Neither adds a nightly fee or has a pool, and both come into their own downstairs after dark. The Carlyle if you want Museum Mile on foot, a martini under Bemelmans's murals and a spa; The Fifth Avenue Hotel if you would rather be in NoMad from about $760, with dinner at Café Carmellini and the Empire State Building nine minutes' walk away.
The classicOld New York at its most polished: Bemelmans Bar, Café Carlyle and Madison Avenue, a block from Central Park.
$$$$From about $1,300 a night
Choose The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel if
The catch
The entry Superior Room is 360 sq ft (33 m²), faces the courtyard and has a rain shower but no bath, and even in January it costs about $1,300 a night before tax.
The new classicA 1907 Fifth Avenue bank, opened as a hotel in 2023 and dressed as though it always was one.
$$$$From about $760 a night
Choose The Fifth Avenue Hotel if
The catch
The 1907 building holds only suites, from about $2,065 a night in January. Every standard room is in the 2023 tower.
| Best for | The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel | The Fifth Avenue Hotel |
|---|---|---|
| Best design hotels in New York | On the list | On the list |
| Best central hotels in New York | On the list | On the list |
| Best hotels with a view in New York | On the list | Not on the list |
| Best hotels for food and drink in New York | On the list | On the list |
The Carlyle, A Rosewood HotelThe Fifth Avenue Hotel
The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel
The Fifth Avenue Hotel
The verdict
Neither adds a nightly fee or has a pool, and both come into their own downstairs after dark. The Carlyle if you want Museum Mile on foot, a martini under Bemelmans's murals and a spa; The Fifth Avenue Hotel if you would rather be in NoMad from about $760, with dinner at Café Carmellini and the Empire State Building nine minutes' walk away.
Questions people ask
Neither adds a nightly fee or has a pool, and both come into their own downstairs after dark. The Carlyle if you want Museum Mile on foot, a martini under Bemelmans's murals and a spa; The Fifth Avenue Hotel if you would rather be in NoMad from about $760, with dinner at Café Carmellini and the Empire State Building nine minutes' walk away.
Book it for Bemelmans, Café Carlyle and the Upper East Side on foot, and pay for a Premier Room so that you wake to Madison Avenue rather than the courtyard. Come in January or February, when the entry room costs about a third less than in October or November. Old New York at full polish: an Art Deco apartment hotel on Madison Avenue where the bar, the supper club and the staff are the reason to come. It is dear at every rung, quiet upstairs and has no pool at all.
There is no pool. There is no beach; the nearest is a drive away.
Book it for the bank, the restaurant in its banking hall and the service every room gets, and pay up to The Corner King for the light. Sleeping inside the 1907 building itself starts at a Mansion suite. A new hotel built to feel like an old New York one: a 1907 bank on Fifth Avenue, maximalist interiors and a restaurant that opens its tables four weeks out. It is central, expensive and made for eating and drinking in, with a gym but no spa or pool.
There is no pool. There is no beach; the nearest is a drive away.