Lower Manhattan’s iconic Battery Maritime Building, a 1906 ferry terminal in an ornate Beaux-Arts style, is the venue for Casa Cipriani, a members’ club and luxury boutique hotel by the legendary Italian restaurateurs and hoteliers. Inside is probably the purest dose of contemporary Italian luxury design available this side of Milan.

There was a time when the Aman name was strictly synonymous with secluded resort destinations; Aman Tokyo was proof that the top of a city-center skyscraper could offer its own sense of seclusion. And Aman New York is still another chapter in the evolution of this top-tier hospitality brand: a self-contained world of luxury right in the heart of Manhattan, on 57th Street at 5th Avenue.

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 can compete with anyone in the world on comfort, while looking just that much more stylish and charming while they’re at it.

The setting, on the cobbled street for which it’s named, is a perfect one, both in the thick of SoHo and just removed enough from Broadway for a bit of privacy. Meanwhile the style is a fine fit for a neighborhood whose artistic residents transformed an old industrial district into an upscale residential and commercial one; behind those typically Firmdal metal-framed warehouse-style windows is the strong dose of English town-meets-country luxury that New York didn’t know it needed.

Whether or not the phrase Dimes Square means anything to you, you’ll appreciate the mini-neighborhood Nine Orchard calls home. Here, at the east end of Canal Street, where the Lower East Side meets Chinatown, there’s a buzz that’s reminiscent of some of Downtown’s earlier golden ages — and, in Nine Orchard itself, there’s a hotel with enough character and personality to become a proper neighborhood institution.

For their first hotel in New York, Pendry — the urban luxury-hotel imprint of the Montage Resorts brand — is staking out new territory. Manhattan West is part of the huge Hudson Yards Redevelopment that’s changed the face of Midtown’s west side, and the Pendry Manhattan West, occupying an undulating glass tower by architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, shifts the city’s luxury-hospitality center of gravity a bit further towards the Hudson.

Named for one of New York’s most iconic thoroughfares, the Fifth Avenue Hotel is more than just one hotel among many in the city’s thriving NoMad neighborhood. Architecturally, it spans more than a century, combining a 1907 Renaissance-style structure by the original Penn Station architects with a modern 24-story glass tower. And inside, the Gilded Age glamour of its public spaces serves as the inspiration for designer Martin Brudnizki’s fantastically colorful and ornate rooms and suites.

It’s about as far as you can get — both figuratively and literally — from the funky downtown boutique hotels of lower Manhattan. The Mark is the very picture of classic, timeless Upper East Side poshness, in spite of — or maybe even because of — its recent, extremely thorough renovation. And in its present incarnation it’s proof that old money doesn’t necessarily imply old-fashioned.

If it’s not the most famous hotel in all of New York, it’s certainly the most famous hotel on the Upper East Side. The Carlyle Hotel is pure, undiluted essence of old-world Manhattan sophistication, and has been since the days when it was JFK’s “New York White House.” It’s played host to too many famous charachters to list; it’s said that Princess Diana, Michael Jackson, and Steve Jobs once shared an elevator here.

Hotel Barrière Fouquet’s New York is a combination of two well-loved phrases we never thought we’d see together; the Parisian luxury hotel brand has indeed set up shop in Tribeca, marrying some very French Art Deco–inspired interiors with a post-industrial brick structure that could hardly be more Lower Manhattan. The result, as you might imagine, is a hit in both the fashion and food worlds, and gets to the heart of what people love about both Tribeca and Paris.

1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge stands at the edge of Brooklyn Bridge Park, looking across the East River at the Lower Manhattan skyline, a view that’s unique among New York hotels. There’s no more fitting location for 1 Hotels’ eco-luxe aesthetic, with its salvaged materials, stylish design, and low-impact construction than here in Brooklyn, alongside the lush green park that’s been reclaimed from the city’s post-industrial waterfront.

Ace Hotel Brooklyn finds itself not in Williamsburg but in rapidly evolving Boerum Hill, right at the edge of Downtown Brooklyn, in an arresting new building by Stonehill Taylor. What’s familiar is what’s inside: modernist-inspired industrial-romantic interiors by Roman & Williams, who are on our short list for the world’s most influential boutique-hotel designers.

It’s rare for a hotel to so completely exemplify the character of the neighborhood it calls home. Here, at Williamsburg’s Wythe Hotel, that means a location between McCarren Park and the gentrifying waterfront, in a 1901-vintage factory building that’s been lovingly (but not too thoroughly) renovated.

There was never any question the legendary Hotel Chelsea would eventually face a significant update; it’s good for the Chelsea, and for New York, that it fell to Sean MacPherson to do it, along with partners Ira Drukier and Richard Born. MacPherson’s other hotels around town — the Marlton, the Bowery, the Maritime and more — help usher the romance of old New York into the modern era in a way that’s nostalgic but also authentic.

