As a baby boomer from the Midwest, the concept of a luxury boutique hotel was foreign to me until we started to visit large metropolitan areas and Europe.

As I’m sure you’re aware, many luxury destinations in the United States has become massive, sprawling complexes that can accommodate multiple hundreds of travelers.  We don’t have anything against these destinations, in fact we’re madly in love with quite a few.

It seems the luxury boutique hotel is designed to give a more intimate experience and quite often an experience that revolves around a theme of some sort.

According to an article by Lucienne Anhar in www.hospitality.net, “travelers nowadays expect more than simply comfort and convenience. An increasing number of travelers prefer to be “surprised” — positively, needless to say. When planning trips, they seek properties that are noticeably different in look and feel from branded hotels. Although many travelers claim to seek lodging facilities that coincide with the traditional hotel concept, boutique hotels are becoming more and more of a social manipulation: those who do not stay in boutique hotels are categorized as unfashionable and un-hip”.

I don’t know about the “un-hip” part, but we’ve been pleasantly surprised in a number of luxury boutique hotels and enjoy them regularly in our travel itinerary.

In our recent visit to New York City we decided to experience a variety of luxury boutique hotels and share them with you. Interestingly, in a large city like New York City, and particularly in Manhattan where real estate prices are astronomical, these luxury boutique hotels seem to have a fairly small street-front presence (wide), but tend to be deep and many stories high.

We visited five luxury boutique hotels during our visit, and you can find them listed below in the order of our visit.

Five New York City Manhattan Luxury Boutique Hotels

The Blakely New York

Our first stop found us at The Blakely which features 118 rooms total; 57 deluxe and 54 suites on 17 floors.

Located in midtown Manhattan, The Blakely is quite popular with those who desire a reasonably priced home away from home within walking distance to destinations such as Central Park, the Museum of Modern Art, Carnegie Hall, Rockefeller Center, and shopping on 5th and Madison Avenues.

Each room features full kitchenettes with mini-fridge, microwave, coffee-makers, dishes, and free Wi-Fi.  There is a complimentary breakfast served each morning in the Michelin and Zagat rated Abboccato restaurant, as well as complimentary access to an on-site fitness facility.

We enjoyed one of the junior suites which gave us a little extra stretching room with a comfy couch and a great chair with footstool; a very welcome benefit after strolling the streets of Manhattan all day!

Our bathroom was done in beautiful marble, featured a glorious rain-shower, and we greatly enjoyed the Frette Robes and Penhaligons toiletries.

We were always greeted by a cheerful doorman going in an out, found the staff to be very friendly, and loved the feeling and character of the rich paneled walls, fresh flowers,  and leather furniture in the lobby.

Adding to the New York City allure was the quite-small elevator that we all used to usher us up to our rooms.  When you pack six people into these small New York City elevators, it’s quite easy to make new friends.  🙂

The Blakely enjoys a chorus a praise from Travel & Leisure, Zagat, US News and World Reports, Michelin Guide, and now The Roaming Boomers.  Value isn’t generally something attributed to a Manhattan hotel, but we feel that we’ve really unearthed a reasonably priced boutique hotel with a fantastic location.

We’ll be doing a separate Manhattan dining feature which will include the Abboccato restaurant located in this hotel.

Click photographs for larger view and available slide show.

Casablanca Hotel, New York City

The Casablanca Hotel is a hidden gem located literally steps away from Times Square.

As a member of HKHotels, this luxury boutique hotel offers a signature collection of free benefits that they claim adds over $200 per couple, per night to your stay.  This includes:

• European-style breakfast buffet
• Coffee, tea, cookies, and fruits throughout the day
• Wine & cheese receptions each evening from 5-8 p.m.
• Complimentary Wi-Fi
• Complimentary passes to nearby New York Sports Club

If you were to add up the cost of these items in New York City, I have no doubt that their claim is legitimate.

