6 hot hotel hangouts

Sixteen stories above the city, on the roof of another ornate, yet dignified, Ian Schrager-owned hotel is the Gramercy Park's private roof club and garden.

The Roof Club, which opened earlier this year, can only be accessed by a private keyed-off elevator from the hotel lobby. Just as neighborhood residents are awarded coveted keys to the neighborhood's private park, only those well-heeled New Yorkers who have been granted membership status to the hotel's roof (along with hotel guests) can gain admission upstairs. At sunset the privileged few can be found lounging in plush Renaissance colored chairs while sipping Prosecco.

It's clear New York artist Julian Schnabel has labored to design a lavish space that evokes a private gentlemen's club in London for this see-and-be-seen crowd, and the walls are adorned by artwork from Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst.