The Mercer is the sister hotel to the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood, so, naturally, it's pricey and popular with celebrities. (The lobby is always a place to spot power players.) William Schickel designed the 1890 building—a Romanesque Revival landmark—as offices for the Astor family; before it became a hotel, it housed artists' lofts. The 75 hotel rooms and suites were designed by Christian Liaigre, and the hotel is part of the Andre Balazs empire.

The hotel, an Art Deco landmark, was designed by Schultze and Weaver and takes up the full block between 49th and 50th streets and Park and Lexington avenues. Fun fact: the hotel was the first to ever offer room service. It also contains some of the city's most expensive rentals within Waldorf Towers, a separate division of the hotel located on its upper floors, and a secret subway platform underneath the hotel where dignitaries could access the building without being seen.

The Pierre is Taj Hotels' flagship and received some upgrades to the rooms and bathrooms in a recent $100 million renovation—the building, which opened in 1930, is located within the Upper East Side Historic District. The penthouse contains the hotel's former ballroom and is on the market for $125 million following the death of former owner Martin Zweig. That price almost makes the hotel's room rate seem like a bargain.

The Ace Hotel is one of the newish crop of hotels that sprang up in its neighborhood, whether that neighborhood is WhoDi, NoMad, or the Canal Street of Midtown. It's also one of the more affordable hotels on this list, with a lobby beloved by the city's startup kids.

Hotel guests' peep shows have generated some headlines, but The Standard also has things to offer to the non-nudity-inclined. The building straddles the High Line, for one thing, and contains an ice rink and rooftop bar. There's always fun public art.

The Palace Hotel—yes, the one from Gossip Girl, and it's had cameos on 30 Rock and Law & Order, too—has been undergoing a renovation of all 900 of its rooms. The hotel actually began as a private residence, designed by McKim, Mead & White for Henry Villard and built in 1882. That original residence now contains the hotel's Villard Ballroom.

The NoMad has a completely different feel from the nearby Ace—the NoMad's aesthetic leans more toward the European, with Paris-inspired interiors by Jacques Garcia featuring clawfoot bathtubs and reclaimed maple floors. The individual rooms range from standard to apartment-esque—the Suite Royale is an 1,800-square-foot space with a private terrace.

The Bryant Park Hotel's headliner amenity is, of course, Bryant Park. The design is sleeker and more modern than the other entries on this list. Celeb-friendly Japanese-inspired eatery Koi occupies the hotel's restaurant space.

Condo troubles aside, the landmarked Plaza remains iconic in the NYC hotel world. The hotel, designed by the Dakota's Henry Janeway Hardenbegh, opened in October 1907 after a $12 million, two-year construction process. At the time, rooms cost $2.50/night. (Today, they cost just a bit more.) Movie appearances include North by Northwest, The Great Gatsby, and Home Alone II—and, of course, the hotel has a long-standing association with Eloise.

The design of the Library Hotel is inspired by the Dewey Decimal system, with each floor (of 10) devoted to one Dewey category. Nor is that the limit of the book theme—each room is decorated in an on-topic way. So there's an ancient languages room on the fourth floor and a dinosaurs room on floor five, the math and science floor. The fourteenth floor's Bookmarks Lounge also, naturally, has book-themed cocktails.

A poster child for the evolution of the Bowery, the hotel combines a few common New York City design elements like "industrial styled windows" and loft-inspired layouts with a well-known event space for up to 600. Guests might end up downstairs from a film premiere or photo shoot.

Bowery Hotel co-owner Sean MacPherson is also the hotelier behind The Jane, which has the Bowery Hotel beat when it comes to historic character. The Jane building was built by Ellis Island station architect William A. Boring in 1908, hosted Titanic survivors in 1912, and was a YMCA in 1944. Some of the rooms are "Bunk Bed Cabins," with bunk beds and shared hallway bathrooms—but at least the bunk beds have 300 thread count sheets.

The Wythe, the only Brooklyn hotel on this list, opened just over a year ago and boasts design by Morris Adjmi of a converted 1901 factory. The 70 rooms include spaces specifically for bands, sleeping four to six, and standard rooms named for their sizes and views. There's no room service, but the beds are made from the building's own reclaimed ceilings. UPDATE: Hotel reps tell us that, sadly, the Wythe no longer offers band rooms.

Architect David Rockwell was responsible for the design of the Carlton in its most recent incarnation—it first opened more than a century ago as the Harry Allen Jaocbs-designed Hotel Seville. The Carlton has made numerous TV cameos, on everything from The Good Wife to The Millionaire Matchmaker.

