New York neighbourhoods
Choose the right New York area before you choose the hotel.
In New York the neighbourhood decides how your days feel far more than the hotel does. These guides explain what each area is actually like, who it suits, who should avoid it and how long it takes to get anywhere.
Search all New York hotelsNeighbourhood guides
Where each part of New York works, and where it does not.
Times Square
Times Square is the default answer for a first New York trip, and for a Broadway-led short break it is genuinely hard to beat. It is also the loudest, brightest and most crowded part of Manhattan, and plenty of travellers wish they had stayed three blocks away.
11 hotels reviewedFinancial District
The Financial District is the oldest part of New York and the one that changes most between weekdays and weekends. It is built around offices, which means rates often soften at weekends exactly when Midtown gets more expensive.
9 hotels reviewedChelsea
Chelsea runs roughly from 14th to 30th Street on the west side. It is one of the most walkable parts of Manhattan and a strong choice for a second trip, or a first trip by travellers who would rather have a neighbourhood than a landmark.
9 hotels reviewedGarment District
The Garment District covers roughly 34th to 40th Street between Fifth and Ninth Avenues. It is practical rather than pretty, and that is precisely why it often works: you get genuinely central hotels at prices below the theatre district.
9 hotels reviewedSoHo
SoHo, south of Houston Street, holds the largest collection of cast-iron architecture in the world and the densest shopping in New York. It is busy by day and surprisingly quiet at night, which catches many visitors out in a good way.
8 hotels reviewedCentral Park South
Central Park South is the strip of 59th Street facing the park, running from Columbus Circle to Fifth Avenue. It is the most traditional luxury address in New York, and the one most likely to justify a splurge if the park is central to your trip.
8 hotels reviewedLower East Side
The Lower East Side was the entry point for waves of immigrants to New York, and it remains one of the most characterful parts of the city. Today it is best known for food, bars and galleries, with a serious historical layer underneath.
8 hotels reviewedMidtown East
Midtown East runs from around Fifth Avenue to the East River, in the 40s and 50s. It is the quiet, business-led side of Midtown, and it is the best base in the city if trains and transport matter to your trip.
8 hotels reviewedNoMad
NoMad, meaning north of Madison Square Park, runs roughly from 25th to 30th Street. It has become the most reliable recommendation for travellers who want somewhere central but do not want to stay in Times Square.
6 hotels reviewedLong Island City
Long Island City is the part of Queens directly across the East River from Midtown East. It is the easiest place to stay outside Manhattan while still being minutes from it, and the trade you make is atmosphere for space and price.
6 hotels reviewedUpper West Side
The Upper West Side runs north from Columbus Circle between Central Park and the Hudson. It is residential, green and unhurried, and it is the area most often recommended to UK families visiting New York with children.
5 hotels reviewedHell's Kitchen
Hell's Kitchen sits immediately west of the theatre district, roughly from Eighth Avenue to the Hudson in the 40s and 50s. For a theatre trip it is frequently the smarter buy: you keep the walk to the shows and gain much better food for less money.
5 hotels reviewedMidtown / Bryant Park
The blocks around Bryant Park, on West 40th to 44th Street, are the civilised middle of Midtown. You are five minutes from Times Square and five from Grand Central, with a park and the New York Public Library in between.
5 hotels reviewedWilliamsburg
Williamsburg is the closest part of Brooklyn to Manhattan and the easiest introduction to staying outside it. From Bedford Avenue you are one stop under the river, and the rooms are usually larger and cheaper than the Manhattan equivalent.
3 hotels reviewedEast Village
The East Village runs east from Broadway to Avenue D, below 14th Street. It has been the city's counterculture quarter for sixty years and remains the best place in Manhattan to eat well for very little money.
3 hotels reviewedGreenwich Village
Greenwich Village runs roughly from Broadway west to Sixth Avenue, between Houston and 14th Street, centred on Washington Square Park. It is low-rise, leafy and full of history, and it is the part of Manhattan that rewards walking more than any other.
2 hotels reviewedHudson Yards
Hudson Yards is the development built over the rail yards on the far west side, opened from 2019. It is the newest neighbourhood in Manhattan and feels like it: clean, corporate, quiet after dark and a genuine distance from the rest of the city.
2 hotels reviewedMeatpacking District
The Meatpacking District is a small pocket of cobbled streets between the West Village and Chelsea, at the southern end of the High Line. It went from working meat market to nightlife district to fashion quarter within thirty years, and it is now one of the liveliest corners of downtown.
2 hotels reviewedMurray Hill
Murray Hill sits east of Fifth Avenue between roughly 34th and 40th Streets. It is residential, low-key and often overlooked, which is exactly why it can be good value for a central stay.
2 hotels reviewedTribeca
Tribeca takes its name from the Triangle Below Canal Street. It is a district of converted cast-iron warehouses and cobbled streets that became one of the most expensive residential neighbourhoods in New York, and it is noticeably quieter than anywhere else this far downtown.
1 hotel reviewedGreenpoint
Greenpoint is the northernmost neighbourhood in Brooklyn, sitting above Williamsburg on a bend of the East River. It is calmer and cheaper than its neighbour, historically Polish, and it comes with one transport quirk UK visitors should understand before booking.
1 hotel reviewedRoosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island is a two-mile sliver of land in the East River between Manhattan and Queens. It has one hotel, a university campus, a Louis Kahn memorial park and an aerial tramway, and it is far closer to Midtown than most visitors realise.
1 hotel reviewedUpper East Side
The Upper East Side runs north from 59th Street between Central Park and the East River. It is the most traditionally grand part of residential Manhattan, and the natural base for a trip built around museums.
1 hotel reviewedWashington Heights
Washington Heights occupies the narrow northern end of Manhattan, roughly from 155th Street up towards Inwood. It is a long way from Times Square and priced accordingly, and it holds one of the finest museums in the city.
1 hotel reviewedWest Village
The West Village sits west of Sixth Avenue below 14th Street, where Manhattan's street grid breaks down entirely. It is the prettiest part of the island and the one place where you will genuinely get lost, which is most of the appeal.
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