The Knickerbocker

Luxury hotel at the southeast corner of Times Square, with the St. Cloud rooftop bar

★★★★★📍 Times Square$$$$

The Knickerbocker Hotel opened in 1906 as one of NYC's premier luxury hotels. The building anchors the southeast corner of Times Square at 42nd and Broadway, and the location is built into the city's history — the original Manhattan cocktail was reportedly created in the hotel's bar, F. Scott Fitzgerald drank here, and the building was where the famous Times Square subway entrance has stood since the system opened in 1904.

After decades as office space, the building was returned to its hotel use in a major 2015 renovation. The current Knickerbocker is a 330-room luxury hotel with classic-luxury design (marble bathrooms, four-poster beds, traditional fittings), the bar that returns to the cocktail-history pedigree, and the rooftop St. Cloud bar — which sits directly above Times Square and has one of the most-coveted New Year's Eve viewing positions in the city.

Location is the value proposition. You step out the door and you're in Times Square — which is loud, lit, and active 24/7. That's a feature for visitors who want to be in the action and a tradeoff for visitors who want quiet. The hotel manages the contrast well; rooms are surprisingly quiet for the location, and the lobby provides decompression space.

Rooms typically $400-700/night.