Set alongside the historic tenements of the Lower East Side, Public is an altogether new type of luxury hotel. The idea – the latest brainchild of revolutionary hotelier Ian Schrager – is to provide everything you want, but none of the unnecessary extras. So, you have to check-in yourself and arrange your own mints on the pillow, but there’s plenty of upsides too. New York-inspired dishes are wood-fired at superchef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Public Kitchen, while Louis – a market/canteen hybrid – serves organic slow food, fast. Every room has floor-to-ceiling windows and ooh-that’s-clever mod cons, but for the best view of the city head to the Roof Bar – nothing beats a Manhattan above Manhattan.