New York, United States

Freehand New York

Price per night from$152.10

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (USD152.10), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Style

Painted Freehand

Setting

Mosey over to Madison

Whether you’re riding solo or travelling with the team, the Freehand New York has an art-filled room to suit. From snug singles to rooms with custom made bunk beds for threesomes, all 395 of the hotel’s rooms are styled by designers Roman and Williams and decorated with specially commissioned artworks by Bard College students and alumni. When not appreciating top-bunk art, guests can take a cue in the games room and hang out in one of the five on-site eateries; the latest installment of the Freehand’s signature Broken Shaker bar is taking things to a new level – all the way to the rooftop. 

Smith Extra

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Two cocktails a stay in Broken Shaker

Facilities

Photos Freehand New York facilities

Need to know

Rooms

395, including two suites.

Check–Out

Noon. Earliest check-in, 3pm.

Prices

Double rooms from £138.24 ($175), including tax at 14.75 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional local city tax of $3.50 per room per night on check-in and an additional resort fee of $34.42 per room per night on check-in.

More details

Rates usually exclude breakfast (US$15 a person). There’s a $19 (plus tax) facility fee that includes WiFi, free filtered water, 24-hour access to the fitness centre, preferred access to programming and rooftop priority at Broken Shaker.

Also

All rooms and public areas of the hotel are wheelchair accessible via ramps or lifts.

At the hotel

Games room with shuffleboard; 24-hour gym with Peloton bikes; arcade games; a pool table and table tennis; free WiFi throughout. In rooms: HD Smart TVs; Bluetooth sound systems; air-conditioning; safes; minibars with free bottled water.

Our favourite rooms

If there are just two of you, the Corner Kings rooms have the best city views in the hotel. For larger groups, the Gallery and George Washington suites are the biggest rooms in the hotel with two bedrooms and a living room each; the Gallery Suite has one king-size bed and two bunks, and the George Washington Suite has two king-size beds, so choose your suite to suit the size and style of your group.

Packing tips

Whatever the youth are wearing these days…

Also

The hotel is housed in the former George Washington Hotel, a popular hangout with writers, poets and musicians in the 30s.

Pet‐friendly

One pooch can stay per private room for US$75 (plus tax) a stay. See more pet-friendly hotels in New York.

Children

Children are welcome, but the hotel isn’t geared towards kids. Children aren’t allowed in the bars. The hotel can supply baby cots on request.

Food and Drink

Photos Freehand New York food and drink

Top Table

Take a cosy banquette in the George Washington Bar for a romantic late-night tipple, and a window seat in Studio for fare with a view.

Dress Code

All dining and drinking options at the hotel are super laidback so you’ll never feel underdressed.

Hotel restaurant

The hotel has three restaurants to choose from, depending on what flavours you fancy that day. Led by New York’s Gabriel Stulman and his Happy Cooking team, Simon & the Whale is a lively neighborhood restaurant serving sharing-size plates of fresh seafood. Studio is an all-day café on the second floor of the hotel. Wth windows as walls, the restaurant offers great city views all day and night, as well as first-class edibles, of course. Smile To Go is a grab-and-go outpost of the popular NoHo café, The Smile, offering healthy Mediterranean-inspired fare that focuses on seasonal flavours and ingredients. 

Hotel bar

Revamping an old classic, the George Washington Bar is set inside the former Library Room of the original George Washington Hotel. Although less stuffy than its predecessor, the sultry bar has retained many of the room’s original features including a selection of 1920s artworks for you to admire as you sip classic cocktails. The Freehand’s spirited mixologists also bring their award-winning concoctions to the New York skyline; set on the hotel’s rooftop, Broken Shaker cocktail bar serves the Freehand’s unique mix of elixirs and syrups, paired with fragrant herbs, freshly pressed juices and exotic ingredients from around the world.

Last orders

Simon & the Whale: 7am-3pm (Mon-Fri), 10am-4pm (Sat-Sun), 5pm–11pm or 12am. Studio opens at 7am and closes between 12–3am. Smile To Go: 7am–9pm. Broken Shaker and George Washington Bar open at 4pm and close between 1am–4am.

Location

Photos Freehand New York location
Address
Freehand New York
23 Lexington Ave
New York City
10010
United States

The hotel is located on Lexington Avenue in the Flatiron District of New York.

Planes

If you’re flying from within the US, LaGuardia airport is just 30 minutes away by car. International travellers should fly to JFK, which is a 50-minute drive away. Our Smith24 team of travel experts are on hand round the clock to book your flights.

