Historic Hotels in New York City

The neighborhoods

Where to stay, by area

Midtown and Central Park South

Midtown holds the city’s grand hotels. The Plaza and the JW Marriott Essex House face Central Park, and The St. Regis and The Peninsula stand on Fifth Avenue in the 50s. The Waldorf Astoria, Omni Berkshire Place and InterContinental New York Barclay cluster near Park Avenue in ‘Terminal City’, the blocks built up in the 1920s around Grand Central, a city landmark since 1967.

West of Fifth Avenue, The Algonquin and The Knickerbocker sit near Times Square and the theaters, and The Bryant Park Hotel overlooks Bryant Park.

Upper East Side

The city designated the Upper East Side Historic District in 1981, and the National Register listed a district here in 1984. Three hotels built between 1925 and 1930 sit on or just off Madison Avenue: The Lowell and The Mark, both built as residential hotels (The Mark as the Hyde Park Hotel), and The Carlyle. The Pierre faces Central Park at Fifth Avenue and 61st Street, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a short walk up Fifth Avenue.

Upper West Side

Hotel Belleclaire, on Broadway at 77th Street, opened in 1903 as an apartment hotel, Emery Roth’s first big commission, and is an individual city landmark. The hotel points guests to Central Park and Riverside Park, both nearby.

NoMad, Flatiron and Herald Square

Around 1900, hotels lined Broadway and Fifth Avenue in the 20s and 30s, serving the new department stores on Herald Square. Martinique New York on Broadway (1898) is the one from that era still taking guests. The Ned NoMad fills the 1903 Johnston Building in the Madison Square North Historic District, designated in 2001. The Flatiron Building and Madison Square are close by, and the Gramercy Park Hotel has been closed since 2020.

Greenwich Village and Chelsea

The Greenwich Village Historic District, designated in 1969, includes The Marlton Hotel, built as a hotel in 1900 on West 8th Street. On West 23rd Street, the Hotel Chelsea (1883–85), a city landmark since 1966, was home to writers and artists from Thomas Wolfe to Dylan Thomas. The former Jane Hotel, a 1907–08 sailors’ home in the West Village, now runs as a hostel, so we don’t list it.

SoHo

The SoHo–Cast Iron Historic District, designated by the city in 1973 (its National Register counterpart is a National Historic Landmark), is a grid of 19th-century loft and store buildings with cobblestone side streets. The Mercer, a 73-room hotel, fills an 1887–88 Romanesque Revival building at Mercer and Prince streets.

Lower Manhattan and the Financial District

New Amsterdam began here, around the fort at Manhattan’s southern tip. The Wall Street Hotel fills the 1902 Tontine Building, on the site of the 1790s Tontine Coffee House where brokers traded, and The Beekman fills the 1883 Temple Court office building on Nassau Street, built around a skylit atrium. The Stone Street (1996) and South Street Seaport (1977) historic districts are nearby.

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Williamsburg’s East River waterfront has turned from factories to hotels, but none qualified for this guide: the Wythe Hotel’s 1901 cooperage carries no landmark designation, and the William Vale tower dates from 2017. Nearby landmarks include the Williamsburgh Savings Bank at 175 Broadway, a city landmark since 1966.

Before you book

Planning your stay

Getting around

The subway links these neighborhoods, and a ride costs $3.00 however far you go. From JFK, AirTrain ($8.75) connects the terminals to the subway and to the LIRR at Jamaica. From LaGuardia, the free Q70 LaGuardia Link bus runs to the subway hubs at Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue and 74 St–Broadway. From Newark, AirTrain ($8.75 plus the rail fare) connects to NJ Transit and Amtrak trains to Penn Station, and an express bus reaches Grand Central, Bryant Park and the Port Authority Bus Terminal in about 50 minutes ($23.50 one way).

Parking

None of the historic hotels we checked has free parking, so budget for valet or a nearby garage. The Beekman’s valet costs $95 per 24 hours ($110 for SUVs), with no in-and-out privileges. Hotel Belleclaire charges $80 ($90 for SUVs) or points guests to a preferred-rate garage on Broadway. The Hotel Chelsea partners with Icon Parking on West 22nd Street, and The Bryant Park Hotel offers paid self and valet parking.

When to go

January and February are the cheapest months: NYC Tourism’s 2026 Hotel Week (January 2 to February 12) took 25% off standard rates at more than 140 hotels, including The Plaza and The Pierre. The tourism office calls July and August another low-rate period, especially for Sunday stays. In the holiday season Bryant Park becomes the Winter Village market and ice rink, and for New Year’s Eve in Times Square, hotels such as The Knickerbocker require deposits.

Accessibility

Historic hotels vary, so check each one before you book. The Knickerbocker lists ADA rooms, an accessible entrance and an elevator, and The Marlton says its entrance, desk, elevator and rooms meet the ADA rules for pre-1991 buildings. LaGuardia’s airport buses have wheelchair ramps.

Before you book

Quoted rates are before tax: the city’s hotel room occupancy tax (including a $2 per-room nightly charge on rooms of $40 or more), state and city sales tax and the state’s $1.50 nightly hotel unit fee are added. The Beekman, The Knickerbocker and The Bryant Park Hotel require guests to be 21 to reserve or check in, and Hotel Belleclaire 18. The Plaza takes up to two dogs free; The Knickerbocker charges $300 a stay for a dog, and The Beekman $75 a stay for dogs up to 35 pounds.