Hard to believe an architectural gem of the Beekman’s stature went neglected for so many years, but we’re happy to report that it’s back in business, and it’s been put to the best possible use. The rooms, thanks to the historical structure, are spacious and solid, and the big, beautiful windows fill them with natural light. A few modern-vintage touches, like barn-style bathroom doors and dedicated cocktail tables, complete the picture.

Lower Manhattan’s financial district has more to recommend it than you might think, and a hotel like the Wall Street Hotel goes a long way towards illustrating the appeal. The 19th-century Tontine Building stands on the site of a coffee house that was once the home of the stock exchange itself, and after a thorough renovation it’s now home to a 180-room luxury boutique hotel — one that happens to be decorated with Australian Aboriginal art, along with an eclectic range of decorative elements.

A hotel doesn’t need much more than great rooms, inspiring public spaces, and thoughtful, efficient service. Of course it’s not as easy as it sounds. But when you’ve got the kind of pedigree the Ludlow Hotel has — it’s related to the Bowery, the Marlton and the Maritime, among other New York favorites — you’re beginning with a bit of a head start.

Behind a century-old Beaux Arts facade right on the poshest stretch of Fifth Avenue lies the New York franchise of the phenomenal Hong Kong-based Peninsula Hotel. And if there’s anywhere in America that’s an appropriate spot for some mega-hospitality, it’s this particular corner of midtown Manhattan, a stone’s throw from icons like Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall and Tiffany & Co.

Heavily weathered reclaimed wood, industrial-style windows, and dense vegetation climbing green walls — these are not exactly commonplace sights on 58th Street, between Billionaires’ Row and Central Park. It’s a statement of intent from 1 Hotel Central Park, the flagship of the 1 Hotels group, headed by Barry Sternlicht, founder of Starwood and the W hotels — and the intent behind 1 Hotels is to combine quality hospitality with social responsibility.

The flagship hotel from Baccarat Crystal leverages every ounce of its two-and-a-half-century heritage here, just south of Central Park, pulling out all the stops to erect a conspicuous Midtown heavyweight just opposite MoMA. Designers Patrick Gilles and Dorothée Boissier make excellent use of signature crystalware throughout, a memorable counterpoint to midtown’s reigning beige affluence.

From the outside it’s clear enough that the Bowery Hotel is a relatively recent addition to the neighborhood, but what’s inside is such a faithful homage to classic New York you’d be forgiven for starting to think it’s been here forever. Its eclectic, bohemian look helped usher in a new kind of romance in boutique-hotel style, and the timelessness of its aesthetic means the romance is still fresh long after the glossy minimalism of some of its contemporaries has begun to fade.

Purveyors of classic luxury Ritz-Carlton can do contemporary as well — the Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad occupies one of the tallest buildings in the neighborhood, at 28th and Broadway, and its interiors achieve a perfect balance: swanky enough for old-school customers and stylish enough for the new. The amenities, both in-room and out, are first-rate, as you’d expect from Ritz-Carlton, while the culinary program is overseen by the celebrated chef José Andrés.

The first SoHo loft hotel is still the definitive entry in the genre. This 19th-century Romanesque Revival building was filled with artists’ lofts during the neighborhood’s postwar heyday, and its late-’90s renovation at the hands of superstar interior designer Christian Liaigre transformed it into one of the best of the first generation of boutique hotels. And while the competition has multiplied, the Mercer’s never lost its sheen.

Kit Kemp’s Firmdale hotels are practically a genre unto themselves — luxurious yet lively, they combine country and city aesthetics, and feel glamorous and cozy at the same time. Colors, in particular, run rampant, and that’s particularly true of the Warren Street Hotel, whose bright blue façade stands out among its red brick Tribeca neighbors. And though they’re uniformly well-located in some of the finest neighborhoods, they feel, in a way, like self-contained worlds.

What do we know about the Greenwich Hotel? It’s got a celebrity owner (none other than Robert DeNiro), a prime Tribeca location, impeccable design credentials courtesy of one of New York’s top firms, and some truly obsessive construction. While you might not be literally partying with Bobby, there’s no question the Greenwich is an establishment that values privacy and discretion, two values many of today’s publicity-hungry boutique hotels lack.

There’s plenty of flashy, ostentatious luxury to be found in New York, if that’s your style, but the Lowell, on Manhattan’s posh Upper East Side, presents an alternative vision. Around here there’s still some affection for an understated sort of luxury, and anyone who’s nonplussed by the Lowell’s lobby — where’s the soaring atrium, the million-dollar art installation? — need only bear this fact in mind. The Lowell saves the best for where it counts.

Expect classic bygone-era opulence, with old-school professional service that matches the décor, and a location that’s difficult to top: it’s right on Central Park South, with an unbroken view of the park, within a few blocks of a fair bit of the world’s best shopping and sightseeing.