Neighborhoods

Chelsea

Inexpensive -- Also consider the intimate Colonial House Inn (tel. 800/689-3779 or 212/243-9669).

Midtown Hill & Murray Hill

Expensive -- Also consider another all-suite hotel from the Affinia group, this one called Affinia 50, 155 E. 50th St., between Third and Lexington avenues (tel. 212/751-5710; www.affinia.com).

Upper West Side

Moderate -- In addition to the hotels below, also consider the romantic Country Inn the City, 270 W. 77th St., between Broadway and West End Avenue (tel. 212/580-4183; www.countryinnthecity.com), comprised of four self-contained units in a charming 1891 town house.

Hotel Row

There are hundreds of hotels in Manhattan, but most are spread out over a good chunk of real estate. There is, however, 1 block -- West 44th Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues -- where the hotels stand practically side by side.

The block has a sophisticated, urbane, and literary feel to it, probably stemming from the presence of the 1902-built Algonquin (59 W. 44th St.), where the New Yorker was born, where Lerner and Loewe wrote My Fair Lady, and -- most famously -- where some of the biggest names in 1920s literati, among them Dorothy Parker, met to trade boozy quips at the celebrated Algonquin Round Table.

Next to the Algonquin, at 55 W. 44th St., sits the 65-room Jeffrey Bilhuber-designed City Club (tel. 212/921-5500; www.cityclubhotel.com). The structure started out in 1904 as a gentlemen's club and saw many incarnations over the last century, but its latest life, as the ultrafashionable City Club, casts aside the usual style of the New York "boutique" property -- cramped and minimalist decor that make a virtue of discomfort. City Club's modernist elements are tempered with traditional touches such as Queen Anne chairs, natural Frette linens, vintage books, chocolate marble, and Hermès bath products you'd be afraid to steal. This haven for mavens of fashion also is the home of one of Daniel Boulud's restaurant's, db Bistro Moderne.

For many years there was a barbershop adjacent to the lobby of the Iroquois Hotel, 49 W. 44th St. (tel. 212/840-3080; www.iroquoisny.com), called the Dumont Barbershop and Shoeshine. The shop's principal barber, Louis Fontana, used to notice a young man hanging out on the stoop of the hotel, which, at the time, was a men's residence. When Louie (as he was known by his regulars) asked the kid why he was hanging around the barbershop, the kid stuttered that he needed a haircut but couldn't afford one; he was an actor looking for work. "Kid, what's your name?" the legend goes. The kid answered, "James Dean." Big-hearted Louis gave him a haircut for free that day. That's a true story and part of the legend of the Iroquois Hotel. The 114-room hotel, after a full renovation some years ago, is now a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World and features a suite named after its former most famous resident.

Just next to the Iroquois, at 45 W. 44th St., is the Sofitel New York; from the appearance of the lobby and entrance, you might think you have entered a hotel built in the same era as the others. But take a look from across the street at the glittering curved tower that was built less than 6 years ago. Despite its newness, the hotel blends in perfectly on historic Hotel Row.

Closer to Fifth Avenue and on the south side of the block at 12 W. 44th St. is The Mansfield (tel. 800/255-5167 or 212/944-6050), which was built as a bachelor's residence in 1905 and, in keeping with the block's literary and artistic tradition, was once the home of poet W.B. Yeats's father. The hotel was completely renovated in 2007 restoring it to its former grandeur. Finally, and closer to Sixth Avenue, at 44 W. 44th St., is the Philippe Starck-designed Royalton (tel. 800/697-1791 or 212/869-4400; www.morganshotelgroup.com. Though it is also set in an early-20th-century building, the feel is late 1990s, with that minimalist Starck style. The solitary homage to the past is the presence of working fireplaces in 40 of the hotel's 169 rooms. In keeping with the block's artistic tradition, the Royalton is a favorite of music, fashion, and film types.