We enjoyed a Moroccan-styled king-size mini-suite which featured a small but beautiful bath, and  French doors to a separate living room with sofa bed, cozy chairs, writing desk and a second television armoire.  This second room proved handy as I’m generally up several hours before Carol each morning. I can work without bothering her with the light.

Perhaps one of the greatest features of this luxury boutique hotel is its location.  Walk out the door, turn right, and you are literally standing in Times Square within two minutes.  What a wonderful treat!  We went out at night and enjoyed the lights, the hustle and bustle, and some of the best people watching on the planet.

Click photographs for larger view and available slide show.

Hotel Elysée, New York City

While we enjoyed all of the boutique hotels during our stay in Manhattan, the Hotel Elysée was hands-down our favorite in the bunch.

Set in one of Manhattan’s most desirable neighborhoods, this luxury boutique hotel is consistently acclaimed as one of the city’s best hotels and was once a playground for the rich and eccentric and has been the permanent NYC address of many movie stars, artists, writers and intellectuals over the years.

Perhaps one of the most extraordinary features of the Hotel Elysée is that it is also home to the world-famous Monkey Bar.  After the repeal of Prohibition, the Monkey Bar became a hangout for admen in bespoke suits, after-hours politicians, and media barons looking for a little fun.

Today, the Monkey Bar is not only a wonderful place to grab a cocktail, but also features a menu served up by a James Beard Award-winning chef!

We were major-league bummed, I say, major-league bummed to find out that the whole Monkey Bar was reserved for a private party during our stay.  WAAAH!

To top off our whole experience, the very cool folks at the Hotel Elysée put us in the Royal Suite.  It was a massive suite with a grand piano, living room, dining room, and a bedroom that was absolutely stunning!  Wow!  If you can afford it, pop for the money.  It was unbelievable!

Even further, as a member of HKHotels, this luxury boutique hotel offers a signature collection of free benefits that adds over $200 per couple, per night to your stay.  This includes:

• European-style breakfast buffet
• Coffee, tea, cookies, and fruits throughout the day
• Wine & cheese receptions M-F  from 5-8 p.m.
• Complimentary Wi-Fi
• Complimentary passes to nearby New York Sports Club

The Library Hotel, New York City

The Library Hotel is conveniently located in Midtown Manhattan on Madison Avenue and 41st Street, also known as Library Way, just steps away from the majestic New York Public Library, Bryant Park, Pierpont Morgan Library, the exquisitely renovated Grand Central Terminal, the Times Square Theater District and all that Midtown Manhattan has to offer.

As we looked down the street from our room, we could see the beautiful New York City Public Library building in all of its Beaux-Arts glory, replete with the world-famous Library Lions on the front steps.

Each of the ten guest room floors at the Library Hotel in New York City is dedicated to one of the ten major categories of the Dewey Decimal System: Social Sciences, Literature, Languages, History, Math & Science, General Knowledge, Technology, Philosophy, The Arts and Religion.

And, the most popular room in the hotel is the Erotic Literature Room designed for lovers to come celebrate wedding nights,  anniversaries, or any other occasion that might call for a little amorous activity.

The Library Hotel offers an “Erotica Package” that is designed to ignite your passion with champagne, a dozen roses, strawberries with a bowl of whipped cream, a Kama Sutra Love Essentials Package, and even a pair of erotic dice.

Even though our Junior Suite didn’t come with all the hoopla, we still greatly enjoyed the modern elegance of this refurbished 1900 brick and terra cotta landmark building.

If you fancy a walk to the Empire State Building, its a lovely stroll down 5th Avenue from the hotel.

Even further, as a member of HKHotels, this luxury boutique hotel offers a signature collection of free benefits that adds over $200 per couple, per night to your stay.  This includes:

• European-style breakfast buffet
• Coffee, tea, cookies, and fruits throughout the day
• Wine & cheese receptions M-F  from 5-8 p.m.
• Complimentary Wi-Fi
• Complimentary passes to nearby New York Sports Club