Trains

Grand Central Station is a 20-minute walk away; from here you can catch trains to Upstate New York.

Automobiles

With frequently gridlocked traffic lining the city streets, you’ll find it quicker to walk in New York. If you do decide to drive, there are street parking options near the hotel.

Worth getting out of bed for

There’s always something going on in the city that never sleeps. The big-hitter museums around Central Park are just a 15-minute cab ride away, but closer still is the Museum of Sex, just a 10-minute walk away on the north side of Madison Square Park – a quickie in the gift shop is a must. For an afternoon off from museums and art galleries, pick up a good book from the Rizzoli bookstore at 1133 Broadway and head to the lush lawns of Madison Square Park. New York is a beautiful city, particularly at night when it’s all lit up, so set an evening aside to explore the streets on foot. The birthplace of Theodore Roosevelt is a few blocks south of the hotel, and just up the road is the triangular Flatiron Building; stroll across the park to view the grand exterior of the Appellate Division Courthouse, then follow the bright lights of the Empire State Building up 5th Avenue for a few back-bending minutes of ogling the 103-storey skyscraper.

Local restaurants

Authentic Italian snacking is but a few blocks away at elegant pizzeria Marta. With marble and brass countertops, feature lights hanging from the high ceilings and pristine white walls throughout, this is more upmarket than many New York eateries, and its crispy thin pizzas are leaps and bounds above the rest: watch the chefs toss and flip and cover your food in the open kitchen while you wait. Maialino’s beamed ceilings and small wooden tables make this Italian eatery feel like a little piece of Roma has moved to Gramercy Park. Chef Jason Pfeifer’s all-Italian menus offer treats for all times of day; for breakfast, try the scrambled eggs con cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper), at lunch order a a panino indiavolato (a sandwich filled with salami and chilli tapenade), then go all out with the five-course tasting menu for dinner. Set in a beautifully restored 1854 carriage house, The House has an intimate feel perfect for a romantic date-night meal. The seasonal menus are based on fresh fare rather than a set cuisine; you’ll find lasagna next to hamachi crudo and juicy burgers on their varied menu.

Local cafés

Birch puts the personal touch back into city coffee shops; they responsibly grow and roast their own beans and their barristas will even spell your name correctly on your coffee cup. They’ve scoured the city to find the finest pastries to complement your fresh-roasted brew. After working your way around the vibrant concept stores of Dover Street Market, head to the in-house Rose Bakery for a little visual downtime from the art-packed boutiques while you refuel on caffeine and freshly baked cakes.

Local bars

Well-versed cocktail drinkers will head to The NoMad Hotel’s Library Bar, where you’ll find a wealth of intriguing tomes – the drinks list is a good read, too. Be tempted by a Sherry Painkiller with pineapple, coconut and Guatemalan rum, while perusing the well-stocked shelves. The embossed metal ceiling and tiled walls of the Ampersand are just around the corner; this cool bar has a slight feel of a Twenties drinking den, but one that hiply and happily adapted to New York’s current cocktail scene. Bag a booth at Turnmill and you’re set for the night – and early morning. As a change from cocktails, order one of their draft beers or whiskeys; they also do flights if you can’t whittle down your favourites from the long list.

Reviews

Photos Freehand New York reviews

Anonymous review

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this arty hotel in Manhattan’s Flatiron District and unpacked their ‘I heart New York’ t-shirts and mementoes from the Museum of Sex gift shop, a full account of their city break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside the Freehand in New York…

Sitting happy in Manhattan’s Flatiron District, youthful city stay Freehand New York is breathing new life into the former George Washington Hotel on Lexington Avenue. Its predecessor was once the stomping ground of writers, musicians and poet, and today the new digs are drawing much the same crowd, they’re just a little hipper – old habits clearly die hard here. You can relive the past in the Twenties-style George Washington Bar, or keep your feet firmly in the 21st century at rooftop-set Broken Shaker where the Freehand’s spirited mixologists will be causing a stir with fragrant fizz cocktails and craft beers till the early hours of the morning. Whether you’re seeing the sights solo or travelling as a pack, the laidback hotel will have a room that fits your needs; sleep in a custom-made bunk bed in a Cabin room or spread out in one of the two spacious suites; all rooms feature original artwork by Bard College students and alumni. Keen to support and revitalise the local artisan community, the hotel is also home to Comodo, a Latin American restaurant by husband and wife duo Felipe Donnelly and Tamy Rofe, and Smile To Go, an offshoot of Matt Kliegman and Carlos Quirarte’s popular downtown café.

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Price per night from $152.10