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Just in time for the Tribeca Film Festival, Robert De Niro has opened the Greenwich Hotel. Well situated near downtown’s hot spots, the 88-room property provides a new home base for visitors who want the amenities of a luxury property on a smaller scale. Although the hotel isn’t yet running at full steam, within the next couple months they’ll complete their spa and gym. But their restaurant, Ago, already hosts a full house every night, and the completed lobby and accommodations feel as though they’ve been around for many months. Small details—mirrors made with silvered glass from the Flatiron building and antique wood floors—give the interiors a more established look, and the pretty interior courtyard, inspired by the Place de Vosges, feels classically Parisian in the best sense. But perhaps my favorite touch is the subterranean, romantically-lit pool. Ten Japanese craftsmen reconstructed a historic farmhouse transported from Kyoto as the structure under which the pool and lounge area sit; I can’t imagine a better place to retreat after a hectic day in the city.

The guests at the Greenwich could be compared to those at Soho’s Mercer Hotel, with an initial influx coming from the entertainment and fashion worlds—no surprise given its owner. But it is equally appealing to families, thanks to its spacious rooms and proximity to the neighborhood’s family-friendly eateries and parks. Another plus is its location in the heart of Tribeca, where hip restaurants and bars abound but loud street noise does not. All travelers will appreciate the thoughtful extras, such as complimentary mini-bars, free wireless and in-room check-in. Another big plus guests will enjoy is their automatic insider status. Only those staying in the hotel will have access to the comfortable library, courtyard, spa, pool and gym. To have dinner in the garden or take a dip underground, regular New Yorkers need an invite from a guest or a reservation of their own.

Room To Get: Not all rooms have king beds, so be sure to specify if that’s important. Connecting rooms are available for families. For a real treat, splurge on one of the two duplex suites, where a 30-foot wall of windows looks out on the city and wood-burning fireplace makes even the chilliest night feel cozy.

Preview rates start at $475 through June 1st; after that, regular rates begin at $625.

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When the Bowery Hotel opened in February 2007, Schrager fanatics were quick to point out that its dark, brooding lobby complete with Gilded Age antiques, a fireplace and velvet, tassled furniture was eerily similar to the Gramercy Park Hotel’s own salon-like entranceway. But while both properties have been cited as examples of the current High Bohemia design craze, the Bowery’s vibe is a little less dramatic (no Warhols and Damien Hirsts here), a little bit cozier, a little bit brainier—as evinced in the shelves of leather-bound classics and the old-fashioned newspaper rack—and ultimately, a little bit more laid-back. This is after all Bowery Street—aka.) NYC’s “Skid Row—an area formerly associated with drug dealers, low-income housing units, and punk rock angst rather than stylish, boutique hotels. Still scenesters have already been hitting this Sean MacpHerson and Eric Goode brainchild in droves, in no doubt due to the duo’s genius (and some say obnoxious) marketing policies. The swank second-floor space is set aside for only the poshest of private parties and much like the pair’s earlier venture at the West Village’s Waverly Inn, the hotel’s Italian restaurant and bar, Gemma, takes no reservations unless you are a hotel guest (or Demi Moore, who recently threw Ashton’s birthday party there). The rooms are simultaneously elegant and industrial-sleek: long, flowing curtains cover floor-to-ceiling windows and dark mahogany furniture offsets exposed piping and white brick walls. While all have C.O. Bigelow bath products and fantastic Manhattan views (there are, after all, very few tall office buildings down here to obstruct them), only the seven private terrace suites contain the hotel’s famous outdoor showers, which allow you to literally soak up the view. A standard starts at around $425 while the private terrace suits start at $1,200.

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The Plaza hotel was a New York landmark even before it was officially declared one in 1963, which is why when, three years ago, its new owners declared that they would be converting it into residences, there was such an outcry. The compromise was to divide the building into two: the hotel and the residences. Not surprisingly, the apartments (the ex-head of Bear Stearns, James Cayne, paid $25 million for his on the 14th floor) won the rooms with the best Central Park views. Plaza residents have been moving in since last fall, but the new version of the hotel only recently reopened its doors—almost exactly 100 years and six months after the original welcomed its first guests. The hotel’s two year, $400-million-dollar reconstruction included installing a faithful copy of the stained-glass ceiling over the Palm Court that Conrad Hilton had ripped out to make way for air-conditioning and adding 24-karat gold faucets in every bathroom (supposedly a U.S. hotel first).

Last week, I went for a tour of Eloise’s old stomping ground with high hopes for a refurbished icon. When I exited my taxi on Fifth Avenue and headed up the hotel steps, though, the first thing I noticed was the dingy, well-worn look of the red carpet. In the white marble foyer, I could remember seeing guests in black-and-tie making their way to or from the ballroom—until three Germans in shorts and sneakers with cameras around their necks shuffled past on their way to the Palm Court. The harpist had finished playing but under the stained-glass ceiling a long table hosted a young girls’ tea party. A few of the girls looked like they had dressed up for the occasion; the rest of the crowd sitting in high-backed chairs with exquisite China tea sets before them could have filled the Amtrak waiting room in Penn Station. The lobby itself, which has been carved out of former meeting rooms, had a grander, more glamorous atmosphere. Red velvet curtains frame enormous windows with much more inviting tables for a drink and a Baccarat chandelier casts a glow on all the gilding, which may be why the tourists traipsing in from Fifth Avenue were snapping photos. Around the corner from the check in area, the Plaza shopping complex is not yet complete but floors of blazing white mosaic tiles and another chandelier already hangs over the escalators. The Vertu shop is open already and other luxury retailers are on their way. I couldn’t help but be reminded of the shopping arcades of Bellagio and the Wynn in Vegas, though the only figures inhabiting the space were famous guests like Marilyn Monroe and the Beatles blown-up in black-and-white photographs on the construction screens. Unfortunately, they will not remain.

So, yes by the time I went up to see the rooms, I had already lost my enthusiasm. The mostly white hallways are embellished by opulent carpets and a florescent blue light that glows from behind intricate cut-outs in the corniche. Sublte and elegant but the rooms are not. Gilt headboards, heavy velvet drapes, the gold taps, sink-in plush carpeting, but a fake fur throw and a view of the back of the Park facing side of the building did not impress. Apparently, the suites on high floors do have Central Park views, and I do understand that being a city icon means you cannot keep the public out. Call me old-fashioned, but if I am spending $1,000 a night for a hotel room (and that’s the base price), I don’t want a Times Square-esque crowd in the lobby or an interior courtyard view. Rates from $1,000 a night.

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FUN PLAZA FACTS From Curtis Gathje’s book At the Plaza.

• A lion cub lived in the hotel in the early 1900s with animal rights activist Russian Princess Vilma Lwoff-Parlaghy.

• In the 19th century before the hotel was built, the site was occupied by a pond and, in winter, home to the NY Skating Club.

• Frank Lloyd Wright lived in the hotel for six years in the 1950s while overseeing construction of the Guggenheim Museum.

• Woody Allen held the press conference to announce that he was in love with Sun Yi Previn, the daughter of his longtime companion, Mia Farrow, in the Terrace Room in 1992.

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