There’s arriving in New York, and then there’s arriving in New York. The second kind involves a private lift, a terrace with the skyline on all sides and a living room bigger than most Manhattan apartments. If you’ve ever stood on Fifth Avenue, looked up and wondered who’s sleeping in that glowing top floor, this list is your answer.
The trouble is that the city’s best penthouses aren’t exactly advertised. Some can’t be booked online. Some need a phone call, a two-night minimum and quite a lot of nerve. And a few cost more per night than a decent family car. Choosing between a Jacques Grange palace on the Upper East Side and a wabi-sabi hideaway in Tribeca is a lovely problem to have, but it’s still a problem.
From the most expensive suite in America to a fairytale turret downtown, these are the New York penthouses worth every cent. We know, it’s a tough job etc.
New York penthouses at a glance:
- Best for going all out: The Mark Penthouse
- Best for 360-degree views: Ty Warner Penthouse, Four Seasons Hotel New York
- Best for a rooftop garden: TriBeCa Penthouse, The Greenwich Hotel
- Best for Parisian chic: Fouquet’s Penthouse, Fouquet’s New York
- Best for fashion people: The Duplex Penthouse, The Manner
- Best for romance: Turret Penthouse, The Beekman
- Best for longer stays: Penthouse Residences, The Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad
How we chose
Every penthouse here sits at or near the top of its building and has the space, service and outdoor or skyline drama to justify the name. We looked at location, design, views, terraces and what the hotel around it adds (a great spa, a great restaurant, a great doorman). One practical note: New York’s short-term rental rules make renting a whole private apartment for under 30 days close to impossible, so every pick here is a hotel penthouse you can actually book. We keep this list updated as new suites open.
The Mark Penthouse, Upper East Side
Best for: Going all out, no apologies
Price per night: From $75,000
Address: 25 East 77th Street, New York, NY 10075
Why we love it: We’ll be the ones to say it: there is nothing else quite like this in America. The Mark’s penthouse covers more than 10,000 square feet across two floors, plus a 2,500-square-foot rooftop terrace. It’s officially the largest hotel penthouse in the country and comfortably the most famous. Jacques Grange designed it like a Parisian collector’s townhouse dropped onto Madison Avenue. Think five bedrooms, a library, a dining room for a proper dinner party and a vaulted living room that echoes when you laugh.
The hotel’s Upper East Side setting does a lot of the work. The Met and Central Park are a stroll away, and the lobby is a Met Gala-week fixture for a reason. Then there’s the wardrobe service: guests can get a personal shopper to fill those cavernous closets from Bergdorf Goodman. Meghan Markle threw her baby shower up here, which tells you everything about the guest list. Come on, it’s The Mark!
Ty Warner Penthouse, Four Seasons Hotel New York
Best for: Views in every direction
Price per night: From $80,000
Address: 57 East 57th Street, New York, NY 10022
Why we love it: The whole 52nd floor, roughly 800 feet above Midtown, with four glass-walled terraces and 360-degree views of the city. When the Four Seasons reopened after four long years, its crown jewel came back with it and reclaimed its title as one of the city’s most expensive nights.
Inside, 4,300 square feet of stone, silk and craftsmanship took I.M. Pei’s team and Ty Warner himself seven years to finish. Don’t miss the library, with Claude Lalanne’s bronze vine-leaf details. Guests also get a chauffeured Rolls-Royce for getting around town. Book it for a milestone birthday and watch the sun set over the Hudson from one terrace before walking round to watch the lights come on over the East River from another. Stunning.
TriBeCa Penthouse, The Greenwich Hotel
Best for: A secret garden in the sky
Price per night: From around $15,000
Address: 377 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10013
Why we love it: If Midtown glitz isn’t your thing, this is the one. Robert De Niro’s Tribeca hotel hides a 6,800-square-foot penthouse by the Belgian designer Axel Vervoordt and the Japanese architect Tatsuro Miki. It’s built on wabi-sabi, the art of quiet, imperfect beauty, which is about as un-Manhattan as it gets (in the best way). Expect reclaimed timber, hand-finished stone, plaster walls and three king bedrooms that feel more like a retreat than a hotel.
