Cosmopolitan Hotel–Tribeca

George Washington never slept here, but the staff at the Cosmopolitan swear that Abraham Lincoln did, back when the building was Hotel Girard. Built in the 1840s, it’s always been a hotel of some sort or another, and the Lilliputian dimensions of some of the cheaper rooms reflect how much smaller people were back then. Still, it’s often a great value, with simple but comfortable furnishings (think Ikea) and a crack housekeeping staff that keep everything extremely tidy (no fraying carpets or telltale signs of the last guest here).