5 newest hotels in New York City: EDITION

This hotel is located in an iconic clocktower building on Madison Square Park (Photo: Marriott)

Last week I was in New York City to speak at the New York Times Travel Show. I extended my stay to spend a full day checking out five of the newest business class hotels in town. It was an exhausting day, but I loved every minute of it 🙂

There are many more than five new hotels in this burgeoning market, so I chose only among those that opened in 2015… and those that I thought would appeal most to TravelSkills readers.

Here’s a look at the third of the big five…I’ll post all of these in a series over the next few days. Enjoy!

(In case you missed it, here’s a look at the first two, the 1 Hotel Central Park and The Baccarat.)

Here’s the third:

New York EDITION (On Madison Ave & East 25th St at Madison Square Park)

: A new hotel in this landmark clocktower building in NYC (Chris McGinnis)

: A lively lobby bar- perfect for meeting colleagues after work (Chris McGinnis)

: Minimalist rooms softened with fur throws (Chris McGinnis)

: Stark, clean lines in bathrooms a hallmark of Ian Schrager (Chris McGinnis)

: The fun Gold Bar – wait for your table to the popular Clocktower Restaurant here (Chris McGinnis)

: This hotel knows how to do minibar right (Chris McGinnis)

: Gorgeous architectural detail in the lobby

: Be sure to book a room that overlooks Madison Square Park

: Instead of desks, each room at the EDITION has tables instead- I like! (Chris McGinnis)

What I like best about the New York EDITION (opened May 2015) is its location south of Midtown on Madison Square Park in the Flatiron district. It is not only a pretty part of town, but it really feels like New York, and not the processed touristy feel you get in Midtown or Times Square. Plus, it is located at a subway crossroads, so it’s really easy to get around town.

Marriott teamed up with Ian Schrager to create the EDITION brand, and his warm-yet-minimalist touch is evident throughout this 273-room, 52-story tower. The iconic clocktower building overlooking Madison Park was once the headquarters for MetLife, with the original CEO’s office now part of the super-popular Clocktower restaurant on the second floor (highly rated by Zagat). The EDITION’s hip lobby bar attracts a fun crowd of guests and locals after work– there’s a DJ on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. And the popular Italian food emporium Eataly is just across the park.

There are 10 room types in this hotel, but the best in the house are those that overlook the park (see view in slideshow). The hotel kept the unusual scalloped ceilings from the office building– they are in 60% of the rooms. The room feature I liked best was the large floating oak table in each room, which serves as a desk as well as an area to eat or drink or work without staring at a wall or a mirror– more hotels should adopt this. In-room wi-fi is free. Like nearly every one of the new hotels in New York, the EDITION sports hardwood floors.

In February, the lowest midweek rates hover around $400 per night– or 40,000 to 50,000 Marriott Rewards points.

Website: New York EDITION hotel, 5 Madison Avenue at 23rd Street

In case you missed our previous posts in this series, here’s a look at all of them:

1 Hotel Central Park (Midtown)

The Baccarat (Midtown)

New York EDITION (Flatiron/Madison Sq Park)

The EVEN Hotel (Near Penn Station/Garment district)

The Knickerbocker (Times Square)

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