The Beekman, A Thompson Hotel

Temple Court went up on Nassau Street between 1881 and 1883, when nine floors counted as a skyscraper and the streets around City Hall were the centre of the city's newspaper trade. Its most remarkable feature, a nine storey atrium crowned by a pyramidal skylight and ringed with cast iron railings, was walled off for decades and only came back to light during the restoration of 2005 to 2008. Today it sets the tone for the whole hotel: from the Bar Room you look up through nine floors of Victorian ironwork, and every trip to the lift passes the view.

Martin Brudnizki designed the interiors for the 2016 opening. Rooms mix velvet, brass and dark timber with tall windows, and Katherine Gass was responsible for the art direction. The two Turret Penthouses occupy the building's turrets as duplexes with private roof terraces looking towards the Woolworth Building and One World Trade Center; the West penthouse also has a fireplace.

Tom Colicchio runs Temple Court, the main dining room, and the Bar Room beneath the atrium is one of downtown's better places for a late drink. The location suits people who want Manhattan without Midtown: the Brooklyn Bridge, the Financial District and the Seaport are all on foot, and the streets go quiet at weekends when the offices empty.