PUBLIC Hotel New York City
Lower East Side, Manhattan
While the Lower East Side is no longer the hardscrabble place of decades past, it has historically been a desert for affordable hotels that weren’t of the hostel variety. That all changed with the arrival of the PUBLIC Hotel in 2017: Ian Schrager’s sexy, swanky boutique hotel that brings a bit of uptown, downtown. While the large number of restaurants and bars is certainly a draw here (this is a Schrager hotel, after all), we also love the minimalist-chic rooms. Think Brutalist-style concrete ceilings, paired with beds ensconced in backlit wooden frames, with huge picture windows looking out onto one of NYC’s most vibrant neighbourhoods.
Price: from £275 per night
Radio Hotel
Washington Heights, Manhattan
Washington Heights got a bit of a fame boost last year with the release of In The Heights; and this year, the northern Manhattan neighbourhood is finally getting its first-ever, full-service boutique hotel. The multi-coloured Radio Hotel, which opened in June 2022, has 221 rooms and features architectural and food tours of the neighbourhood, a lively rooftop with postcard-perfect views of the city and the famed GW Bridge, plus the first US location of popular Dominican restaurant, Jalao.
Price: from £195 per night
