From Festive Getaways to Cozy Staycations—7 Landmark NYC Hotels to Call Home This Holiday

There’s nowhere else like New York. Between the energy, the people, the entertainment, and the style, NYC has always had that It factor that makes it irresistible to anyone who’s ever visited—and impossible to live elsewhere for anyone who calls it home. And it doesn’t take an expert to see that one of the most defining experiences of New York is the social life. Going out for a drink or dinner, or finding a place to stay can be an overwhelming endeavor since the city is flooded with world-renowned restaurants, buzzy bars, and five-star hotels at every corner.

Well, not to sound biased, but no one has a better pulse on the city’s coolest hangouts than our team of fashion editors. The previews, events, and dinners we regularly attend bring us all over the city and often allow us to be one of the first to experience a new hotel or frequent a historic favorite. Since there are almost as many hotels to choose from as there are places to eat, distilling them into a short list of “the best” is a near-impossible task, which is why the spots you’ll discover here are all vetted by fashion insiders as well as yours truly.

Whether you’re a New Yorker treating yourself to some local R&R or are traveling to the city to shop, eat, and enjoy all the magic that is the holidays here, look no further than the seven elite outposts to call home.

There’s perhaps no other downtown establishment as iconic in the fashion and pop-culture worlds as The Bowery. Situated at the intersection of NoHo, SoHo, the East Village, and the Lower East Side, the hotel is the backdrop to the city’s most elite crowd—quite literally. Flip through the latest street-style snaps of celebrities in New York, and nine times out of ten, they’ll be pictured emerging from the wrought-iron-and-glass front doors onto the street. Inside, however, the space is warm and inviting with its rich oak-lined walls, plush velvet sofas, and working fireplace, and feels steeped in an old New York atmosphere. As for drinking and dining, a certain well-dressed crowd descends on the lobby bar in the evenings like clockwork while at the ground-floor restaurant Gemma, a rustic Italian menu is always a crowd-pleaser.