Park Hyatt New York shines bright in midtown Manhattan

Park Hyatt's ultra-swanky flagship occupies the first 25 of the 90 floors in a new midtown Manhattan skyscraper. Located across the street from the Russian Tea Room, steps from Carnegie Hall and a skip and a hop from Central Park, the building was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Christian de Portzamparc. The hotel interiors are by hospitality gurus Yabu Pushelberg and the women's uniforms by minima-list fashion god Narciso Rodriguez (the men's outfits are immaculately cut custom suits from luxury department store Barneys). This property, decorated with high-calibre art by the likes of Sigmar Polke, Rob Fischer and Richard Serra, screams luxury, refinement and expense accounts from every gleaming surface.

Geometric patterns everywhere: on the rugs, duvet covers and faceted room screens, even etched on shower and toilet cabinet glass doors. Beds are moreish, the marble bathrooms beautifully appointed and the floor-to-ceiling windows look out over 57th Street and Carnegie Hall or, in some cases, offer midtown panoramas or long vistas into the park. Windows open - even on the 19th floor - which is more liberating than it might sound. Once you've stopped looking at the many things there are to marvel at, you'll notice the bathroom comes with exclusive-to-Park-Hyatt-New-York Le Labo toiletries. Characterful touches in the living areas include an upright leather trunk that doubles as a safe and a personal bar stocked with loads of quirky - not to mention expensive - items, such as truffle-infused crisps from Spain, Krug champagne and licorice and fennel gum.

The hotel's American grill, The Back Room at One57, is of the impeccably presented and well-turned out variety, with steak, rib-eyes and Maine lobster featuring high on the menu. Everything ingestible, including the wines and coffee, is of a very high standard but the atmosphere in the restaurant is somewhat bland, despite the professional and affable staff. There's something about the rather sombre room (dark drapery, dark-brown tables, black-leather banquettes and dark wood panelling) and the lack of daylight (or uplighting) that doesn't quite work, and the generic hotel music further detracts from what should be a highly memorable gourmet experience. Things are livelier at The Living Room (above), where glinting, faceted screens create cosy nooks and niches in a bar that seems to draw its cultural cachet from Carnegie Hall, clearly visible through its windows.