Profile

With their fourth property to be opened (their other locations have been in Miami, Turks and Caicos, and the meatpacking district), the Gansevoort shows they've got the hip-hotel formula down pat. Sleek style, with sexy edge? Check, thanks to a three-story granite atrium lobby, velvet rope-guarded rooftop bar, and oversize photos of lingerie-clad ladies in the rooms. Creature comforts for work and play? The 249 well sized rooms—which range from standard superiors and larger deluxe kings to several specialty suites and a duplex presidential suite—feature plush beds with hypoallergenic duvets, Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Mini iPod docks with pre-loaded iPod Touches, complimentary Wi-Fi and stocked private bars. (Deluxes and suites also have small balconies, some with Empire State Building views). There are also brag-worthy facilities like an Exhale Spa, Cutler hair salon, and one of the few hotel swimming pools in Manhattan (it's a midsize indoor/outdoor number on the rooftop), plus a 24-hour gym, the street-level Twenty33 bar, and the Asellina Italian restaurant. What keeps it all from feeling too rote or slick, though, is a warm, professional staff that treats each guest with the same zero-attitude courtesy—be they business traveler, tourist, or roving pack of models. — Sandra Ramani

Central location; Empire State views from some rooms and public areas; rooftop pool; balconies in some rooms; free Wi-Fi; on-site Exhale spa, Cutler Salon, and large, 24-hour gym.

Cons
The lobby and Plunge rooftop bar attract raucous crowds on certain nights (but hotels guests do enjoy priority access to the bar).