Hotel Review • United States • New York City

For the Best View of the Manhattan Skyline, Check Into This Brooklyn Hotel

The best view of the Manhattan skyline in New York City isn't in Manhattan. It's from a rooftop in Dumbo, inside one of the most sustainably built hotels the city has ever seen.

The Review

Why it works

Courtesy of 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge

Hotel Snapshot 

Let me just start off by saying that I’ve been frequenting this hotel for years at this point. YEARS. Not even as a guest. Ever since remote working days at my (then) corporate finance job was introduced, I made the trek to 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge on an almost-weekly basis just because I loved working from the lobby. It is, in my opinion, the best hotel lobby to work from in New York City, and I've tried most of them.

1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge opened in 2017 as the brand's first ground-up build, planted at the edge of Brooklyn Bridge Park on the Dumbo waterfront, looking directly across the East River at Lower Manhattan. The concept—eco-luxury that doesn't ask you to compromise on comfort—was already being tested at the brand's Central Park property, but Brooklyn is where it makes the most sense. The park, the bridge, the post-industrial neighborhood, the water… the whole thing fits. More than half of the hotel was built using reclaimed materials, including wood from the Domino Sugar Factory and original Coney Island boardwalk. The building runs entirely on wind power and feeds rainwater collected from the roof back to the park below. Greenwashing is a huge issue with “eco-friendly” hotels nowadays. (Well, not just hotels, if we’re being honest.) That’s not the case with 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge.

Design & Character 

This hotel is beautiful. Throughout: reclaimed barnwood, salvaged beams, concrete, native plants injected into every available surface. The lobby alone contains two significant commissioned works: OVEREACHOTHER by Brooklyn artist Jarrod Beck, a draped installation made from rubber salvaged from a tornado-damaged rooftop in upstate New York; and UNBOUNDED by Rachel Mica Weiss, 6,000 pounds of hammered obsidian rocks arranged near the Brooklyn Bridge-inspired staircase, nodding to the stone lining the park outside. Everything has a provenance. The staff will tell you all of it if you ask nicely.

The overall aesthetic is industrial but genuinely warm. There are no hard design rules being followed here, no aggressive minimalism or maximalist statement-making. It reads as a building that was assembled thoughtfully and then left to breathe. The scent of cedar hits you at the entrance and follows you through the corridors. 

The Rooms

Courtesy of 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge

You’ve got options. 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge has 194 rooms and suites, all with floor-to-ceiling windows, reclaimed wood bed frames, organic cotton Keetsa mattresses, and Bamford toiletries. The design carries the lobby's language into the sleeping quarters: board and batten detailing, earthy neutrals, natural textures. Standard rooms aren’t enormous—this is New York City, after all—but the design makes intelligent use of the space and the windows make everything feel larger than it measures. Plus, the views are absolutely insane… most rooms get views of the Manhattan skyline and Brooklyn Bridge, or of the Dumbo neighborhood.

My room was a “Bridge King,” meaning it faced the Brooklyn Bridge directly, and man, that view doesn’t get old, even as someone who’s been in the city for a minute. The window opens—like, actually opens, which is rarer in New York than it should be—and at night you can let the breeze into your room while the skyline shines its lights directly into your room. In-room water filtration stations replace plastic bottles throughout the property; I’m a huge NYC tap water stan and the filtered water here is noticeably good. Don’t be scared of it, drink it.

Room keys are made of reclaimed wood. A smooth rock on the bedside table serves as the Do Not Disturb signal. A sand timer in the shower gently encourages shorter water use without making you feel lectured. The sustainability details at this hotel are integrated quite seamlessly, and even though you can definitely tell sustainability is the property’s M.O., it’s not obnoxious.

Food & Drink

On the ground floor, you’ll find Barbuto Brooklyn, an offshoot of the beloved West Village original from chef Jonathan Waxman, which brings California-Italian cooking and Waxman's signature restraint to the hotel's sustainably minded setting. Expect seasonal dishes, the famous JW chicken, and a room that opens onto Brooklyn Bridge Park when the weather allows.

For mornings or a quick grab between meetings, Neighbors off the lobby does Blue Stone Lane coffee and Brooklyn-sourced fare—bagels, health bowls, local snacks. Honestly, I’d skip getting something from here in favor of going to a local bodega or eat elsewhere in the area, but if you’re in a rush or have decision paralysis it’s convenient.

The real reason to leave your room, though, is Harriet's. The lounge on the 10th floor handles evening cocktails in a low-lit, glass-walled room with leather booths and creative drinks. One floor up is the rooftop, and it's where the hotel earns its most devoted following. The pool runs along the edge of the building facing Manhattan, and the view Brooklyn Bridge to your left, the full Lower Manhattan skyline straight ahead, the Statue of Liberty in the distance—is one of the best you can find in this city. Go early on weekday mornings when you'll mostly have it to yourself, or at sunset when you can catch golden hour at its best.

Gallery

A closer look

Courtesy of 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge

Courtesy of 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge

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