The address has a past. Before Andaz placed its name at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 41st Street, this building belonged to Tommy Hilfiger — global headquarters, flagship floors, the full apparatus of an American fashion empire. When the hotel opened in its place, designer Tony Chi kept something of that spirit: a lightness, a confidence in proportion, an ease with scale. He added 12-foot ceilings, oversized windows, and the kind of loft geometry that New York architects reserve for the buildings they love most.

Directly across the street stand the two stone lions of the New York Public Library — Patience and Fortitude, as New Yorkers call them. They have watched the corner of 41st Street since 1911. Once a month, a librarian from the NYPL crosses Fifth Avenue and updates the lending library in the Andaz lobby. It is the kind of detail that does not appear in a brochure. It is the kind of detail that makes a hotel worth writing about.

One hundred and eighty-four rooms and suites, each designed to read as a private loft in the city's most coveted neighborhood. Twelve-foot ceilings throughout. Hardwood floors in the entry, travertine marble in the bathrooms, deep-pile carpet in the living spaces. Rainfall showers. A porcelain foot bath — small, unexpected, decisive. Bose and Geneva sound systems. Minibar stocked with local products, complimentary. The rooms do not announce themselves. They settle around you instead.

Bryant Park begins one block west. In winter, it becomes an ice rink and a village of holiday vendors. In summer, outdoor film screenings draw the whole of Midtown onto its lawn. The New York Public Library anchors the east end. Grand Central Terminal is four minutes on foot. The flagship stores of Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman sit a few blocks north. MoMA is within walking distance. The Andaz does not need to compete with the city — it is positioned precisely at the point where the city offers its best version of itself.

No front desk. Check-in happens on a tablet, handled by a host who comes to you. Complimentary wine served in the lobby lounge from six to nine each evening. Minibar stocked with local New York vendors, at no charge. A lending library in the lobby, curated monthly by the NYPL across the street. A 24-hour fitness center with Peloton bikes and Woodway treadmills. Complimentary coffee and tea in the lobby every morning. A small departure gift — a brownie from Fat Witch Bakery, a hand cream from C.O. Bigelow. These are the details that do not appear on the rate sheet. They are, invariably, the ones remembered longest.