New York: Where to Stay: Grand: The Carlyle

The Carlyle

With the Plaza and the Stanhope being converted into apartment buildings (as the Westbury and Mayfair already have been) and the Waldorf taken over by conventions, there is only one historic grand hotel left in the city: the Carlyle, on East 76th Street and Madison Avenue. (The southeast corner of this intersection has been officially named Bobby Short Way in honor of the legendary piano man and song stylist who performed regularly in the hotel bar right up to his death in 2005.) Since the hotel opened, in 1930, it has been a bastion of discreet luxury and the address of choice for movie stars—Sienna Miller and Jude Law stayed here last June—and high-net-worth men in the midst of a dalliance or of a divorce. (President Kennedy and Marilyn are said to have trysted at the Carlyle.)

The lobby and the Bemelmans Bar have been given fresh polish by interior designer Thierry Despont, who managed to keep it glamorous but restrained (click here to read about a fun new afternoon tea option for kids). Today the gleaming black and white marble and the velvet couches form a backdrop as elegant as the one Ingrid Bergman found when she first stayed at the hotel in the late ’30s. Over the years, different decorators, including Dorothy Draper and Mark Hampton, have brought their visions of gracious New York living to bear on the 181 guest rooms. Some, however, are heavy on chintz and Audubon prints, making them feel dated and faded and in need of the full treatment that the dining room and Royal Suite received last year from the hugely talented designer Alexandra Champalimaud. Tip: Ask for one of the renovated guest rooms with a view. Rooms from $700.

TIP: Read about a special package the hotel is offering in conjunction with Olafur Eliasson’s Waterfall Project.