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By Root 1810 0

Steps away from Madison Avenue shopping and the Museum Mile, the Lowell is on a leafy residential block. The lobby is small and cramped, but guest rooms have all the civilized comforts of home, including stocked bookshelves, luxe bathrooms, and even umbrellas. Thirty-three of the suites, all decorated in different themes such as the Hollywood Suite and the Garden Suite, have working fireplaces, and 11 have private terraces, the better for spying on posh neighboring abodes. Most of the nonsuite rooms have been redecorated in a more modern, streamlined style, with less chintz and no patterns. The Pembroke Room serves a fine afternoon tea, and the Post House serves some of the best steaks in town. The in-room iPods (on request) and New York Times delivered to the room are particularly nice touches. Pros: great location; service with a personal touch; charming decor. Cons: unimpressive, cramped lobby; some rooms need updating. TripAdvisor: “service is wonderful,” “understated luxury,” “class and service.” | 28 E. 63rd St., between Madison and Park Aves., Upper East Side | 10065 | 212/838–1400 or 800/221–4444 | www.lowellhotel.com | 23 rooms, 47 suites | In-room: a/c, safe, kitchen, refrigerator, DVD, Internet. In-hotel: 2 restaurants, room service, bar, gym, laundry service, parking (paid), some pets allowed | AE, D, DC, MC, V | Subway: 4, 5, 6, N, R to 59th St./Lexington Ave.; F to 63rd St./Lexington Ave.

Fodor’s Choice | The Mark.

$$$$ | If you took every Upper East Side fantasy and condensed it into a modern hotel, you’d come up with The Mark, the perfect representation of uptown panache infused with a healthy dose of downtown chic. Almost immediately after undergoing an extensive renovation and reopening in 2009, the hotel began giving the neighborhood’s top properties a run for their money (and money you will need—The Mark is very, very pricey). The hotel sparkles from top to bottom, from the striped marble floors and modernist furnishings in the lobby to the cow-print upholstery in the chic bar just off the entrance. Rooms are opulently appointed in very modern style, with plush Italian linens, Sub-Zero freezers for ice, and more closet space than most New York City apartments. Bathrooms feature opulent marble floors, decadent sunken tubs, and enough towels to dry a small nation. There’s a state-of-the-art gym and a posh Frederic Fekkai salon for blowouts and benefit-worthy color jobs. The hotel restaurant, The Mark by Jean Georges Vongerichten, has become a bona-fide destination equally scene-worthy for well-heeled locals and neighborhood visitors alike. Pros: hip design; scene-making restaurant and bar; cavernous closet space; great service. Cons: expensive; surprisingly generic grooming products in the bathrooms. TripAdvisor: “room was beautiful,” “top-notch hotel,” “bar is very chic.” | 25 E. 77th St. at Madison Ave., Upper East Side | 10075 | 212/744–4300 | www.themarkhotel.com | 100 rooms | In-room: a/c, safe, refrigerator, DVD, Internet, Wi-Fi. In-hotel: restaurant, room service, bar, gym, spa, laundry service, Wi-Fi hotspot, parking (paid), some pets allowed | AE, D, DC, MC, V | Subway: 6 to 77th St./Lexington Ave.

UPPER WEST SIDE

The Empire Hotel.

$ | This historic Upper West Side spot, which reopened in 2008 after an extensive redesign, offers a dizzying number of amenities. When you first enter the hotel, you’ll be drawn to the sophisticated, bi-level lobby with floor-to-ceiling silk drapes, high-back banquettes, and a dimly lighted bar. That’s before you soak up the sun and enjoy the breathtaking views from the rooftop pool and lounge area, which becomes a hot and occasionally overrun watering hole in the evenings underneath the hotel’s iconic red neon sign. Guest rooms, which are small, provide a comfortable and chic escape from the bustle of the city. A soothing palette of varying shades of brown is complemented with animal-print chairs, dark-wood accents, and luxurious amenities such as flat-screen TVs, iPod docking stations, and Frette linens. Ed Brown, formerly of Sea Grill and Eight-One restaurants,