PRICE:
Frommer's Very Highly Recommended

New York is not Las Vegas, so I'm usually wary of the hotel as high concept, but in this case the concept works: a hotel 1 block from the New York Public Library, each of whose 10 guest-room floors is dedicated to 1 of the 10 major categories of the Dewey Decimal System. When I visited the hotel, I was appropriately booked into a \"Geography and Travel\" room. There I was greeted with books such as Barcelona, by Robert Hughes, and Bella Tuscany, by Frances Mayes. The most disappointing thing about all those books is that I was only staying 1 night and didn't have the chance to read any of them. Still, there was something about having them by my bed; perhaps their soothing aura comforted me. Overall, the hotel has a pleasing, informal feel. Guest rooms, which come in three categories -- petite (really small), deluxe, and junior suites -- feature mahogany built-ins, generous desks, and immaculate marble bathrooms; all are extremely comfortable. The Library's public spaces -- a reading room where weekday wine and cheese and a complimentary daily breakfast are served, a writer's den with a fireplace and flat-screen television, and a rooftop terrace -- all help make The Library a welcome refuge in the heart of the city.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's New York City 2008, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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