Hotel Gansevoort

Class: Deluxe

Style: Minimalist

Rooms: 187

The new Hotel Gansevoort is in a stellar location, at the corner of Ninth Avenue and 13th Street, a stroll across the cobbles from the brasserie-style restaurant Pastis and smart boutiques such as Stella McCartney and Catherine Malandrino. But what makes this 187-room hotel stand out from the pack? The 45ft-long rooftop swimming pool with underwater music; the duplex penthouse loft with a wall of windows looking out towards the Hudson River; Ono, the hotel's Japanese restaurant (quiet at lunch, buzzing at weekends); and the service, which is remarkably good for a style-conscious boutique hotel (it is owned by HK Hotels, the family-run company behind New York's Library Hotel and the Aria in Prague). The decor is comfortable and masculine, using tweed, leather, marble, slate, stainless steel and warm shades of taupe, brown and cream. Unlike other Manhattan hotels, the Gansevoort doesn't feel hemmed in by skyscrapers: light floods in through floor-to-ceiling windows, and some rooms have balconies. The hotel works well for business or leisure travellers. All the mod cons are in place, including broadband Internet access and plasma-screen TVs. A spa is due to open in June. Source: Conde Nast Traveller The Hot List 2005. "