The Langham, New York, Fifth Avenue

Midtown hotels tend to sell the view and forget the floor plan. This one does the opposite. The rooms are unusually generous for Fifth Avenue, and several categories add the things that turn a stay into a residency: a private terrace, a separate living room, a kitchen. Families and long visits behave differently as a result, and so does a wet Tuesday.

The view is not neglected. The Empire State Building stands in the window of its own room categories, close enough to watch the lights change on it. Downstairs, Ai Fiori takes its cooking from the French and Italian Riviera and its manners from a proper Manhattan dining room, with Bar Fiori beside it for anyone who would rather not commit to a table. The avenue supplies the momentum and the rooms supply the reason to slow down.

Midtown, entered on foot

Fifth Avenue needs no introduction, and from this stretch of it most of Midtown is walkable: the shops, the landmark towers, the museums a little further north and the theatres a little further west. The advantage of the location is the return trip rather than the outbound one. An afternoon can be abandoned halfway through and resumed after an hour upstairs, which is not true of most Manhattan bases.

Terraces, kitchens and space

Deluxe Rooms come with deep soaking tubs and separate rainfall showers, the sort of bathroom New York usually charges a suite rate for. Beyond them the choices become architectural. A Deluxe Room with Terrace adds private outdoor space in a city that rations it, while selected Deluxe, Family and Club rooms include a kitchen. The Empire State categories keep the skyline in the frame. Each option changes how long a visit can comfortably last.

Ai Fiori downstairs

Ai Fiori looks to the French and Italian Riviera, which in Midtown reads as a quiet act of defiance: no theatrics, considerable technique and a room built for conversation. It is the rare hotel restaurant New Yorkers book on its own account. Bar Fiori serves the same menu with cocktails and wine for anyone arriving late or alone. An evening here removes the need to cross town, which in this city counts as a privilege.