Start with the exterior: the Battery Maritime Building, a ravishing former ferry terminal from 1909 built in a gorgeous Beaux-Arts style. It’s inarguably beautiful, and an example of the lavish transportation hubs that defined a different era in New York. The rooms and suites are perfect examples of Italian luxury design — but with glimpses of original metalwork and other building features (like century-old columns that certain rooms were designed around), you never forget where you are.

The Whitby Hotel brings the warmth and coziness of English hospitality to a neighborhood that’s already got plenty of American-style luxury hotels, and proves that Firmdale can compete with anyone in the world on comfort, while looking just that much more stylish and charming while they’re at it.

Built in 1921, from 1929 to 1932 the Crown Building hosted a tenant no less prestigious than the Museum of Modern Art. Today, this Beaux-Arts gem with a gilded top (the eponymous “crown”) hosts another lauded resident: the Aman New York. Make your way to your suite and you’ll find interiors inspired by Japanese minimalism, painted with muted tones and supported by generous views of the city.

The Firmdale hotels are, simply put, works of art. Owner/designer Kit Kemp’s spaces burst with pattern and color. At the Crosby, she had two muses. The first was “art inspired by the written word.” To that effect, you’ll find certain pieces actually constructed by words — like the giant sculpture of a head built only with letters. The second muse is a nod to the city’s obsession with dogs. Regal canines preside over the luscious spaces.