Charming and Chic Hotels in Downtown New York City

A city I lived in for ten years, New York is a place that gets inside you. So much of myself was discovered here in my twenties and I was very excited to make my return this past Spring to revisit my favorite restaurants and cocktail spots.

I lived all over Manhattan but my last neighborhood, the West Village, is undeniably charming with its brownstones and tree lined streets. I wanted to revisit my neighborhood stomping grounds so we stayed at The Marlton, which is cozy and quaint (I especially love the roaring fireplace in the lobby). For the last few nights of our trip we went a little further downtown to The Greenwich Hotel in Tribeca. The Greenwich feels like a big sister to the Marlton, just a little grander in scale. Both are charming choices.

While I now prefer a slower pace on the West Coast, the energy of New York is unmatched, and the city will always be exceptional in so many ways.

Where We Eat & Drink

Our trip to New York was basically just walking to and from meals. Because it’s impossible to whittle down recommendations (my google map has hundreds saved), here are a few of my absolute must visit places.

Restaurants

Sadelle’s (Soho): This was our very first stop after a red eye from San Francisco. We landed at 9am and went straight to Sadelle’s in Soho for a bagel tower, where you can add any sort of bagel toppings you wish (lox, smoked fish dips, tomatoes etc) or keep it simple like boring me and mostly go for the cream cheese. Also the scrambled eggs are amazing - I don’t know how they do it.

Cafe Cluny (West Village): The place around the corner from my old apartment is good any time of day. I especially loved it for breakfast and brunch. They seemed to have expanded their menu last time I was there so guaranteed to find something everyone likes.

Pastis (Meatpacking): If you’re looking for a bustling all day place Pastis is a good one. It’s a traditional french brasserie so expect tons of newspapers, cocktails at any hour and grand brass mirrors. We like to sit at the bar and take it all in with some unbeatable french bread and salted butter.

Dante (West Village): If you drink gin you’ll especially like this cocktail spot (named one of the best in the world), whose staples are Martinis and Negronis. They have plenty other cocktail variations and serve dinner as well.

Saint Theo’s (West Village): I actually have yet to eat here, we only stopped here for a pre dinner drink, but have heard amazing things - the loungey space was totally full. We stopped there before dinner at another Italian joint down the street, L’Artusi, which is one of my all-time favorites. The service is always amazing and on this particular visit when they were out of pasta they made us a custom dish. My go to pasta orders are the spaghetti and the bucatini.

Cocktails

Bemelman’s Bar at The Carlyle (Upper East Side): The majority of my New York tenure was spent downtown but this special spot is the one that could draw me uptown. Located in the Rosewood’s Carlyle hotel Bemelman’s is a classic New York institution. The luxe leather banquettes and hand painted wallpaper are a beautiful backdrop to the live piano music - I strongly suggest having one of their signature cocktails.