The catch at The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel

The Superior Room is the first rung: 360 sq ft (33 m²), a king bed and a marble bathroom with a rain shower, overlooking the courtyard on floors 4 to 18. The courtyard keeps it quiet; it also means no street view, and there is no tub. On a Tuesday in late January 2027 it was $1,300 before tax, and New York adds 14.75% and $3.50 a night, so the bill comes to about $1,495. January is the cheap end of the year. On Tuesdays in October and November 2026 the cheapest room in the hotel was $1,945 to $1,995, and in early December $2,150. There is no nightly resort or facility fee on top, and valet parking is $75 a day.

The Carlyle sells a Central Park view in three places: the Central Park Suites on floors 27 to 33, the Empire Suite, a duplex on the 28th and 29th floors, and the Presidential Suite, which takes the whole 26th floor. Every other room looks at the courtyard, at Madison Avenue or at the city. The Madison and Premier rooms face the avenue from floors 3 to 14, and the Rosewood Suites high in the tower are sold on Manhattan views, not the park. On a Tuesday in late January 2027 the Central Park Suite, the cheapest of the three, was $6,500 a night before tax, five times the entry room.

The bar is open from noon, and until 5:30pm it is simply a bar under the murals, with no music and no cover. Then the pianist starts, the cover charge begins, and the jazz trio follows at 9pm with a higher one, as much as $35 a head at a table. Seating is first come, first served, and at 5:30pm and 9pm, when the music starts, the wait runs to one or two hours. A martini is about $32 before tax and tip. The dress code applies to everyone: athletic and casual leisure wear are not welcome.

The supper club seats about 90 and sells its places in advance: the performance ticket is paid when you book, and the evening carries a food and drink condition on top. A table comes with a $95 two-course menu a head and a bar seat with a $60 minimum, so two people at a table spend $190 before drinks, tax, tip or the tickets. Dinner tables are booked for between 6:30pm and 7:30pm, and the show starts at about 8:45pm. The programme runs in seasons of short engagements, from one night to about a fortnight; the autumn 2026 season runs from 8 September to 12 December.

There is no pool and no rooftop bar or restaurant: all four of the hotel's bars and restaurants are on the ground floor. The fitness room is an intimate Technogym studio with treadmills, bikes, free weights, resistance machines and a squat rack, open 24 hours, with private trainers on request and no group classes. Wellness means the Valmont Spa on the third floor, for facials, massages and body treatments, open to non-guests from 9am to 7pm on weekdays and 9am to 6pm at weekends, and booked ahead because walk-in appointments are rare.