10 Best Hotels in Upper East Side, New York City

Steps from Madison Avenue shopping and the Museum Mile, and a block from Central Park, this old-money refuge on a leafy residential block started as upscale apartment hotel in the 1920s and still delivers genteel sophistication and pampering service in an unbeatable location. The lobby is small, but spacious guest rooms have all the civilized comforts of home including stocked bookshelves and luxe bathrooms. Thirty-three of the suites—all decorated in different themes—have working wood-burning fireplaces, and 13 have private terraces. In-room iMac desktop computers are available in certain room types or MacBooks as an alternative (on request) and the New York Times and other major newspapers delivered to the room are nice touches. The elegant Pembroke Room is a guest-only breakfast and weekend brunch area, and the Club Room lounge is for guests, too. Other appealing on-site facilities are Majorelle, a well-regarded French-Mediterranean restaurant; and Jacques, a cocktail bar with a limited bar menu. The restaurant and bar are open to the public as well as to guests.

The iconic grande dame across from Central Park has played host to aristocrats and Hollywood actors, but it prides itself on treating all its guests like royalty, offering five-star service that lives up to expectations, from elevator operators, to 24-hour laundry/dry cleaning service. There's even access to a Jaguar sedan house car (subject to availability). If you're lucky enough to have a west-facing room, you'll be greeted with sweeping views of Central Park, the iconic twin spires of the San Remo, breathtaking foliage in fall, or the Wollman ice rink in winter. These are no doubt some of the best views Manhattan has to offer. After settling in, have a well-prepared meal in The Rotunda, a luxurious circular dining space wrapped entirely in hand-painted frescoes.

On the well-heeled corner of Madison Avenue and 76th Street, the Carlyle fuses venerable elegance with Manhattan swank, and calls for the aplomb of entering a Chanel boutique: walk in chin high, ready to impress (and be impressed). Everything about this Upper East Side landmark suggests cultivated refinement: some rooms remain decorated with fine antique furniture, while a good number of them have undergone a modern revision in 2021. Its famed black and white marble lobby remains, and dining and entertainment options can't help but captivate, especially when cabaret luminaries hold court at the Café Carlyle; Bemelmans Bar is one of the greatest old-school cocktail spots in New York; and Dowling's at Carlyle, opened in fall 2021, can give the lunch clientele something to chew on with an impressive pre-fixe lunch menu. For pampering, the Valmont Spa and Yves Durif Salon can buff, polish, and glow you up for a fancy night out. If you want the fragrance of timeless uptown elegance to go; look for the hotel's collaboration with Brooklyn-based perfumer, D.S. & Durga, named for the hotel.

The perfect combo of uptown panache and downtown chic, the Mark has striped marble floors, opulently appointed rooms, tons of fresh-cut flowers, and a restaurant by renowned chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. This hotel sparkles top to bottom, from the modernist furnishings in the lobby to the cow-print upholstery in the chic bar just off the entrance. Rooms are modern, with plush Italian linens, Sub-Zero freezers for ice, and more closet space than most New York City apartments. Bathrooms have heated-marble floors, decadent sunken tubs, and enough towels to dry a small nation. There's a state-of-the-art gym; a posh Frédéric Fekkai salon for beautiful blowouts and color treatments; and the "Bergdorf Goodman Express" pedicab service, which will take you right from the hotel's front door to one of the world's most famous department stores on 5th Avenue.

This extended-stay hotel on a quieter residential-feeling street has spacious, well-maintained rooms and amenities which makes it an excellent option for families or visitors who like to retreat to a patio or terrace and order in after a day of exploring nearby Central Park, The Met, or Bloomingdale's. Choose from spacious Junior, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom suites to get a feel for apartment living in NYC, or the terrace or patio suites for coveted private outdoor space that will make locals jealous; even one of their four penthouses could give off an exclusive vibe. There's no restaurant on-site but plenty of restaurants and a grocery store nearby, and takeout from several nearby restaurants can be charged to your room. Rooms include sleeper sofas, powered recliners, modern kitchens with stovetops and stocked with dishware from beloved local brand, Fishs Eddy. There's a fitness room, laundry facilities, and the hotel is pet-friendly with a serene seating area across from the reservation desk. 

Situated near the impressive Cornell Tech campus, the sustainably built and LEED-certified hotel caters to visiting family and faculty and nods to the school with and a lobby filled with 5,000-square-feet of bookshelves, campus colors that continue into the lobby bar, and communal seating with a library feel to invite study and congregation. Rooms offer floor-to-ceiling views of Manhattan and beyond, Roosevelt-Island-specific art, contemporary lighting, and cool wallpapered bathrooms. You'll also find hallway portraits of FDR and a copy of his famous "Four Freedoms Speech" in every guest room, good to read before you visit the nearby memorial to the late president, Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park. The sexy rooftop bar and lounge is the main win here: it offers panoramic views as well as an art deco--inspired bar and mirrored DJ booth. The ground floor restaurant serves seasonal American food in a bright modern space lined with bookshelves or out on the patio.

Positioned unobtrusively by Central Park on the Upper East Side, the Plaza Athénée (now related in name only to its Parisian cousin) makes stellar service a priority, with a personal sit-down check-in off to the side of the lobby and extravagant in-room dining service with white tablecloths, candles, and flowers. Rooms have big bathrooms and refined, if nondescript, furnishings and linens. The hotel might seem stuffy to some younger visitors, but to others, it's a welcome dose of old-school luxury. Bar Seine is a fabulously dark and secretive hideaway, and surely the only bar in New York with a floor made of leather. Arabelle serves American fare with a French accent.

With its signature "power breakfast" at The Regency Bar & Grill, and a "power hour" (where you can receive three services in an hour) at the on-site spa and salon, this Park Avenue hotel provides its power-playing guests with excellent amenities, state-of-the-art technology, and bright, tastefully appointed rooms with notably comfortable beds. Expect exceptional service and large rooms featuring free Wi-Fi, Frette linens and bathrobes, and a big desk and ergonomic chair (again, perfect for the business traveler). The hotel takes care of families too; offering babysitting as well as pet sitting and walking. The buzzy Regency Bar and the Lobby Lounge—which has a full-length nature-focused sculpture by artist Nina Helms—are appealing places to kick back. The brand's pet program provides Kitty and Fido with gourmet room service, special bedding, leashes, collars, and every creature comfort. 

Within this 1927 landmark building, The Mark personifies lavish comforts coupled with modern guest amenities. Given a chic interior refresh by French designer Jacques Grange, especially with its avante garde bar, The Mark has also partnered with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, whose restaurant showcases innovative European classics. There's also a Frédéric Fekkai full-service salon and John Lobb shoeshine kiosk. Other specialties extend to rentals involving a Republic Bike, The Mark's very own pedicab fleet and a 70-foot Herreshoff-designed sailboat that can be rented for private three-hour cruises around New York harbor. Dogs can also have quite the guest experience, with exclusive amenities reserved just for these furry-legged friends. 

Small and charming, this boutique hotel is on a quiet, tree-lined residential street a short walk from Central Park, the Met, and other Museum Mile attractions. While the nine-story building is a 1930s almost-landmark, with its neon marquee, the interior has been updated with contemporary and unfussy furnishings, and the lobby contains a self-checkout marketplace with an adjacent coffee bar. Although the hotel is pet-friendly, the smallish rooms may not be suitable for families but can be perfect for solo guests. There's no on-site restaurant, but nearby 3rd Avenue has many dining options.