Whilst the name 'New York' has become synonymous with the metropolitan conurbation of Manhattan Island, New York City encompasses five boroughs, each with distinct characteristics.
Most visitors to New York City will wish to take in the sights and sounds of Manhattan Island. The island itself is sub-divided into the neighborhoods of Downtown, Midtown and Upper Manhattan. Each has its own unique charm and each provides a vast choice of hotel accommodation.
Despite an overabundance of conspicuous wealth, the arts and cultural life of Downtown Manhattan must not be understated. The gentrified neighborhoods of Soho and TriBeCa are testament to a dynamic and flourishing cultural scene, with up-market art galleries, restaurants and cafes thick on the ground, while the cultural diversity of New York City is nowhere better exemplified than in the chic, sophisticated surroundings of Greenwich Village.
In keeping with a general bohemian air, these stylish and trendy areas also serve as the location of many of the best boutique hotels New York is rapidly becoming synonymous with..
Downtown Manhattan is home to the United States' main center of commerce. With its famous Wall Street and Battery Park (where ferries to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty depart), Downtown offers visitors a wide range of hotels to accommodate all budgets as well as some of the most exclusive of New York boutique hotels, catering for the well-heeled and style-conscious denizens of New York's business community.
The urban greenery of Central Park serves as a link between Midtown and Upper Manhattan. Here lie some of New York's wealthiest neighborhoods, with the leafy residential streets of the Upper West Side standing proudly with some of America's best-funded museum and cultural venues.
With the most ethnically-diverse population to be found anywhere on Earth, Queens embodies the New York City 'melting pot' and its resultant cultural richness is ubiquitous. Each Queens neighborhood has its own distinct characteristic, from the stylish Greek restaurants of Astoria to the Indian bazaars of Jackson Heights.
As one of the most exciting and dynamic areas of New York, boutique hotels have become increasingly prevalent in Queens, catering for a generally young and adventurous clientèle, eager to discover a piece of the 'real' New York City.
The eastern part of Queens tends to be less densely-populated, with many stand-alone houses, some of which have been adapted to bed and breakfast and small proprietor-owned hotel accommodation. To the west and north, higher building density means most hotels are multi-story, with many catering for a flourishing business community, second only to Manhattan in its importance to the economy of the eastern seaboard.
Brooklyn is perhaps the New York City district which most embodies the traditional 'feel' of The Big Apple. Here, visitors can experience a range of extremely stylish and well-appointed hotel accommodation, including the chic boutique hotels New York is characteristic of.
Brooklyn Heights offers some of the most splendid views of Lower Manhattan's skyline, which towers over the East River. A night time walk along the riverside is to be recommended, allowing unforgettable views of The Big Apple from the base of the Brooklyn Bridge.
For those of an intellectual and cultural bent, Brooklyn's Cobble Hill neighborhood provides a thriving cafe culture set amongst a plethora of bookstores and galleries, as well as being the location for some of New York's best Italian restaurants.
No visit to Brooklyn would be complete without a pilgrimage to the legendary Coney Island. With its slightly-faded grandeur, Coney Island is steeped in an essentially New York version of Americana; its wooden frame roller coasters and often brisk Atlantic breezes giving the area a nostalgic, sepia-tinted flavor of times gone past.
Staten Island is home to a large Italian-American community, and this is reflected in the range of restaurants that provide some of the best Mediterranean cuisine this side of the Atlantic. Some of the area's many green spaces have been incorporated into New York State's Gateway National Recreational Area, providing native New Yorkers and visitors with a variety of maritime activities, from fishing to power boating.
To the north, Staten Island is directly connected to Manhattan by the free-to-use Staten Island Ferry, which makes regular crossings across the harbor, providing spectacular views of the Statue of Liberty and Lower Manhattan. To the east, the epic span of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge links Staten Island with Brooklyn.