The real showstopper is outside. A private rooftop garden runs across most of the building, planted so thickly that you forget there’s a city down there. Book a morning facial at the Shibui Spa, then have lunch at Locanda Verde downstairs. Our editors still dream of that afternoon light on the terrace. No, really.
Manhattan Suite, Park Hyatt New York
Best for: A big group trip that still feels like home
Price per night: From $40,000 (or $50,000 as a three-bedroom), two-night minimum
Address: 153 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019
Why we love it: Billionaires’ Row, the 25th floor, and 270-degree views across the Manhattan skyline. The Manhattan Suite opened as the centrepiece of Park Hyatt’s 10th-anniversary renovation and leans residential: walnut, travertine, a fully stocked kitchen, a tucked-away study and an art collection curated by Tatar Art Projects. There are more than 50 New York and art books on the coffee tables, which makes it dangerously easy to spend a whole afternoon in.
Link it to two connecting rooms and you have three bedrooms, three bathrooms and two balconies for up to ten people. Carnegie Hall is across the street and Central Park is a block away. Book at least 72 hours ahead (it can only be reserved by calling the hotel), and don’t skip the indoor saltwater pool.
Grand Penthouse Two Bedroom Terrace Suite, The Plaza
Best for: Classic, movie-star New York
Price per night: From $18,000
Address: 768 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10019
Why we love it: What’s not to love about The Plaza? The Grand Penthouse sits on the hotel’s penthouse level and spreads 2,100 square feet across two storeys of chandeliers, velvet and gold leaf. A sweeping staircase leads up to the primary bedroom and its private terrace, with Central Park on one side and the skyline on the other.
It’s pure old-world glamour, the kind of suite you picture when you think of a New York weekend in the 1950s. Spend the morning at the Guerlain Spa, then have afternoon tea in the Palm Court. The Plaza only has a handful of terrace rooms, so this one gets snapped up for the holidays. Book early.
Fouquet’s Penthouse, Fouquet’s New York
Best for: A Parisian pied-à-terre in Tribeca
Price per night: On request
Address: 456 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10013
Why we love it: Paris on the cobblestones of Tribeca? Oui, merci. Groupe Barrière’s first American hotel saves its best for the top two floors: a 2,432-square-foot duplex dressed in jewel-toned Art Deco furniture, lacquered walls, gloss-wood panelling, gold leaf and antiqued mirrors. There are two bedrooms (with the option of a third), an office, separate living and dining rooms, terraces and its own hammam.
Martin Brudnizki did the interiors, and they’re as cosseting as a Left Bank apartment. Don’t miss dinner at Brasserie Fouquet’s downstairs, overseen by Pierre Gagnaire, or a Biologique Recherche facial at the spa. Very French. Very Tribeca. Very much our kind of place.
The Duplex Penthouse, The Manner
Best for: Fashion people and design obsessives
Price per night: On request
Address: 58 Thompson Street, New York, NY 10012
Why we love it: Halston’s legendary Olympic Tower offices inspired this two-level SoHo penthouse, and you feel it the moment the doors open. Everything is wrapped in bold red lacquer, a double-height window and an oversized mirror bring the skyline inside, and the carpet is thick enough that you’ll kick off your shoes without being asked. Outside, a wraparound terrace comes with sunbeds and the whole of Manhattan.
Upstairs, the bedroom has a travertine fireplace and a desk, “should work be unavoidable”, as the hotel puts it (we approve of that attitude). Penthouse guests also get private access to The Manner’s rooftop. The hotel is adults-only and dog-friendly, and breakfast at The Otter, Alex Stupak’s seafood restaurant downstairs, is a must. Delectable.
