2387xyz

I am meeting three friends in NYC for a 40th Birthday, girls weekend. We want to be in a hip, funky hotel, vs. old, stuffy hotel. One friend does not want to be in Times Square. We have been looking at The Gramercy and The Royalton. What about the Hudson? Any other suggestion?? How about good restaurants, bars or even night clubs?

TTess

The W!

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotel...opertyID=97501

writerchicknyc

My friends threw a surprise bachelorette party for me at the Bowery Hotel and it was spectacular. The views are amazing and you are close to all of the bars of the East Village and the Lower East Side.

The Hudson is in a terribly boring neighborhood. I would also check out The Hotel on Rivington.

emd

I used to travel a lot to NYC w/a client who only wanted to stay in the hip hotels, not my preference but I did get exposed to them. I thought about the Royalton when I read your post title, before even opening the post. The Royalton is all about the public spaces. I am not sure if all the rooms are like this, or if they may have redone the rooms since I stayed there 5 yrs ago, but my bed was like a matress on the floor, so I was are getting up and down on the bed from close to the floor, not from a sitting position. And the lighting was very dim, not good for reading for me. Maybe I just got a weird rm., but it was like being in a cave.

For your requirements, I'd check out the Hudson, the Hotel on Rivington, SoHo Grand, 60 Thompson, The Mercer, the Dream Hotel, and maybe the City Club Hotel. After going through several of those, we started staying at the SoHo Grand routinely.

Good luck.

lizziea06

The neighborhood around the Royalton kind of sucks in terms of nightlife and restaurants, but the hotel is very cool. I met my cousin for drinks there this week and was impressed w/ the lobby. I would look at 60 Thompson, SOHO Grand, The Mercer, Tribeca Grand, Bowery Hotel, The Gramercy or the Gansevoort. All of these hotels are located in good restaurant/nightlife neighborhoods.

JennaJ

I stayed at the Hudson for business. Great location and very hip. They have 2-3 bars/clubs open to hotel guests only. Rooms are VERY VERY small, so be aware of that. My knees hit the wall when I sat on the toilet! And I am only 5'5

JennaJ

Also, Tao is my favorite for great scene, great food....but def book reservations early and don't expect them to take you on time!

adventureseeker

The Gramercy looks fabulously amazing for a splurge. I don't know of the others you mentioned.

This Thompson Group looks hip luxe:
http://www.thompsonhotels.com/

If you're interested in Soho/Village:
The Gansevoort or Soho Grand http://www.sohogrand.com/ are great choices.

With that said...I'm a lover of the W hotel group. A group of us hip gals stayed at the W-Tuscany a couple years back and loved, loved, loved it. We were treated like queens in this low key yet hip, vibey hotel. The W hotels in NYC have hip bars on site designed by Rande Gerber (Cherry bar, Wet bar, Skyroom etc.)

We dined at the swanky Asia de Cuba which I'd recommend for a gals night out.

I'd totally recommend cocktails at Balzathar in Soho.

Have fun....

mclaurie

hipguide.com will have the answers to all your questions.

You don't mention budget but if you're thinking about the Gramercy (very cool) you might also look at the Bowery. The Gansevoort might also be fun in the meatpacking district or the Maritime (tiny rooms though) is near many of the clubs in Chelsea.

writerchicknyc

Even if you don't stay there, stop by for drinks at the roof bar on the Gansevoort hotel. It is gorgeous up there at sunset.

TTess

We dined at Tao and didn't have to wait for our table. It was hip, huge, loud. The food was so-so. Our first waiter was an ass. We waved a manager over and were moved to another area with a nicer waiter. Dessert was comped due to the aforementioned experience. Overall, the experience left us knowing we'll never be back.

emcash

what I remember about staying at the royalton was not being able to really see myself in the bathroom mirror b/c of the lighting!

I'd suggest the Tribeca grand (i prefer it the soho) or 60 thompson if you want to stay in that area. I've been getting emails lately from a new hotel midtown called 6 Columbus, owned by the 60 Thompson group, if you want to do midtown.

Buddakan is a great place for dinner. If you want a tried and true fun place that won't completely break the budget, I like the Blue Water Grill. Have fun!