But while it has always been a class act, The Carlyle has never felt uptight. This hotel has always been different, ever since it opened in 1930, starting with its location on the quiet corner of 76th and Madison, just off Central Park and a short walk from the Met-20 blocks north of the transactional hubbub of Midtown, where most of the competition can be found. There are few acts that so capture a certain sepia-tinted version of New York City as sitting in that dimly lit bar at The Carlyle (preferably on a rainy night), sipping a martini with a twist while listening to Earl Rose bring home вЂњBegin the BeguineвЂќ on the piano. Just saying the words вЂњMeet me at Bemelmans for a drinkвЂќ makes me feel instantly more sophisticated. Upstairs, the 175 rooms, like the ones at the Hoxton in Paris, are not massive but fit king-size beds and have views of either the Manhattan or Brooklyn skyline. The cocktails are a delight (order the mezcal-infused Fire Island), and the food spans everything from New American comfort at KleinвЂ™s to New EnglandвЂ“style lobster rolls at Summerly. The three on-site restaurants-seasonal Summerly and Backyard and the year-round favorite KleinвЂ™s-are overseen by Jud Mongell and Zeb Stewart, the names behind WilliamsburgвЂ™s beloved Five Leaves, Union Pool, and Hotel Delmano. The U.K.-based Ennismore designed the hotel to feel extremely Brooklyn, dotting it with locally sourced vintage furniture and bookshelves displaying hefty tomes on contemporary art, and вЂ™70-style chandeliers hanging from the lofty ceiling. Cases in point: a quirky, retro lobby thatвЂ™s perfect for long, lazy Sunday afternoons an events space that has hosted, among other things, a pop-up tattoo studio a rooftop bar that doesnвЂ™t have a line (yet). When the Hoxton plunked itself down on WilliamsburgвЂ™s Wythe Avenue-the neighborhoodвЂ™s unofficial hotel strip-it was as much for New Yorkers as for visitors. The hotel may be especially appealing to writers, given the buildingвЂ™s history (it once belonged to The Night Before Christmas author Clement Clarke Moore), the abundant presence of old typewriters, and the propertyвЂ™s claim to the cityвЂ™s fastest Wi-Fi. Guests are encouraged to take one of the hotelвЂ™s Shinola bicycles for a spin or grab a latte at the lobbyвЂ™s Intelligentsia bar. Rooms look out onto the High Line (the former train track reimagined as a public green space) or the hotelвЂ™s own garden, and are treated with hardwood floors, idiosyncratic furniture sourced from the likes of Brimfield Antique Show, and reproduced 19th-century English wallpaper.

While thereвЂ™s nothing rough about it, you may still feel youвЂ™ve been shuttled into the past. But if youвЂ™re feeling nostalgic, stay at ChelseaвЂ™s High Line Hotel, a red brick building built in 1895 as a Collegiate Gothic Seminary. The area surrounding the High Line is so unrecognizable from recent decades that many lament the loss of the neighborhoodвЂ™s former grit and industrial vibe. A festive din still kicks up at Locanda Verde, which serves rustic plates of duck orecchiette, and New York fixtures such as Yoko Ono and Jay-Z go pretty much incognito, but things settle down early. But the enduring revelation is the Shibui Spa, where the lantern-lit pool glimmers under the beams of a 250-year-old Japanese farmhouse. Each of the 88 rooms is idiosyncratically arranged with antique silk rugs, the odd vintage table, and marble bathtubs, while the TriBeCa Penthouse is earthy and minimalist. The lobby is hung with abstract paintings by De NiroвЂ™s late father, and beyond it more inner sanctums await: A book-filled drawing room merges into a pocket garden, where topiaries cast an Italianate charm. Built more than a decade ago in a cobblestone quarter of Lower Manhattan, it creates the sensation of stepping into the actorвЂ™s own salon. In an era of the ever-more-exclusive membersвЂ™ club luring the black-card-carrying wolf pack, Robert De NiroвЂ™s hotel makes privacy feel refreshingly effortless.

Spacious hotel rooms