The Langham, New York review: a stylish stay near the Empire State Building
If a luxury hotel in Manhattan can be called unassuming, then the Langham, New York, Fifth Avenue is a five-star candidate. While some hotels attempt to channel the city's frenetic energy, the Langham instead gently envelops guests with refined, neutral decor and warm, attentive service. The high-ceilinged lobby, enlivened by oversized paintings by artist Alex Katz and a sweeping staircase to the first-floor Ai Fiori restaurant, is staffed by doormen and front-desk employees who bring to mind those Manhattan apartment buildings where every resident is known by name as they whisk in and out of the lifts. The large guest rooms are a true oasis in a city where many hotel rooms are Lilliputian; along with high-end amenities, they draw devoted guests who return for repeat and multi-day stays.
This article contains affiliate links, which may earn us revenue
Score 9/10The Langham occupies the first 16 floors of a tower (the rest of the 60-storey building are luxury condos accessed by a private lobby) on Fifth Avenue. The 234 guest rooms and suites are some of the largest in the city, with the smallest rooms a generous 39 sq m; junior suites are double that. Spacious south-facing rooms and suites have vertiginous views of the Empire State Building soaring skyward. The soft greys of the plush carpet, the oatmeal club armchairs and the dark walnut furniture act as a sumptuous and discreet backdrop to the views from the floor-to-ceiling windows. The understated elegance continues in the oversized bathrooms with deep tubs and wide, marble-topped sinks. Many of the suites have kitchenettes and washer-dryers for longer stays.Score 7/10 The bloom-filled restaurant Ai Fiori ('among the flowers') is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, serving Italian coastal fare and seafood pastas: don't miss the squid-ink trofie with Ligurian crustacean ragu and the blue crab and bottarga spaghetti. Bar Fiori doesn't require reservations and has a daily Martini Hour with a menu of martinis and small plates. The robust breakfast menu includes fresh, house-made pastries and American-style egg dishes — or you can stay in bed and order from the extensive 24-hour room service menu.
• Read our full guide to New York• Best hotels in New York
Score 9/10Book a club-level room or purchase entry (free for children aged under ten) to the superlative fourth-floor Langham Club. Guests can indulge in all-day complimentary meals and snacks, from oysters on ice to finger sandwiches, and grab-and-go options like yoghurt pots and sparkling water. Regulars treat it like their own members' club, meeting friends for lunch or business, and the delightful waiting staff are more than happy to continuously top up flutes of champagne during cocktail hour.
The gym, also on the 4th floor, is fully stocked with weights and holds fitness and Peloton classes in the evenings. A large pink trunk in the lobby is thoughtfully stocked with children's toys and colouring books for parents to grab on their way to dinner or before bed. And the hotel's impressive seasonal floral arrangements from NYC studio Fleurish remind guests that sometimes there's no luxury better than fresh flowers.
Score 9/10On the edge of the mad swirl of Midtown, the hotel is just a ten-minute walk from major museums, historic department stores, the theatre district and the High Line elevated park, as well as NoMad's neighbourhood restaurants and hotspots. With a number of subway lines close by, it's easy to head downtown to Greenwich Village and beyond, or uptown to Central Park.
