Travel Guide
City Guides
New York, Los Angeles & Toronto — the insider's guide to North America's greatest cities
New York, Los Angeles & Toronto — the insider's guide to North America's greatest cities
A great city trip is not about ticking off landmarks. It's about the restaurant a local friend would take you to, the hotel that feels like a secret address, the neighbourhood you stumble into on a Tuesday afternoon that makes you think: this is what it's actually like to live here. These are the places we send our families — the addresses and experiences that turn a city break from a holiday into a story you'll tell for years.
I've been sending families to New York for over a decade, and the thing that never changes is the reaction when they come back: "We didn't have enough time." You never do. That's the beauty of it. New York is not a destination you finish — it's one you keep returning to, finding new layers each time. The hotel scene has transformed in the last three years, and there are now properties in Manhattan that genuinely rival anything in London or Paris for quality and character.
The biggest mistake families make is trying to stay in Times Square. Don't. It's loud, aggressive and everything around it is mediocre. The best Manhattan neighbourhoods for families are the Upper East Side (museums, Central Park, quiet streets), Tribeca (cobblestones, excellent restaurants, space) and Columbus Circle (Central Park on your doorstep, easy subway access everywhere). Here's where to stay in each.
01
Central Park from the 35th floor — the city laid out like a film set below your window
Every room faces Central Park. Let that sink in. You wake up and the entire park is there, stretching north as far as you can see, with the skyline rising behind it. The spa is on the 36th floor, with treatment rooms that look down on the treetops — it's one of the most surreal spa experiences in the world. For families, the two-bedroom suites have a separate living room where children can crash after a day of walking, and the location at Columbus Circle means you're steps from the park, the subway, and the shops at the Time Warner Center. The MO Lounge does a legitimately excellent cocktail if the kids go to bed early.
02
Buenos Aires maximalism in a 1920s bank — Damien Hirst art, velvet everything, a rooftop pool overlooking the East River
Faena is not subtle. And that's precisely why it works. They've taken over a 1920s bank headquarters in Lower Manhattan and filled it with Damien Hirst installations, jewel-toned velvet, gold leaf, and the kind of confidence that only comes from a hotel group that started in a Buenos Aires warehouse. Cathédrale, the main restaurant, is a soaring gilded dining room where the food actually matches the theatrics — which is rarer than you'd think. The rooftop pool overlooks the East River and Brooklyn Bridge. Not for everyone, but if your family has a sense of drama, this is the hotel you'll talk about for years.
For Tribeca, Fouquet's New York is the new favourite. The Parisian brasserie institution has crossed the Atlantic, and the result is an all-suite hotel that feels more like a private apartment than a hotel room. Marble kitchens, Diptyque amenities, the kind of understated luxury that Paris does better than anywhere — but with that particular Tribeca swagger. The ground-floor brasserie is already a neighbourhood fixture, full of locals who have no idea the place has only been open two years.
New York's best family experience is a private tour of the Met. We work with art historians who specialise in making the collection come alive for children — they tell stories about the armour, let the kids sketch in the Egyptian wing, and finish in the rooftop garden with Central Park views. Two hours is perfect. The American Museum of Natural History is even better for younger children — the same guides do a dinosaur-and-ocean tour that works for ages 4 and up.
LA is the city that surprises people most. Everyone arrives expecting Hollywood Boulevard and leaves talking about the tacos in Silver Lake, the art at The Broad, the hiking in Runyon Canyon, and the fact that they could eat every meal outdoors for a week without repeating a restaurant. The city has undergone a quiet food revolution — it now rivals New York for dining, arguably surpasses it for casual eating, and the hotel scene has caught up completely.
The key to LA is understanding that it's not one city — it's a dozen neighbourhoods loosely connected by freeways. Beverly Hills is old-money glamour. West Hollywood is creative energy and rooftop pools. Santa Monica is beach culture. Downtown is arts and architecture. Bel-Air is hidden canyon estates. You need to pick your base carefully, because driving across the city at rush hour is genuinely miserable. Here's how we plan it.
The team behind Claridge's brings London polish to the golden triangle — rooftop pool, Cipriani, industry energy
The Maybourne group — Claridge's, The Connaught, The Berkeley — opened in Beverly Hills and immediately became the address. The rooftop pool and bar are where the entertainment industry goes when they want to be seen without trying too hard. Cipriani on the ground floor is perfect for people-watching over bellinis and carpaccio. But what I love about the Maybourne for families is the service — it's genuine Claridge's-calibre, which means nothing is too much trouble. Your children will be treated like guests, not inconveniences. The rooms are understated and elegant — a welcome contrast to LA's usual maximalism.
