Ratings, explained
Start with the thing almost no guide tells you: the United States has no official hotel star rating. No government body licenses the term, so any hotel can call itself five-star, and the stars you see on booking sites are largely self-declared. The nearest thing to an authoritative award is the Forbes Travel Guide rating, and exactly 7 hotels in New York City currently hold its Five-Star. Here they are, with what the other ratings actually mean.
Compare live New York ratesUnlike much of Europe, the United States has no government body that awards hotel stars. Nobody has to meet a defined standard to call themselves a five-star hotel in New York, which is why the same property can carry different star counts on different booking sites.
Forbes Travel Guide has run anonymous professional inspections since 1958. Inspectors pay their own way and score against several hundred criteria, weighted heavily towards service. It covers around 2,100 luxury and upper-upscale properties worldwide, and awards Five-Star, Four-Star or Recommended.
The American Automobile Association rates roughly 60,000 properties from motels upwards, using Diamonds rather than stars, with unannounced inspections. AAA gives more weight to the physical property, so a hotel can be strong on Diamonds and weaker on Forbes Stars, or the reverse.
The star count on an online travel agent is usually supplied by the property or generated from its facilities. It is a rough guide to category, not an inspected standard, and it is the reason a search for five-star hotels returns very different lists depending where you look.
Forbes Travel Guide 2026
Seven hotels in New York City hold a Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star rating. This is the complete list, and we hold a researched page for every one of them.
A small, intensely designed luxury hotel opposite MoMA, and one of only seven Forbes Five-Star hotels in the city.
A modern luxury hotel in Lower Manhattan with a pool and spa, suited to travellers who want facilities as well as service.
A high-floor luxury hotel above Columbus Circle, chosen above all for the views over Central Park and the Hudson.
A 1905 Fifth Avenue landmark run by the Hong Kong group, with a rooftop bar and an indoor pool.
A rebuilt 1930 landmark on Central Park South offering unusually large rooms and direct park views.
A 1904 Fifth Avenue landmark with one of the great hotel bars in the world, and both of America's top hotel awards.
A converted office tower at Columbus Circle with park views, in-room kitchens and one of the best restaurants in America downstairs.
Seventeen New York hotels hold a Forbes Four-Star rating. These are the ones we have reviewed; the rest include the Aman, the Carlyle, the Mark, the Lowell, Park Hyatt, the Surrey, the Whitby, the uptown Four Seasons and the Ritz-Carlton NoMad.
A spacious downtown hotel for travellers who want bigger rooms, river walks and Lower Manhattan convenience.
A colourful, garden-centred boutique hotel on a cobbled SoHo lane, and the most obviously British-feeling hotel in New York.
A large, modern luxury tower on SoHo's western edge, chosen for space and views rather than downtown character.
A wellness-focused luxury hotel with the largest standard rooms on this list, best when space and the gym matter more than being in the thick of Midtown.
A modern luxury hotel with unusually large rooms on Fifth Avenue, for travellers who want space and a calm central base.
A modern luxury hotel in the Manhattan West development, suited to travellers who value new-build comfort and train connections over classic Midtown atmosphere.
A grand 1930 hotel on Fifth Avenue for travellers who want traditional service, large rooms and Central Park outside.
A landmark luxury hotel for Central Park, Fifth Avenue and special-occasion New York trips.
Forbes lists a further sixteen New York hotels as Recommended, which still means an inspected standard well above the market. These are the ones we cover.
A modern boutique hotel in the Garment District, worth shortlisting for the rooftop view and a calmer central base.
A landmark Victorian building turned luxury hotel, worth booking for the atrium alone if you care about architecture.
A design-forward NoMad hotel for travellers who want the room, restaurants and central location to feel like part of the New York experience.
A small, warm boutique hotel in the Financial District, suited to couples and repeat visitors who want quiet downtown streets.
A suite-led Midtown East hotel where balconies, kitchens and genuine space make it a strong pick for families and longer stays.
A landmark luxury hotel built around 1880s mansions, for special-occasion trips where the building is part of the experience.
A Brooklyn skyline hotel for travellers who want views, restaurants and a less obvious New York base.
Six hotels sit in Forbes' pending category, awaiting a rating. Worth knowing if you are comparing: an absent rating here does not mean a poor hotel.
A modern, music-led hotel just north of Times Square for travellers who want a rooftop bar and Broadway on the doorstep.
A restored 1926 hotel near Grand Central, for travellers who want traditional Midtown comfort and easy transport.
A large, recently redesigned hotel facing Central Park, with high floors and a rooftop bar as the main draw.
A small, richly detailed luxury hotel in a Stanford White building, worth knowing about mainly because it is about to become something else.
Two to watch
The Chatwal leaves the Hyatt system on 29 September 2026 and reopens as The Wolseley Hotel New York in early 2027, so its pending rating will apply to a different operation. The Dominick, currently Four-Star, was bought in October 2025 and is expected to reopen under the Delano brand. Treat both ratings as attached to the hotel as it stands today, not as it will be next year.
Fast answers
Seven, if you mean Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star, which is the most rigorous rating available in the United States: Baccarat, Four Seasons Downtown, Mandarin Oriental, The Peninsula, The Ritz-Carlton Central Park, The St. Regis and Trump International. Booking sites will show you many more, because their stars are not awarded by inspection.
No. There is no government or industry body that licenses the term, so any hotel can describe itself as five-star. Forbes Travel Guide stars and AAA Diamonds are the two credible independent awards, and both are earned through inspection.
Forbes inspects about 2,100 luxury properties anonymously and scores service most heavily. AAA covers around 60,000 properties of every type, inspects unannounced, and gives more weight to the physical building and facilities. A hotel can rate differently under each.
Because booking-site stars are usually self-declared by the property or derived from its facilities list, rather than awarded by an inspector. They indicate rough category, not a verified standard.
Frequently, yes. The gap between Forbes Four-Star and Five-Star is largely about the consistency and detail of service, not the quality of the room. For a short sightseeing trip where you are out all day, a Four-Star hotel in the right neighbourhood is usually the better use of the money.
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Last updated: 17 August 2026. Hotel rates, fees, rules and transport details can change.