£
358
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
The Ritz-Carlton New York Central Park
New York, United States
Set over 33 floors of an historic 19th-century building, it’s like stepping back in time at this elegant 259-room oasis: the horse carriages, doormen and the pink marble-lined lobby with antique furnishings are fit for royalty. On the south side of Central Park – the quiet end of Midtown – Manhattan’s great green garden is pretty much your front lawn. Horse carriages out front can take you through the Park, but you’re also only a walk away from Fifth Avenue department stores, Carnegie Hall, Time Warner Center and all of Broadway. Back at base, La Prairie Spa is the essence of a calming oasis and an all-new fitness centre and movement studio allow you to work out in a state-of-the-art space.
From
£
584
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
The Plaza
New York, United States
Imperiously situated on Grand Army Plaza at the south-east corner of Central Park and Fifth Avenue, this is prime Manhattan real estate. You not only have the park as your playground but you’re a walk away from all the Midtown action, as well as Museum Mile and Madison Avenue boutiques. Spacious guest quarters are one of the luxuries of staying at the Plaza. Every room boasts tall ceilings, huge windows, and lavish interior detailing, with luxurious bedding, spa-like baths with 24-carat gold-plated fixtures, and an iPad to control temperature, lighting, and more. Young Plaza guests can opt to stay in the Betsey Johnson-designed Eloise Suite, a wonderland dedicated to the famed character.
From
£
461
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
The Sherry-Netherland
New York, United States
On the corner of Fifth and 59th at the entrance to Central Park, and steps away from both Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue shopping, the location simply can’t be beaten. The Sherry-Netherland was built in 1927 as the tallest residential hotel in New York, but in 1954 it became a cooperative building. Which means all the hotel rooms and suites are individually owned, some by famous influencers, and decorated to the owner’s personal style, giving the whole place a lived-in, homely feel. The lobby is the real dazzler, with properly dressed doormen and a frescoed ceiling that is straight out of a Henry James novel.
From
£
291
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
The Mark
New York, United States
On a tree-lined block at Madison and 77th, one block from Central Park and within Museum Mile. You can enjoy the ultimate picnic in the park with a ‘lunch-to-go’ created by celeb chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who heads up the French-American Mark Restaurant & Bar, a happening spot drawing tycoons, Park Avenue heiresses and staff from nearby galleries and auction houses. French designer Jacques Grange’s bold geometric shapes and splashy interiors helped reinvent this once-stuffy classic. From the marble-floored lobby with its narrow black and white floor stripes, to the curvy pink-lit bar, it’s like stepping into a Tim Burton film.
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The Carlyle
New York, United States
This handsome, 35-storey 1930s Beaux Arts building has been a favourite of everyone from Jackie O to Lady Di. With Art Deco-styled rooms and suites, cocktails at low-lit Bemelmans Bar, lobster thermidor at the elegant in-house restaurant, and shows at supper club Café Carlyle, this is one of the finest locations on the Upper East Side. It’s perfectly situated on Madison and 76th – otherwise known as the corner of Wealth and Sophistication – and offers a wonderful merging of old-world elegance and contemporary style throughout the interiors. It reopens Nov 2, 2021.
From
£
362
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
The Whitby
New York, United States
For easy access to the big-ticket sights in the city, The Whitby’s location in Upper Midtown is difficult to beat. It’s close to Central Park (two blocks), two blocks north of the Museum of Modern Art, and also six blocks from The Rockefeller Centre, with the theatres of Broadway just beyond. Courtesy of interior designer Kit Kemp and her husband Tim, founders of the Firmdale Hotel group, spaces incorporate a riot of rich, tactile fabrics, elaborately printed wallpapers, crockery hung like portraits, giant murals and sculptures as to be deemed a gallery in its own right. Rooms are individually designed; even the standard rooms are spacious by New York standards.
From
£
437
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
The Lowell
New York, United States
Tucked away on a leafy street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, between Park and Madison Avenues, The Lowell is a peaceful oasis near Central Park Zoo and The Pond. With just 74 rooms, each one differently sized, shaped and decorated, it was a boutique hotel before the term was even invented and they are definitely rooms in which to linger awhile. All have hardwood floors, fresh flowers, and bathrooms with deep tubs. From the marble-floored foyer, with its smart, navy-clad staff and abundance of fresh flowers, to the lounge-style Club Room, filled with art, sculptures and books, there’s a restrained, old-world glamour here, more reminiscent of Paris than New York.
From
£
660
per night
Rates provided by
Booking.com
Contributions by Jane Mulkerrins & Douglas Rogers
This article was originally published by Telegraph.co.uk. Read the original article here.