Mandarin Oriental, New York

Mandarin Oriental is at 80 Columbus Circle. You are steps away from the traffic of the circle, yet the hotel sits high enough above the street to feel detached from the noise of the intersection.

The hotel’s position is its true asset. While it is a ten-minute walk from the greenery of Central Park and the same distance from Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the real draw is the vantage point it provides over the city below. Many guests here choose the hotel for this specific perspective, which creates a quiet remove that local boutique hotels in the surrounding streets rarely capture. Other hotels nearby may offer proximity to the arts or the park, but few manage to claim the same command over the skyline.