The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park

Character and identity

Set on Central Park South in a 33-storey Emery Roth tower that began life as the St. Moritz, this 259-room hotel pairs old New York bones with a 2019 reawakening that brought it firmly into the present. The lobby still trades in dark wood, marble and Rockefeller-era chandeliers, but upstairs the rooms have been reworked with custom mid-century furniture, photography of powerful Manhattan women and honor bars stocked from local distillers. The Contour lounge handles light dining and a serious cocktail programme, the second-floor La Prairie spa is the only one in the Northeast, and service runs on a name-and-title register without feeling starchy.

Who's it for

Bottom line

What defines this hotel is how successfully the refresh modernised a nine-decade-old building without gutting its character: it feels current, not corporate, and the service still operates at full Ritz pitch. Book it if you want park-side Midtown polish with cocktails and a spa worth lingering in. Splurge on a park-view room or, for holiday travellers, a Legendary suite over the parade route.