Editorial score of 8.5 of 10, the composite average of the three factors above (Rooms, Service, Location). Method at our methodology page. Affiliate disclosure: booking links may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you, and never change our verdict.
Why book Freehand New York in the Flatiron?
Freehand New York is the design hotel you book for its food and drink and its value, not for square footage. It occupies the restored 1928 George Washington Hotel at 23 Lexington Avenue on the Flatiron and Gramercy border, and Roman and Williams gave the 395 rooms and the public spaces the warm, collected, slightly bohemian look the practice is known for. The ground floor and lobby run on the Freehand model: a room that works as a neighbourhood bar, a coffee shop and a co-working space at once, so the crowd is a mix of guests and locals rather than a captive hotel audience. The result is a hotel that feels alive at almost any hour, which is exactly the point.
The food and drink is genuinely the reason to come. The Broken Shaker rooftop is one of the best hotel bars in the city, and downstairs the kitchens keep pace, from Gabriel Stulman's seafood to the wood-panelled George Washington Bar. The honest counterpoint is the rooms. Freehand is a hybrid, running compact private rooms alongside shared quad rooms, and most keys are small by any measure, so this is design-led value rather than full-service luxury. Book it for the bars, the design and the Flatiron address, treat the room as a well-styled place to sleep, and it delivers exactly what it promises at a price the neighbourhood rarely matches.
The guest who gets the most from Freehand is the one who spends more time in the bars than the bedroom. It suits a solo traveller who wants a lively lobby to work from, a group in town for a weekend built around the Broken Shaker and Simon and the Whale, and a design-minded visitor happy to trade square footage for a Roman and Williams room at a Flatiron price. Book a private room, aim high in the building for quiet, and the value is genuinely rare for Manhattan.
What are the best rooms to request?
Request a private King or a suite on a higher floor and go in clear-eyed about scale. Roman and Williams dressed the rooms with vintage-inflected furniture, warm woods and characterful lighting, so they photograph and feel far better than the price suggests, but most are compact, and the shared quad rooms are a different, hostel-style product entirely. If you want a private stay, book a private room or a suite specifically, and the suites are the ones to target for a couple or a longer trip, since they add the sitting space the standard rooms lack.
One honest caveat: this is affordable design in an old building, so rooms vary and the smallest are genuinely small, with limited storage and street noise on the lower floors near a lively hotel. Ask for a higher floor away from the rooftop bar if you want quiet, and set expectations for smart, snug rooms rather than spacious ones. On those terms, few hotels in Manhattan deliver this much style for the money.
Book Broken Shaker for early evening before the queue builds, and reserve Simon and the Whale for dinner rather than relying on walk-ins. For quiet, request a private room on a higher floor, away from the rooftop, and confirm you are booking a private rather than a shared quad room.
What is the dining and the bar scene like?
Dining and drinking are the whole case for Freehand. The headline is Broken Shaker, the rooftop cocktail bar that brought the acclaimed Miami original to New York, open year-round and one of the more atmospheric rooftops in the Flatiron. Downstairs, Simon and the Whale is Gabriel Stulman's seafood restaurant, a genuine destination in its own right, while Studio handles all-day dining and the George Washington Bar is a wood-panelled classic-cocktail room set in the building's former library. Between the four you can spend an entire evening moving from an aperitivo to dinner to a nightcap without leaving the building, which is rare at this price.
Does it have a pool or spa?
No pool and no spa. Freehand keeps its facilities lean, with a fitness centre and in-room wellness rather than a pool or a dedicated spa floor, which is consistent with its design-led value positioning. What it offers instead is the social infrastructure: a lobby built for lingering and working, and a rooftop that functions as the hotel's real outdoor amenity. If a pool or spa is essential to your trip, this is not the hotel; if the draw is a great bar and a lively lobby, the missing facilities barely register.
Signature amenities
On Lexington Avenue at 23rd Street
Flatiron / Gramercy border · corner of East 23rd Street
What's nearby
- Gramercy Park
Private garden square3 min walk - Madison Square Park
Lawn & Shake Shack5 min walk - Flatiron Building
Fifth & Broadway6 min walk - Union Square
Market & subway10 min walk - Empire State Building
34th Street12 min walk
The rooms, the rooftop, the bars
Exterior
Room
Broken Shaker
George Washington BarHow does Freehand New York compare with New York's other design-led hotels?
Against the field, Freehand New York is the value-and-bars benchmark, the design hotel that costs the least and drinks the best. The Ace Hotel New York is the older, more corporate-adjacent lobby pioneer a little north in NoMad, still a scene in its own right. The Ned NoMad brings a members-club polish and multiple restaurants at a higher rate. The Bowery Hotel is the downtown design landmark with a better lobby and larger rooms but a louder weekend crowd. Freehand's trade-off is simply the rooms: they are small, and the shared quad product is not for everyone, so you are paying for the address, the design and the bars.
| Hotel | Style | Best for | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freehand New York | Design-led value in Flatiron | Bars, design, price | Small rooms; shared options |
| Ace Hotel New York | NoMad lobby pioneer | Scene, work-friendly lobby | Rooms vary, busy public areas |
| The Ned NoMad | Members-club hotel | Restaurants, polish | Higher rates, busier |
| The Bowery Hotel | Downtown design landmark | Lobby, larger rooms, Gemma | Loud weekends, higher rates |
Frequently asked questions
Where is Freehand New York located?
At 23 Lexington Avenue on the corner of East 23rd Street, on the Flatiron and Gramercy border. Gramercy Park sits a few blocks south, Madison Square Park and the Flatiron Building are a short walk west, and Union Square is about ten minutes south. The 6 train stops at 23rd Street outside the door.
How many rooms does Freehand New York have?
395 rooms across the renovated 1928 building that was formerly the George Washington Hotel. Roman and Williams designed the interiors, and the room types span private rooms, shared quad rooms and suites. Most rooms are compact, since Freehand is positioned as design-led value rather than full-service luxury.
What are the rooftop bar and restaurants at Freehand New York?
Broken Shaker is the rooftop cocktail bar, the New York outpost of the acclaimed Miami original, open year-round. Downstairs, Simon and the Whale is Gabriel Stulman's seafood restaurant, Studio is the all-day dining room, and the George Washington Bar is a classic wood-panelled cocktail room in the former library.
Is Freehand New York a hostel or a hotel?
It is a hybrid. Freehand runs traditional private rooms alongside shared quad rooms, a hostel pattern delivered at hotel-tier design and service. The private rooms compete with mid-tier boutique hotels, while the shared rooms compete with high-design hostels, and the two product lines coexist in the same building.
Is Freehand New York good for business travelers?
For mid-range business yes, for executive business no. WiFi is fast, the lobby has plenty of working space, and the Flatiron location is well placed for meetings around Union Square and Madison Square. But rooms are small, there is no executive lounge, and the energy is design-and-bar led, so it suits shorter, lower-stakes trips.
Other design stays in New York
#18 · East VillageThe Bowery Hotel
#21 · NoMadThe Ned NoMad
#37 · NoMad