The Mark Rating: 5.0 Pearls

Upper East Side, Manhattan, New York City

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As you enter into a lobby with a black-and-white striped floor and furniture that's gold and bright pink, you know you're not in your typical luxury hotel. The Mark is one of the top hotels in New York, and yet you won't find any crystal chandeliers or gilded sconces like you might at the St. Regis or The Plaza.

Which isn't to say the hotel is necessarily laid back or unpretentious. The lobby still has a formal air about it, even if the couches in the adjacent bar are upholstered in cow print. We were told by staff that the suites that connect to an additional guest room are great for families who want to bring their nannies along, which gives a good sense of the hotel's clientele. After all, the hotel sits smack in the heart of New York's ritzy Upper East Side, just blocks from the classic Carlyle Hotel, designer shopping, and Central Park. Many of the hotel's guests are business travelers, and in turn the restaurant and bar -- helmed by celebrated chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten -- play host to plenty of business meetings, dinners, and after-work drinks. They also play host to high-profile diners, including Barbara Walters, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, and Roger Federer. But spend a few nights at this luxurious hotel and you may just wind up feeling like Paul McCartney yourself.

• 24-hour room service
• Same-day laundry service available for a fee
• Free shoeshine
• Free newspaper delivery each morning
• Daily housekeeping and evening turndown
• "iButler" IT department is on hand to help with audio-visual needs

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The Mark is located at the corner of 77th Street and Madison Avenue, in the heart of Manhattan's Upper East Side, a neighborhood known for world class shopping, fancy apartment buildings and homes, and wealthy residents. It's also known, by some, for its distance from hip, downtown nightlife and dining.

• Two-minute walk to Central Park
• Seven-minute walk to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
• 16 minutes by subway to the Museum of Modern Art (or MoMA)
• 17 minutes by subway to the Empire State Building
• 20 minutes by subway to Times Square and the Theater District
• 20 minutes by subway to East Village
• 22 minutes by subway to SoHo neighborhood
• 25 minutes by subway to Wall Street and the Financial District

Although rooms here are no doubt luxurious -- down pillows, Italian sheets by Quagliotti -- they are overall somewhat subdued. The decor is heavy on tan, eggshell, and other neutral colors.

The details, however, make the room. A Crestron control (like an oversized remote) allows you to control the lights, temperature, TV, and shades, and the phone has a screen for checking the weather. Pull open what looks like a drawer, and you'll find it's actually a freezer with ice (another drawer holds beverages, and yet a third one holds snacks).

Bathrooms, meanwhile, are stunning and truly unique; you'll feel like you're in someone's ritzy vintage-inspired apartment rather than a hotel. Black-and-white striped marble floors in some bathrooms, like in the lobby, are striking in the best way possible, and the cabinetry is covered in an aqua-colored laquer -- a truly Art Deco touch. If that's not enough, the countertops, deep soaking tubs, and walls are covered in beautiful white marble. Every bathroom has a separate shower, a TV embedded in the mirror, and heated towel racks.

All rooms have:

• A custom-made bed with down pillows, a down duvet, and Italian linens by Quagliotti
• Stocked minibar
• Bathrobes and slippers
• At least one 32-inch flat-screen TV
• Blu-Ray DVD player
• Desk
• Umbrella
• Safe
• Laundry and dry-cleaning bags
• Big, hand-held remote control for controlling the lights, window shades, temperature, TV, and Blu-Ray DVD player
• Phone with screen for checking messages, weather
• Bedside reading lamps
• Bathrooms with separate shower and tub; toiletries made for The Mark; heated towel racks; TV in mirror

Room types:

• Superior Courtyard Rooms: These standard level rooms are 400 square feet and come with either a queen or king bed. They overlook the courtyards or backyards of the residential brownstones on East 78th Street.
• Madison Rooms: Madison King rooms are 400 square feet and come with a king bed or two twin beds. Madison Queen rooms are 500 square feet and come with a queen bed.
• Seventy-Seven King Rooms: 500 square feet; king bed; overlooking East 77th Street.
• Courtyard One-Bedroom Suites: 700 square feet; king bed; overlooking the backyards of residential buildings.
• Seventy-Seven One-Bedroom Suites: 800 square feet; king bed; overlooking East 77th Street.
• The Madison One-Bedroom Suites: 1,100 square feet; king bed; overlooking Madison Avenue.
• The Mark Studios come in three different configurations: the Mark Studio (475 square feet), the Mark Premier Studio (575 square feet), and the Park Studio (800 square feet). Each has a galley kitchen. Only the Park Studio has a living space that's separate from the bedroom.
• The Mark Tower Suites are one- or two-bedroom suites that have a living room, a full kitchen with sleek appliances and black granite counters, and a foyer with a guest bathroom.
• Connecting rooms: Two Madison King rooms can be connected; a Madison Queen Room can be connected to a Madison One-Bedroom Suite; Two Seventy-Seven King Rooms can be connected; and a Seventy-Seven King Room can be connected to a Seventy-Seven One-Bedroom Suite.

• Federic Fekkai Salon at The Mark is one of the stylist's four New York locations. In addition to hair treatments, the salon offers manicures, pedicures, and makeup applications. The salon is closed on Sundays.
• 24-hour fitness center. Concierge can arrange personal training sessions.
• The Mark Restaurant serves three meals a day, and includes a private dining room that can fit up to 18 people.
• Attached to the restaurant is a bar and lounge that serves drinks and the entire restaurant menu. The bar is open 11 a.m. until 11 p.m.
• Two meeting rooms on second floor (totalling 850 square feet), each with a private bathroom and free Wi-Fi
• Free 24-hour business center with a computer, printer, and fax machine.
• Free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel
• Boxing and martial arts studio located on the 2nd floor

• Cribs are available for free.
• Rollaway beds cost $50 per night and are only available in certain rooms.
• Many rooms have a pullout couch or can be connected to another room.

Jean-Georges Vongerichten, one of New York's most celebrated chefs, has a restaurant in the hotel, which The New York Times gave two prestigious stars in April 2010. Simply called The Mark Restaurant by Jean-Georges, this formal restaurant is open for three meals a day, and also offers an abbreviated late-night menu from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. The chef has become known for his world-class, inventive dishes, such as a peekytoe crab cake with pink grapefruit, avocado, and ginger ($19). Dinner entrees range from $26 to $48. Diners should keep their eyes peeled for high-profile clientele (like Paul McCartney and Woody Allen).

• The bar attached to the restaurant offers the same menus as the restaurant and is open from 11 a.m. until 1 a.m.
• 24-hour room service from a menu created by Jean-Georges himself
• One block away from Daniel Boulud's popular Cafe Boulud, a seasonally-focused French-American restaurant inside the stylish Surrey Hotel
• Butterfield Market, a great spot for coffee, gourmet pastries, groceries, and pre-made food, is just three blocks away

• Cats and dogs 25 pounds or under are allowed for free
• Pet will receive bowl, food, bed, and a welcome letter from the hotel's general manager (all free of charge) upon check-in