Born from the innovative vision of design impresario Philippe Starck, this luxury New York boutique hotel is exuberantly energetic, breathtakingly beautiful and architecturally unpredictable. Best places to hang: Hudson Common, a modern-day beer hall and burger joint with nightly entertainment; Sky Terrace (open seasonally), an English garden in the skies of NYC, for a quiet drink and an epic view; Hudson Lodge (open seasonally), New York’s first urban ski-resort themed bar filled with authentic taxidermy, faux-fur throws and sheep-skin pillows. Located in midtown, just steps from Central Park, Columbus Circle, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Time Warner Center and the theater district. Bovis Construction.