Both have a rooftop bar, so choose by the room: citizenM New York Bowery, from about $180 with no nightly fee, if you travel light and will trade floor space for SoHo and Chinatown on foot; The William Vale, from about $260 plus a nightly fee, if you would rather have a bigger room, a balcony and a summer pool, and ride the subway to Midtown.
The smart moneyA downtown Manhattan double from about $180 in January, under a top-floor rooftop bar and a street-art stairwell.
$From about $180 a night
Choose citizenM New York Bowery if
The catch
Every room is about 150 sq ft (14 m²): the bed meets the walls on three sides, and the shower is a glass pod in the room itself.
The all-rounderA Williamsburg tower where every room has a balcony and the rooms at its west end face Midtown Manhattan, with a rooftop bar and a summer pool.
$$From about $260 a night
Choose The William Vale if
The catch
The entry King with Balcony is sold on neighbourhood views. The Manhattan skyline is promised only in categories with Manhattan View in the name and in the penthouse Vale Garden Residence.
| Best for | citizenM New York Bowery | The William Vale |
|---|---|---|
| Best design hotels in New York | On the list | On the list |
| Best value hotels in New York | On the list | On the list |
| Best central hotels in New York | On the list | Not on the list |
| Best hotels with a view in New York | On the list | On the list |
citizenM New York BoweryThe William Vale
citizenM New York Bowery
The William Vale
The verdict
Both have a rooftop bar, so choose by the room: citizenM New York Bowery, from about $180 with no nightly fee, if you travel light and will trade floor space for SoHo and Chinatown on foot; The William Vale, from about $260 plus a nightly fee, if you would rather have a bigger room, a balcony and a summer pool, and ride the subway to Midtown.
Questions people ask
Both have a rooftop bar, so choose by the room: citizenM New York Bowery, from about $180 with no nightly fee, if you travel light and will trade floor space for SoHo and Chinatown on foot; The William Vale, from about $260 plus a nightly fee, if you would rather have a bigger room, a balcony and a summer pool, and ride the subway to Midtown.
Book it for the price, the roof and a downtown address you can walk out of, and pay the small step to the Premium view. Treat the room as a well-made bed with a window, and live in the rest of the building. Cheap for Manhattan and designed rather than merely budget: the money goes into the bed, the art and the roof, and none of it into floor space. It is a base for being out downtown, not a room to spend an afternoon in.
There is no pool. There is no beach; the nearest is a drive away.
Book it for the balcony, the rooftop and a Brooklyn base that still looks at Manhattan, and pay the step up to a Manhattan View room. Accept the subway ride to Midtown and a pool that only opens in summer. A tall, glassy Williamsburg tower where every room has a balcony and the rooftop bar is a neighbourhood fixture, so the hotel is busy and social and priced in the mid-range. Manhattan is in front of you rather than outside the door, and the pool only counts in summer.
It has an outdoor pool. There is no beach; the nearest is a drive away.