One of the city’s hippest neighborhoods, the Lower East Side is home to indie bars, cool restaurants, tiny music venues, avant-garde art galleries, and bespoke boutiques. For well-heeled hipsters looking for downtown action, these top luxury hotels make very fine places to crash after a night out.
Reflecting the hip Lower East Side neighborhood it calls home, Public is a trendy property with a design seemingly geared toward being captured on Instagram. Opened in 2017, the hotel was designed by famed hotelier Ian Schrager (of Studio 54 and Edition Hotels), and everything has a chic, minimalist feel. The 367 rooms are clean and elegant (some may find them too sparse), with wood floors, wooden bed platforms, beige walls with baroque mirrors, and floor-to-ceiling windows that let in lots of light. Great in-room tech consists of big Smart TVs, remote-controlled blackout shades, Bose speakers, and free Wi-Fi. PUBLIC lacks a spa, pool, and room service, but it does have a 24-hour gym, a rooftop bar with stunning panoramic views, and a restaurant by celeb chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
The Hotel on Rivington is a stylish hot spot for well-heeled travelers who like their neighborhoods cool and their thread counts high. The hotel's 108 rooms are terrific, with views that are even better. (As always, higher up is better -- and more expensive.) All have Tempur-Pedic beds with Frette linens, Samsung flat-screen HDTVs, and twice-daily housekeeping. Over-the-top minibars include bottles of Veuve Clicquot, high-end snacks, and full-size bottles of liquor.
With its austere, industrial-chic design; hip downtown Manhattan location; and plush amenities like a spa, pool, and ever-popular sushi bar, SIXTY LES is a quintessential Lower East Side luxury hotel. The 141 have great city views through their floor-to-ceiling windows, plus amenities like flat-screen LCD TVs, minibars, and bathrooms with slate-tiled rainfall showers with Maison Margiela toiletries. For all that you get at the SIXTY LES, room rates compare favorably to other downtown luxury boutiques.