The top 5 sustainable luxury hotels in NYC
The top 5 sustainable luxury hotels in NYC
I recently wrote about how to spot greenwashing at a luxury hotel and what to ask instead.
I’m saving you some time and instead of you having to research the most sustainable luxury hotels in NYC, I’ve done it for you.
Turns out, there are quiet a lot of cool things hotels are doing. A rooftop tank that donates water to a public park. A building made from a demolished sugar factory. But, I also found the expected greenwashing, like a living wall and a placard about conservation and saving the planet with no real sustainability practices that were concrete.
The truth is, the gap between the two aren’t always quick and easy to find. You have to go looking for the certifications and proof. So that's what I did, property by property.
What I looked for
The full standard is pulled straight from the Altered Atlas philosophy. For a city hotel, these are the questions that separate one property from another.
Is there a third-party certification, and what level? LEED has four tiers and there is a big difference between Silver and Platinum.
Is the environmental claim specific enough to check? You want to see proof beyond flowery marketing adjectives.
Where does the food come from, and does the kitchen think about it? Look for the sourcing radius, seasonality, and whether the menu has plant-based options.
Is the neighborhood part of what you're paying for? If it takes you an hour to get to the places you want to go, you’re missing the point of being in NYC.
The top 5 list
1 Hotel Central Park
The hotel’s is stunning, weaving nature into every part of the hotel so it feels almost as if Central Park continues through its halls. It's the owner of a Michelin Key, too.
How it held up to the Altered Atlas philosophy:
LEED Silver certification, which is the second of four tiers and a step below both other 1 Hotels properties in this piece
More than 6,000 square feet of reclaimed wood, including guestroom paneling taken from old water tanks and a front door built from 1,600 reclaimed locust branches
36,000 ivy plants across the facade, plus green roofs
filtered water on tap and reusable bottles in every room in place of single-use plastic
a partnership with the Billion Oyster Project, which is rebuilding oyster reefs in New York Harbor
On the plate: Jams, chef Jonathan Waxman's restaurant off the lobby, sources from farms across New York, New Jersey and Ohio and creates its menus based on seasonality.. You can expect plant-based dishes like a grilled tofu breakfast bowl with coconut avocado puree, and a roasted oyster mushroom with peanut romesco and watercress. The bar isn’t left out when it comes to sustainability. It runs a zero-waste cocktail program.
Crosby Street Hotel
This one surprised me. Crosby Street was the first hotel in New York to reach LEED Gold, in 2011, back when almost no guest was asking. This baby has three Michelin Keys and four stars from Forbes.
How it held up to the Altered Atlas philosophy:
LEED Gold certification
a 2,000-square-foot rooftop kitchen garden that grows food for the property, plus a 350-square-foot meadow planted with more than 50 varieties of flowers
CEMARS certification, which measures the company's greenhouse gas emissions against an international standard instead of an in-house one
a parent company target to cut emissions by at least 25% over ten years
bike racks and shower facilities, so guests can skip cars entirely
On the plate: The Crosby Bar labels five dishes plant-based, which is more than most hotels in this city manage (shockingly. Which needs to change ASAP).Items include a warm grains bowl with sweet potato, babaganoush, sugar snaps, broccolini and toasted coconut. There’s also a roasted cauliflower steak with avocado hummus, preserved lemon, golden raisins and capers.
Equinox Hotel New York
Yes, that Equinox. Which means it’s the perfect hotel for anyone whose idea of a good trip is on the same wave length as Equinox—high performance meets restorative luxury. The hotel is also a recipient of four stars from Forbes.
How it held up to the Altered Atlas philosophy:
LEED Gold certification, rainwater collection used for irrigation and cooling
low-flow and low-flush fixtures throughout
a location inside Hudson Yards, the first LEED Gold-certified neighborhood development in Manhattan
On the plate: Electric Lemon sources from the Mid-Atlantic and prepares what’s in season. Fancy Vegetables and Dip comes with a carrot juice and fermented soybean dip, and the tofu with hoja santa, green curry and caulilini is one of the more interesting menu items.
Conrad New York Downtown
While Battery Park is more sterile than other parts of Manhattan, this is the most certified building on the list. By a lot. Every room here is a suite, and it's earned four stars from Forbes.
How it held up to the Altered Atlas philosophy:
LEED Gold for New Construction, and the first LEED Gold major renovation in New York certified under the current rating system
ISO 14001 certification, which is an outside audit of how the building gets run day to day
low-flow fixtures that cut water use by more than 30 percent
LED lighting across more than 60 percent of the property
a green roof and roof garden that grows vegetables for the hotel's restaurant
FSC-certified wood, low-VOC materials and Energy Star kitchen equipment
public bike racks that anyone can use, guests included
a parent company, Hilton, with emissions targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative
On the plate: ATRIO sources its food from local vendors and its rooftop garden. Unfortunately, the plant-based options are thin. You can get steel-cut oatmeal with berries, maple pecans and agave, a market fruit plate, or one of the plant-based wellness smoothies. The avocado toast comes with goat cheese and the harvest grain bowl comes with halloumi, so both need modifying. All that to say, there are plant-based options nearby … plus you’re not hanging out at the hotel for food. You’re in NYC to be in NYC.
1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge
This is my top pick and the hotel I recommend to every person who asks where to stay in NYC. With one Michelin Key, it's also the most sustainable and has the most plant-based options. Score.
How it held up to the Altered Atlas philosophy:
LEED Gold certification
building made from repurposed shipping pallets and reclaimed wood pulled from the old Domino Sugar Factory
a rooftop rainwater collection tank that donates water to Brooklyn Bridge Park's irrigation instead of drawing on the city supply
a quarter of the roof given to green space with trees and shrubs
a partnership with the Billion Oyster Project
On the plate: Harriet's Rooftop is the best kitchen on this list. If there’s one dish to order, it’s the fried oyster mushroom bao with pickled Japanese vegetables and hoisin glaze. The kitchen is seed-oil-free across everything fried, and the bar sources beer and spirits from producers within 100 miles. Then there's the view of the bridge and lower Manhattan from the roof. Swoon.
What I couldn't verify
Not one of these five properties makes any public statement about staff wages, what share of its team is hired locally, or its labor practices. I looked. On a safari lodge or a village-adjacent resort, I'd call and ask before putting a client there. In a major city with a unionized hotel workforce it’s different, but it’s still not the same as verified.
In addition, only two have a parent company with emissions targets tied to a recognized outside benchmark. Crosby Street reports through CEMARS, and Hilton's targets are validated by the Science Based Targets initiative.
So take the list for what it is. These are the properties doing the most of what can be checked from the outside.
What didn't make the list
Hotels where the kitchen changed. Ace Hotel Brooklyn had one of the best vegetable-forward restaurants in the borough with As You Are. It closed, replaced by an Italian restaurant and an omakase counter.
Beautiful properties with butter-heavy kitchens. The Wythe and The Greenwich are both gorgeous. Neither has a single plant-based dish you can order directly off the menu.
Before you book
If you’re planning a trip anywhere in the world, I created the free Conscious Luxury Traveler's Guide so you can download it and know what to look for when booking travel. And if you'd rather not do any of this yourself, that's what Altered Atlas is for. I deep dive every property (and activity and supplier) on your itinerary before it even gets to you.
PHOTOS: PROVIDED
