Among our most booked hotels in 2024, 11 Howard embodies today's upscale SoHo. Here, contemporary Scandinavian design meets a formidable local art collection, and rooms draw heavily on the cozier currents of Danish design for a highly memorable look. The restaurant, the unapologetically French Le Coucou, sports a MICHELIN Star.

Le Coucou remains a white-hot scene that’s equal parts classic and cool, possessing a grace and elegance that many dining rooms can only hope to achieve. The crowd makes for good people watching, but the gorgeously appointed open kitchen deserves some focus as well. The menu is unapologetically French, though Chef Daniel Rose infuses his classics with a strong dose of personality.

This Two MICHELIN Key hotel builds on its 1907 Renaissance-style building by the original Penn Station architects with fantastically colorful and ornate rooms and suites. From the humblest queen room all the way up to the signature suites — one named for Baudelaire — the accommodations are rich with detail and full of high-end comforts. The restaurant, Café Carmellini, is Andrew Carmellini's return to fine dining.

Andrew Carmellini's return to fine dining is housed in the Fifth Avenue Hotel, a former Gilded Age gem now recast as an elegant NoMad stomping ground. The dining room bears a sumptuous throwback ambience with wood plank flooring, curved sapphire-blue velvet booths and caramel leather seating. The open kitchen turns out dishes that whiff of the Mediterranean, as in the crab mille-feuille, a neatly arranged tower of delicate wafers and sweet crabmeat in a golden-yellow Meyer lemon sauce.

The Hoxton brand, established in London's Shoreditch, is known for affordable, stylish hotels filled with the kind of buzzing public spaces that attract local neighbors as much as international travelers. Here, you'll find a lobby bar filled with digital nomads throughout the day, and, on the roof, its MICHELIN restaurant (Laser Wolf) at the top of the ever-hip neighborhood of Williamsburg.

Guests of Williamsburg's hip Hoxton Hotel who seek to sip a cocktail while enjoying a stunning sunset over Manhattan need to just hop on the elevator and head to the rooftop to reach Laser Wolf. Of course, scoring a reservation at this hot spot is not as easy. Michael Solomonov's and Steve Cook's skewer house is especially buzzy, where lights are strung overhead and trendy music and a bustling open kitchen add to the vibe. The menu is festive and focused.

One might wonder if what’s inside quite measures up to what’s outside, but a look at these rich, modern and supremely confident interiors ought to put any worries to rest. The public spaces don't quite equal the cavernous lobbies of the traditional grand hotels, but if anything that’s a testament to to the hotel's residential atmosphere. At the MICHELIN restaurant Ai Fiori, an Italian menu boasting touches of flair is pleasantly matched to the space.

Nestled within the Langham Hotel with walls of windows overlooking Fifth Avenue, Ai Fiori is a frequent perch for the expense account crowd. The handsome marble bar and lounge is ideal for a post-work cocktail, while large florals, leather chairs, and square columns lure larger groups into the formal dining room. Service is gracious, linens are thick, and every last detail is lovely from lunch until dinner. An Italian menu boasting touches of flair is pleasantly matched to the space.