Where to Stay in New York Now

The Bowery Hotel (rooms from $395) is an ideal base camp for live-music seekers. The seminal punk den CBGB, once a block away, is now a clothing boutique, but the hotel is convenient to still-thriving venues like Mercury Lounge, Blue Note, and Irving Plaza. Uptown at the Plaza hotel (rooms from $595), the Rose Club’s Wednesday jazz sessions pay tribute to the legends who once played there.

The concierge at the Upper East Side’s artsy 152-room Mark Hotel (rooms from $725) has a special arrangement with Todd Okerstrom, director of personal shopping at Bergdorf Goodman’s flagship on Fifth Avenue, that gives guests 24-7 access to the store. The hotel has an on-site tailor at the ready.

The Peninsula (rooms from $595) distinguishes itself from other Midtown luxury hotels with one of the best spas in the city. Its Alexandra Champalimaud–designed space features the sought-after Biologique Recherche facial.

The Gramercy Park Hotel (rooms from $425) boasts one of the best—or at least most expensive—art collections in town; rotating works by Damien Hirst, Richard Prince, Andy Warhol, and David Salle are valued at around $50 million. But the hotel’s art bona fides go even deeper: Painter and filmmaker Julian Schnabel designed everything from the lobby’s nine-foot cast-stone fireplace and embroidered chairs to the funky logo and room numbers.

Premium suites (from $1,000) at the Beekman come with 12 hours' priority access to its fleet of new Lexus vehicles. But there are good backed restaurants: Tom Colicchio’s Temple Court and Keith McNally’s Augustine.

While some hotels have bicycles on hand, the Greenwich Hotel (rooms from $625), with its 88 residential-style rooms and suites, located one block from the West Side Highway’s scenic bike path, features top-of-the-line Shinola bikes, and the Chatwal (rooms from $850), an Art Deco–era hotel located down the street from Bryant Park, provides laid-back cruiser bikes and custom maps.

Almost every crystal object you see in Baccarat’s 114-room Midtown flagship (rooms from $1,000) can be purchased on the spot through the concierge, including any of the 17 custom-made chandeliers. Once you’ve loaded up on stemware, treat yourself to La Mer’s only Stateside spa, or just hang out in the gleaming ground-floor bar and try one of the city’s best grilled cheeses.

At Majorelle, one of three dining venues that have debuted at the Lowell (rooms from $855) following a $25 million renovation earlier this year, restaurateur Charles Masson (of La Grenouille fame) spans the Mediterranean. He serves dishes originating from the Riviera (a sole goujonette) to Morocco (a snapper tagine).

For book lovers, Midtown’s gilded St. Regis (rooms from $695) has brought founder John Jacob Astor IV’s personal library back to life: Volumes from the century-old Astor Library have been digitized and loaded onto Kindles available from the concierge. Meanwhile, the Mandarin Oriental, New York (rooms from $695) has collaborated with fashion designer and avid reader Joseph Altuzarra on a selection of titles for suite guests.