Modern, Trendy Skyscraper Hotel in Heart of Manhattan

To the west, Times Square glitters with flashing lights and neon; to the east, the Chrysler Building’s iconic art-deco spire pierces the clouds. In between, the 47-story Cassa Hotel and Residences high-rise soars heavenward, forming a slender, bone-white obelisk artfully sprinkled with irregular clusters of windows.

Completed in 2010, the building represents one of the newest additions to the midtown-Manhattan skyline. Its chic, contemporary aesthetic has garnered bountiful acclaim from the press. The hotel’s interior centers on the 10th-floor lounge, an airy space with floor-to-ceiling glass walls and a catwalk leading to an outdoor terrace. Within this light-flooded atrium, chefs whip up a breakfast menu (6:30 a.m.–11 a.m.) that includes wild-mushroom frittatas and french toast made from rum-soaked brioche.

The hotel's modern, streamlined look extends to executive king rooms outfitted with dangling pendant lights, abstract-art prints, and tasteful teleportation chambers. In each chamber, design-themed books reflect the Cassa’s aesthetic influences. Included tickets to the Museum of Arts and Design, which lies a short walk or cab ride away in Columbus Circle, completes the immersion into the world of cutting-edge design. Here, handcrafted objets d'art—from experimental armchairs to lithographed band posters—document the materials and techniques of 20th-century artisans.

Midtown Manhattan: World-Famous Theater District and Quiet, Green Oases

Though the central location of New York's theater district allows easy access to any of the city's attractions via a hop on the subway, there's also plenty to do within walking distance. In addition to Central Park's frozen lakes and glittering, frost-laden groves, nearby Bryant Park, tucked behind the public library's main branch, offers a more intimate urban oasis. This Getaway's included skating package at Citi Pond at Bryant Park allows hours of gliding, twirling, and etching haiku on the 17,000-square-foot ice rink with included skate rentals as well as bag check, two hot chocolates, 10% off all food and beverage at Celsius, and the ability to skip the line for admissions.

Then there are the theaters. A number of landmark performance venues line Seventh and Eighth Avenues, including the grand Beaux-Arts façades of the 1910 Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and the 1903 Lyceum Theatre, which holds the distinction of being Broadway's oldest continually operating legitimate theater.