Turret Penthouse, The Beekman
Best for: Pure romance
Price per night: From around $6,000
Address: 123 Nassau Street, New York, NY 10038
Why we love it: If you’ve ever wanted to sleep in a castle tower in the middle of the Financial District, here you go. The Beekman sits in a landmark built in 1883, and its twin turrets now hold two mirror-image penthouses. Each spans two floors with 40-foot pitched ceilings, 19th-century Beaux-Arts chandeliers and a stone fireplace. Martin Brudnizki designed them, so the vintage furniture and curated art feel collected rather than staged.
The terraces steal the show, though. Each is around 800 square feet and planted with ficus trees, rose bushes and hydrangeas, with views over City Hall Park, the Woolworth Building and One World Trade Center. Order in from Tom Colicchio’s kitchen, eat on the terrace at dusk and try not to propose to someone. It’s the best-value penthouse on this list by a long way. Hear, hear.
Dominick Duplex Penthouse, The Dominick
Best for: River sunsets in SoHo
Price per night: From around $12,000
Address: 246 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013
Why we love it: The Dominick is one of the tallest buildings between Midtown and the Financial District, so its top floors get views most downtown hotels can only envy. The Duplex Penthouse is the best of the hotel’s ten penthouses. It spreads over two levels with a private wraparound terrace that looks out over the Hudson River on one side and the city on the other.
Downstairs, SoHo’s boutiques are on your doorstep, and in summer the seventh-floor pool terrace is one of downtown’s best-kept secrets. Make sure you’re out on that terrace at golden hour. We won’t say any more. You’ll see.
Skyline Suite, Mandarin Oriental, New York
Best for: Skyline views with five-star polish
Price per night: From around $10,900
Address: 80 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023
Why we love it: The hotel’s highest floor, floor-to-ceiling glass and the whole skyline laid out in front of you. The New York Skyline Suite has two bedrooms, a living room, dining for four and marble bathrooms. It’s sleek rather than showy, which is exactly what makes the Mandarin such a good place to come back to after a long day in the city.
The hotel was recently ranked among the top five in the US, and the service shows why. Book a treatment at the spa, then take your morning walk in Central Park, which is right across Columbus Circle. Trust us when we say the sunrise from up here is worth setting an alarm for.
Penthouse Residences, The Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad
Best for: Longer stays and living like a local
Price per night: On request
Address: 1185 Broadway, New York, NY 10001
Why we love it: Sixteen one- and two-bedroom penthouses fill the top four floors of Rafael Viñoly’s NoMad tower, nearly 500 feet up. They feel more like an apartment than a hotel suite, with full kitchens, in-suite laundry and views from the Empire State Building down to One World Trade Center. The two-bedroom versions run to around 1,850 square feet.
José Andrés runs the hotel’s restaurants and has stocked the pantries himself, so expect proper Spanish cheese and olives waiting for you. It’s the smart choice if you’re in town for a week or more and want Ritz-Carlton service without the formality. Book through the hotel’s sales team (penthouses aren’t bookable online), and ask about long-stay rates.
Equinox Penthouse Suite, Equinox Hotel New York
Best for: Wellness obsessives
Price per night: On request
Address: 33 Hudson Yards, New York, NY 10001
Why we love it: If your idea of luxury is an early workout and a long, hot bath, this is your penthouse. The Equinox Penthouse Suite comes in one- or two-bedroom versions (the largest is about 1,900 square feet) with skyline views, an in-room fireplace and a marble soaking tub big enough to lose an afternoon in.
Downstairs is the 60,000-square-foot Equinox club, one of the biggest hotel gyms in the city, plus a spa and an outdoor pool overlooking the Hudson. Then walk off whatever’s left on the High Line, two minutes away. Hudson Yards is shinier and more corporate than downtown, but for a reset trip, nowhere does it better.
Planning the rest of the trip? Keep an eye out for our guide to New York’s best hotel spas, coming soon.
