Hard Rock Hotel New York

A Midtown Tower That Lets You Bring the Dog

West 48th Street runs one block off Times Square, which means the Hard Rock stands in the loudest square mile in America and still manages to be a practical place to sleep with an animal. The building is a tower of four hundred and forty six rooms and suites, glazed floor to ceiling, so the city arrives through the window rather than through the wall. The brand does what the brand does, guitars and memorabilia and a rooftop, but the useful part for our purposes is duller and better: a written pet policy, a relief area nearby, and lifts that work.

Why It Works

We chose the Hard Rock for New York because most Midtown hotels that accept dogs do so grudgingly, one room type, one small size, and a shrug at the desk. Here two pets travel on a single reservation, the ceiling is a genuine medium dog rather than a handbag one, and no breed is excluded, which rules out the usual argument at check in. Add a twelve o clock checkout, generous for the city, and a family suite layout, and a trip that would otherwise involve a kennel becomes a trip the whole household makes.

Why This Location

The theatre district begins at the end of the block, Rockefeller Center is a five minute walk east, Fifth Avenue a little beyond it, and Times Square is close enough to reach and far enough to avoid. For a dog the real coordinates are different: the relief area within walking distance, and the long green run of Central Park up at 59th Street, roughly a fifteen minute walk north or one stop on the subway. Between the two, Midtown is walkable at dawn when the pavements are briefly empty.

Fast Facts

• Price: Premium

• Vibe: loud, glossy, music led, thoroughly Midtown

• Rooms: 446 rooms and suites, including balcony rooms, one bedroom and family suites, and a two level Rock Star Penthouse with original artwork

• Best For: dog owners doing a Broadway week, families, music travellers

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: the borrowed Fender under the Sound of Your Stay programme, delivered to the room

• Dining: Sessions Restaurant and Bar on an open, light filled floor, and RT60 rooftop bar and lounge across two terraces

• Amenities: Body Rock gym, Rock Om in room yoga, vinyl and playlist programme, meeting and event space, dogs accepted

• Attractions: Broadway theatres at the end of the block, Rockefeller Center, Fifth Avenue, Times Square, Central Park to the north

The Pet Rules, Worth Reading Before You Book

Two pets per reservation. A weight ceiling of about twenty three kilos each, which covers a spaniel or a border collie and stops short of a labrador at the top of its range. No breed restrictions, which is less common in American city hotels than travellers assume. A one off pet charge is collected at check in rather than billed per night, so a long stay is proportionally cheaper than a weekend. Cats are not accepted at this property, a detail worth catching early if the household travels with both.

Rooms, Suites and the Two Level Penthouse

The standard rooms trade square metres for glass, and in Midtown that is the right trade: the window is the view and the view is the reason you came. Above them sit balcony rooms, one bedroom suites and family suites, the last being the configuration that actually works with a dog, since there is somewhere for the animal to settle that is not the foot of the bed. At the top, the Rock Star Penthouse runs over two levels as a loft, hung with original artwork and music memorabilia rather than hotel prints.

Sessions, RT60 and the Sound of Your Stay

Sessions is the ground floor restaurant and bar, open plan and daylit, which in this part of Manhattan is rarer than it sounds. RT60 is the rooftop, two terraces wide, and it does the Midtown skyline at the hour when the towers start lighting. In between, the house runs its music programme: streamed playlists, a turntable and vinyl on request, and a Fender guitar you can borrow for the duration. Body Rock handles the gym and Rock Om puts a yoga mat in the room. It is a themed hotel that takes the theme seriously.