12 Best Hotels in Brooklyn, New York City

A former cooperage on the Brooklyn waterfront has found new life as the Wythe Hotel, a stunner for its Manhattan-skyline views, locally sourced design touches and amenities. The factory building near the Brooklyn Brewery, built in 1901, utilized reclaimed pine from the original building to create rustic ceilings. Rooms have a Brooklyn sensibility, with polished concrete floors (plus underfloor heating), local custom-patterned wallpaper, and surround sound controlled by your iPhone. The best rooms face Manhattan's skyline, but you can also take in the views from the sixth-floor terrace, where Bar Blondeau serves inventive cocktails and light fare. The menu of the cozy ground-floor restaurant, Le Crocodile, is undeniably French-inspired. Bunk bed rooms are a good value.

A sustainable ethos drives this hip, beautifully designed outpost of the 1 Hotels brand, as evidenced by a 20-foot plant wall punctuating the Brooklyn-inspired lobby, and filtered water bottle-filling stations in many guest rooms. The Neighbors café serves up breakfast and light fare until 5 pm, while upscale restaurant The Osprey serves finer fare, including oysters, pastas, and braised lamb. Cocktails with a view of the Manhattan skyline are mixed at rooftop Harriet's, which occasionally hosts live jazz or pool parties.

A sleek, affordable boutique chain operation in the heart of Downtown Brooklyn, Aloft is a lively yet comfortable offering from the Marriott group.

This design-forward hotel—formerly The Williamsburg Hotel—has elegant touches in each room, from the leather headboards to the exposed brass pipes in the bathrooms. Rooms can be a refuge from the hotel's weekend nighttime party scene, spread across four different areas of the hotel. The on-site restaurant has an excellent eclectic menu, ranging from artisanal pizzas to elevated Mexican fare.

An iconic, vintage yellow cab is permanently parked outside this former door factory-turned-stylish hotel featuring not just rooms, but 40 suites that feel like stylish New York City apartments—complete with kitchens, living rooms, and homey touches like book-lined shelves. Some suites even have terraces or balconies.

On one of Greenpoint’s trendiest shopping and dining streets, this industrial-chic boutique hotel tucks you right into the neighborhood and makes you feel at home. The plant-filled, on-site Madre restaurant has become a neighborhood gathering point, with Mediterranean-inspired dishes made from locally sourced ingredients and a short but sweet cocktail menu.

This trendy hotel truly exemplifies mid-century modern design with its decor and furniture, from its rooms to the spacious, yet cozy lobby—a welcoming place for a cocktail, or to just to work on your laptop. It's also home to acclaimed eateries K'Far and Laser Wolf, which grace the ground floor and rooftop.

The relatively large modern rooms at this full service chain hotel is a good base for exploration of some of the borough's best neighborhoods. If you need to get to Manhattan, major subway lines are a block away.

The hip-yet-affordable NU, on one of Brooklyn's main nightlife and shopping streets, is perfect for visitors seeking a perch near the best of the borough. Flat-screen TVs, Wi-Fi, and hookups for your iPhone or laptop are pluses in the above-average-size rooms, and the minimalist white-and-gray color scheme is punctuated with eco-friendly flourishes like cork floors and organic cotton sheets (a few suites even have cozy hammocks). An on-site marketplace offers a selection of local Brooklyn snacks and drinks, including beer and wine.

The sleek, 23-story tower of glass and steel dazzles newcomers (and even a few old school residents) with stylish rooms—each of which has its own balcony. While the hotel has big spaces for weddings and events, the city's longest outdoor pool, Little Fino (an all-day bar and café), and it's flagship Italian restaurant Leuca under the helm of a James Beard award-winning chef Andrew Carmellini, its biggest selling point is its outstanding view of the Manhattan skyline—practically in perfect alignment with the Empire State Building—especially from its 22nd-floor restaurant, Westlight.