This Greenwich Village hotel requires one big trade-off: bathrooms are shared on each hallway. (And the rooms, with stand-alone sinks and plain furniture, are like vaguely European-flavored dorm rooms.) In exchange, guests get rates that are much lower than those at other Manhattan hotels.

The Mondrian Soho, from the brain of interior designer Benjamin Noriega Ortiz, was inspired by Jean Cocteau's La Belle et la Bete. The cuisine at the in-house restaurant is similar to that of the Amalfi Coast, and the building is also home to Mister H, which the hotelbabble describes as "an intimate downtown nightlife concept inspired by old New York."

An incredible roster of famous people have swept through the Gramercy Park Hotel, which opened in 1925. Humphrey Bogart got married on the rooftop terrace! The Rolling Stones and U2 are among the many musicians who've stayed there. These days, with art collector Aby Rosen at the helm, the hotel's look is artsy and includes pieces by Damien Hirst, Keith Haring, and Andy Warhol. Julian Schnabel redesigned the hotel (which also has Gramercy Park views, as the name suggests) seven years ago. The Danny Meyer restaurant Maialino is located in the hotel.

One Curbed commenter describes the rooms at The Hudson as "tiny but impeccable" and the lobby as a "Manhattan marvel." The entrance is designed to be eye-catching, with a 30-foot glass tunnel enclosing the elevator up to the lobby.

Another Upper East Side classic, the Carlyle hotel regularly appears on best hotel lists. Rooms range from the standard 350-square-foot king bed option to the deluxe tower rooms designed by Alexandra Champalimaud. (The deluxe tower rooms are the way to go for skyline views.) There are also art, antiques and fashion boutiques within the hotel, including a Vera Wang boutique and H.M. Luther antiques.

Like the Mark and The Plaza, the Sherry-Netherland has both hotel rooms for overnight stays and apartments for purchase. (Until recently, Judge Judy lived in one.) For travelers looking for a dose of opulence, the chandeliers are custom crystal, the floors are marble mosaic, and the lobby is modeled after the library of the Vatican. Noted NYC restaurant Harry Cipriani is also located within the hotel.

Robert De Niro is an owner of this hotel, and he's occasionally clashed with the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission over the penthouse he added without LPC approval. Whatever questions the LPC might have had about how that penthouse fit into the neighborhood, De Niro and his hotel helped put Tribeca on the map. The hotel itself is worth a stay, too. Each of the 88 rooms has different rugs and furnishings, and the hotel's restaurant is the celebrated Locanda Verde.

The Thompson LES (one of the Thompson brand's six properties around Manhattan) has been a major player in the changing character of the Lower East Side. It still nods to what NYC used to be: the bottom of the rooftop pool, for example, is lined with a mural of Andy Warhol.

The Mansfield is convenient to Broadway and shares an architect—James Renwick—with such NYC buildings as the New York Public Library and Saint Patrick's Cathedral. The first guests were bachelors and socialites; one of them, in the 1950s, was alleged Jay Gatsby inspiration Maz von Gurach.

The Benjamin is located in an Emery Roth-designed building in Midtown and is one of several NYC hotels to include a pillow menu (options include water-filled, buckwheat, snore-no-more, and a pillow that plugs into the user's MP3 player). The hotel is also pet friendly, and there's a menu of dog beds, too.

Tribeca Grand is Soho's Grand sibling to the (slight) south. The building contains a screening room and runs a film series. Rooms start at 245 square feet and range all the way up to a 900-square-foot penthouse with private rooftop terrace access, for hotel guests hoping to ape the lifestyle of Tribeca's resident rich folk. Pet goldfish available upon request.

The Empire Hotel is near Lincoln Center, and the cultural institution inspired what the hotel describes as its "stately modernism." The neon Empire sign makes it easy to find one's way home at night, and the rooftop on which that sign sits is a popular evening spot.

Situated on top of the Time Warner Center, the Mandarin Oriental has incredible Central Park and city views. The 46 suites (there are also 198 guestrooms) are a step up from other NYC hotels when it comes to size, beginning at 800 square feet and topping out at 2,640 square feet.

This hotel will soon be auctioned off, with the top floors potentially going condo. But for now, rooms are still available, and the Central Park location is a benefit here. The prices, too, are lower than some of the other park-adjacent hotel options.

The original Surrey was a celebrity haven for the likes of Bette Davis and Claudette Colbert. In more recent years, interior designer Lauren Rottet worked with the hotel on a look inspired by a New York City townhouse, so The Surrey certainly captures the flavor of the neighborhood. Amenities include Daniel Boulud's Cafe Boulud, which is also the source of the hotel's room service.