The Lowell
Daily price line
Upcoming nightly rates
Review
Character and identity
Tucked onto a leafy stretch of East 63rd Street, just off Madison and a block from Central Park, The Lowell occupies a 1920s former luxury apartment house and still feels like one. The 74 rooms and suites, refreshed by Michael S. Smith, lean into a residential register: English prints, Chinese porcelains, cashmere throws, Frette linens, and, in many suites, wood-burning fireplaces and ivy-laced terraces. Majorelle handles French-Moroccan lunch and dinner, the jewel-box Jacques Bar pours late, the second-floor Pembroke Room serves breakfast and tea, and the Club Room functions as a fireplace-warmed extended lobby. Service is warm, name-recognising, family-run.
Who's it for
Best for:
Couples and solo travellers who want an Upper East Side base near Madison Avenue boutiques and the Frick, Met and Guggenheim, and who prize a quiet, residential, almost pied-à-terre stay over a scene. Families also do well here, given the multi-bedroom suites with kitchens. Anglophiles, design-literate guests, and repeat New Yorkers will feel most at home.
Should look elsewhere:
Travellers who want a full spa, a buzzy lobby scene, or a downtown address. The gym is small, closets and work spaces are scaled to a prewar building, and there is no spa. Rates are high and the best suites (fireplaces, terraces) sell out early.
Bottom line
What sets this place apart is the texture of the service and the residential calm of the rooms: it feels like a private apartment with a staff who already know you, not a hotel. Book a one-bedroom suite with a fireplace or terrace, request a higher floor facing East 63rd for the ivy views, and reserve well ahead, particularly around the autumn museum and shopping season.