On a tree-lined residential street off Madison Ave, this refined boutique hotel feels much smaller than its 74 rooms might suggest. It was opened as an apart-hotel in 1927 and modernized in 2017 by Obama White House designer Michael Smith: intimacy now prevails. Rooms feel like small getaways dressed in muted grey and beige with contemporary marble-tiled bathrooms and (some) with working fireplaces.
A profound scent of nest bamboo pervades throughout. Most folks prefer the 4th floor, with windows in direct sight of the 63rd St treeline. Beyond the elegant library and sexy bar (Jacques), the classic French fine-dining Majorelle has received a kick in the kitchen by upstart Belgium chef Emmanuel Niess and is well worth a sophisticated evening out (two/three/five courses $105/122/155). The Lowell has hogged Travel+Leisure World’s Best Awards for top reader-voted hotel in New York City two years running.
