THE FACTS ABOUT HOTEL ON RIVINGTON

USA New_York

With its new crop of intimate bars and chic restaurants, New York's Lower East Side has begun to wrestle the crown of the city's most fashionable neighbourhood from the Meatpacking District. The new hot spots - Libation, Freeman's, Schiller's Liquor Bar - are mixed in with gritty bodegas, and the Hotel on Rivington, towering over the tenements, has become a neighbourhood icon. Floor-to-ceiling windows provide almost clichéd images of the city: you can lie in bed and watch the sun set behind the Brooklyn Bridge while, uptown, the Empire State's spire gleams. Private terraces add to the feeling of being suspended in the skyline. Inside, the design is spare but elegant, with a Tempur-Pedic bed as the centrepiece and furnishings by India Mahdavi. Showers have an exterior glass wall so you can soap up while enjoying the view, and many bathrooms have tubs for two. The restaurant will be top chef Kurt Gutenbrunner's latest endeavour. WHEN TO GO Spring or autumn, when it is neither too hot nor too cold ROOM TO BOOK The owner, Paul Stallings, stays in the Rivington Suite, which has particularly spectacular views. Ask for it if he's not in town CONTACT Hotel on Rivington, 107 Rivington Street, New York, USA (00 1 212 475 2600; fax: 475 5959; www.hotelonrivington.com). Doubles from $255; Rivington Suite $965