Price room-only doubles from £418Restaurant mains from £30 Family-friendly YAccessible Y
Sunshine Flint was a guest of the Langham, New York, Fifth Avenue (langhamhotels.com)
• Best family hotels in New York• Best restaurants in New York
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Finextra
an hour ago
- Finextra
Selfbook chooses PayPal as agentic commerce partner
Selfbook has tapped PayPal as its commerce partner to make paying for hotels faster, smarter, and fully embedded in agentic experiences. 0 Travelers who checkout with PayPal and Venmo will gain access to exclusive rates, generating meaningful savings, and driving better conversion for Selfbook's hotel customers. Selfbook's hotel customers will be featured on the Offers tab in the PayPal app. Additionally, PayPal Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) will be offered for many hotel brands that integrate with Selfbook. The partnership will advance travel booking into the age of agentic AI by leveraging conversational AI to help customers book and pay. Selfbook and PayPal are both partners with Perplexity, allowing consumers to search, book and pay for hotels within the chat. As consumers increasingly rely on AI agents for shopping and making plans, it's critical that enterprises have the ability to make the checkout experience seamless through an agent chat. Enterprises that offer PayPal and Venmo at checkout typically see increased conversion rates. PayPal has shown to help increase conversion by an average of 84%1 among customers who pay online for travel. Selfbook's hotel customers will soon benefit from this. Selfbook will integrate PayPal, Venmo, and PayPal's BNPL solutions as payment options within hotel booking experiences, providing consumers with greater choice and enhanced flexibility at checkout. Selfbook's credit card processing will move to PayPal's Enterprise Payments. 'Travel is one of the biggest purchases people make online. With PayPal, we're uniting two things travelers care about most: trust and value,' said Khalid Meniri, CEO of Selfbook. 'What was once a multi-step process will be a streamlined, AI-powered checkout—with exclusive rates and low friction.' 'AI is fundamentally changing how consumers plan and pay for their vacations and getaways,' said Alex Chriss, President and CEO of PayPal. 'Together with Selfbook, we're embedding hotel booking in the new ways travelers are planning trips with agentic chats like Perplexity. PayPal is thrilled to bring agentic commerce solutions to travel.' For hotels, this partnership represents a powerful shift towards direct distribution to consumers through offers within the PayPal app. Through PayPal Offers, PayPal users can access exclusive rates from Selfbook's network of hotels, which do not incur commission fees—significantly enhancing their profitability. This strategy allows hotels to control their brand narrative and pricing while leveraging PayPal's extensive network of millions of authenticated, digitally savvy consumers.
Times
5 hours ago
- Times
The Peninsula New York: a Fifth Avenue stalwart that looks like a million dollars
New York's fabled Fifth Avenue has more than its fair share of swanky hotels, but few can compete with the Peninsula New York in the impeccability stakes. Anyone familiar with the Peninsula brand — and its flagship in Hong Kong in particular — will know that this is a place famous for an unapologetic approach to luxury. What sets the New York property apart is its location in the epicentre of the razzle dazzle of Manhattan's Midtown — steps away from Central Park, the Bergdorf Goodman department store, and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). And while the Peninsula may have been around since 1988, the property has just undergone a full revamp and, oh boy, is she looking good. Service is Fifth Avenue-appropriate, meaning that staff will go out of their way to be of assistance — with just the right level of snootiness thrown in. This article contains affiliate links, which may earn us revenue Score 9/10The Peninsula's rooms have never looked better after a ten-month refurbishment by Bill Rooney Studio. The new look has a soft grey, taupe and gold colour palette with handy tech, including wireless chargers and bedside panels for temperature and light control. Every surface is new — from the wallpaper to the carpets, the ultra-plush mattresses and the silky smooth sheets — bar the original marble in the bathrooms. These are huge, with fun built-in TVs and sound systems, walk-in showers, deep soaking tubs and fluffy robes. Lower-floor rooms have some traffic noise, but the higher up you get the better the sleep quality — and the views. The basic Superior Rooms are spacious enough at 34 sq m — and feel even more so if you can score one on a light-filled high floor. The Deluxe Suites are the way to go if your budget allows. On floors 16 to 20 and measuring 98 sq m, they feel like elegant Manhattan apartments, with luxuriously furnished sitting rooms, decorative fireplaces, oversized walk-in wardrobes, lavish bathrooms, guest powder room — and views for days. Score 8/10 The Peninsula has four food and drink outlets. Breakfast, lunch and brunch are served at the mezzanine-level Clement Restaurant, which feels very Manhattan with its giant arched windows and white has a contemporary American menu ranging from healthy egg-white frittata with kale, tomato, asparagus and avocado to the decadent buttermilk pancakes topped with banana pecan. Brunch is an indulgent feast of pastries, waffles, eggs and sweet and savoury treats — even more so if you choose the boozy option (with a choice of bottomless cocktails — or champagne if you want to splash out). Dinner time is when things get a little trickier. The hotel's three bars — the Gotham Lounge, the 1920s-inspired Bar at Clement and the fabulous Pen Top indoor-outdoor rooftop, a destination in itself complete with Manhattan views to die for — all serve delicious and plentiful bar bites, but if you're looking for a full-on dinner, you're better off asking the concierge desk to book you into one of the many nearby restaurants. Score 8/10Opened in 1905 as the Gotham, the building that now houses the Peninsula was one of New York's original upscale hotels. Its revamp of the rooms and common spaces have maintained that joyful decadence. Peninsula hotels are renowned for their spas and the Peninsula New York is no exception. Treatments include relaxing massages, detoxifying body exfoliation, biolift facials to rejuvenate and lift the skin and mineral-rich body wraps. You can also sign up for yoga, meditation or fitness classes. Afterwards, you'll be ready for a drink at the Pen Top rooftop bar, which has become a place to see and be seen in Midtown with its million-dollar views, signature cocktails and bar bites. A retractable roof allows it to stay open year-round. The Peninsula's range of off-site activities includes tours of Midtown Manhattan's festive lights, private yacht cruises up the Hudson River, and private tours of the next-door MoMA before it opens to the public. The concierge desk knows how to score seats at the most sought-after restaurants, Broadway shows and sporting events, from Mets games to the US Open final. • Read our full guide to the US• New York v Toronto: which is better? Score 9/10Midtown may not be everyone's cup of tea, but first-time visitors or budding socialites will find no better location. Choose from an array of ritzy nearby food options, including the celebrity favourite the Polo Bar or Benoit — a Manhattan spin on the classic French bistro by the chef Alain Ducasse. Staying right on Fifth Avenue, across the road from Burberry and Dolce & Gabbana, and within strolling distance of the MoMA, St Patrick's Cathedral, Bergdorf Goodman department store, Central Park and the Rockefeller Center, you won't need to venture far for your shopping and sightseeing needs. The subway is two blocks away, for trips Downtown or to Brooklyn. The CityPASS from offers easy access to the Top of the Rock observation platform at the Rockefeller Center and other sights. Price room-only doubles from £759Restaurant mains from £30Family-friendly YAccessible Y Isabelle Kliger was a guest of the Peninsula New York ( • Best affordable hotels in New York• Best serviced apartments in New York
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Eagle-eyed fans spot VERY surprising nod to Taylor Swift in Travis Kelce's gym bag
Travis Kelce caught the eye of observant Taylor Swift fans on Tuesday as he was spotted with a surprising tribute to the singer in his gym bag. Kelce was seen in athletic wear and a backwards white baseball cap as he carried around a zebra print gym bag in Florida. And eagle-eyed fans of Swift's noticed that the singer's 'Eras Tour Book' was peeking out, with what looked like its pink cover barely visible. Pictures of the Chiefs tight end and Swift's boyfriend appearing to hold the book went viral on X, as one fan wrote: 'HELLO IS THAT THE ERAS TOUR BOOK???' while zooming into his bag. 'Travis misses eras tour just as much as us,' another wrote. And a third suggested: 'He is probably bringing an autograph copy to someone at the gym.' Swift released the book to commemorate her world-famous Eras Tour, which spanned 149 shows Swift's world-famous Eras Tour ran nearly two years from March 17, 2023 to December 8, 2024. The tour featured 149 shows across five continents, with the last performance coming in Vancouver, Canada. And Kelce followed his girlfriend around the world as she performed last summer, even making an onstage cameo at her show at Wembley Stadium in London. After his high-octane offseason last year, Kelce has been taking it easier following the Chiefs' Super Bowl LIX loss to the Eagles, as he was spotted in Florida on Tuesday. The Chiefs star, who has been spending plenty of time in Florida of late, remained in the Sunshine State despite the beginning of optional team activities (OTAs) back in Missouri. Over the weekend, Travis went to a family wedding and brought along his pop star girlfriend, Swift, as a date. Swift gave guests the shock of a lifetime after joining Kelce to celebrate his cousin, Tanner Corum, tying the knot at a barnhouse in Nashville on Friday. On Monday, Kelce was seen enjoying himself at a golf event at the Kiawah Island resort in South Carolina. He posed with former Panthers and Bears tight end Greg Olsen, as Kelce smiled and pointed his finger at the former NFL star. Kelce recently cheered his girlfriend on after she announced on Instagram that she had bought back control of her first six albums. Fans spotted that Kelce liked the post on Instagram, while his friend and teammate, Patrick Mahomes , even re-posted the news on X.