04
Sustainable luxury on the Sunset Strip — living walls, fruit trees around the pool, farm-to-table everything
1 Hotel is for the family that wants luxury without the guilt. Perched on the Sunset Strip, the hotel wraps itself in living walls and reclaimed wood. The rooftop pool is surrounded by fruit trees — the children can literally pick oranges. The restaurant sources from local farms, and it's the real thing, not greenwashing. The location puts you between Beverly Hills and the creative energy of Silver Lake and Los Feliz, which is where LA's best independent restaurants and coffee shops are. Rooms have organic cotton everything and water bottles made from recycled ocean plastic. It sounds earnest on paper but in practice it's just a really good hotel that happens to care about the planet.
For families wanting total seclusion, Hotel Bel-Air is the answer. Hidden in Stone Canyon, it feels like a private estate — swans glide across the lake, bougainvillea tumbles over terracotta walls, and the suites are some of the most spacious in LA. Wolfgang Puck's restaurant is a destination in itself, and the spa garden is one of the most beautiful in the city. You'll forget you're in Los Angeles entirely, which is either the best thing about it or the worst, depending on what you came for. I'd say spend three nights at the Maybourne or 1 Hotel being social, then two nights at Hotel Bel-Air being quiet. That's the perfect LA week.
LA works best as a week-long stay, not a weekend. Give yourselves time to explore neighbourhoods — Malibu for beach days and seafood at Nobu (book the outdoor terrace), Silver Lake for Sqirl and the best coffee culture in America, Downtown for The Broad museum and Grand Central Market, Venice Beach for sunset skateboarding. We map a day-by-day itinerary for every family, because the logistics matter as much as the choices.
Toronto is the city that nobody talks about and everybody should. The food scene is extraordinary — it's the most ethnically diverse city in the world, and that diversity shows up on every plate, from the izakayas in Kensington Market to the Italian bakeries on College Street to the dim sum in Scarborough that rivals Hong Kong. The Distillery District is genuinely beautiful — a cobblestoned Victorian industrial complex turned arts precinct. The waterfront comes alive in summer. And the hotel scene, which was previously limited to business-traveller chains, has been completely transformed.
The neighbourhood to know is Yorkville. It's Toronto's answer to Mayfair or the Upper East Side — tree-lined streets, independent boutiques, excellent restaurants, and two of the city's best hotels within walking distance of each other. The Royal Ontario Museum is at one end, the Annex neighbourhood (think Greenwich Village) at the other. It's the perfect base for families.
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The city's undisputed luxury leader — Yorkville elegance, d|bar cocktails, and the largest urban hotel spa in Canada
The Four Seasons Yorkville is to Toronto what Claridge's is to London — the default for anyone who cares about service. The d|bar on the ground floor is one of the best cocktail bars in the city, buzzing on Friday nights with a mix of locals and hotel guests. The spa is vast — the largest in any of Canada's urban hotels — and the pool area is a genuine retreat from the city. Rooms on the upper floors look out over the treetops toward the CN Tower. For families, the corner suites give you space and light that most Toronto hotels can't match. The concierge team is exceptional — they know every restaurant, every shortcut, every hidden thing the guidebooks miss.
Shangri-La Toronto is the alternative, and it's a strong one. It anchors the bottom of University Avenue, steps from the Royal Ontario Museum and the theatres that host the Toronto International Film Festival every September. The rooms are among the largest in the city, and the lobby doubles as a rotating art gallery — genuinely interesting work, not corporate decoration. Momofuku's multi-floor restaurant complex is attached: Noodle Bar on the ground floor for casual family dinners, Kojin upstairs for serious cooking over open flame, and Nikai for cocktails. David Chang's most ambitious outpost outside New York.
The Park Hyatt Toronto has just completed a sweeping renovation and emerged as something genuinely special. The Writers Room bar is handsome and bookshelf-lined — the kind of place where you order an Old Fashioned and don't leave for three hours. The rooftop lounge is the city's most coveted warm-weather table. And the rooms pair clean Canadian design — think light wood, natural stone — with floor-to-ceiling views of the city and the lake beyond.
Toronto pairs brilliantly with Niagara-on-the-Lake — a 90-minute drive through wine country to one of Canada's prettiest towns. The wineries along the Niagara Bench are world-class (Tawse, Pearl Morissette, Two Sisters), and the town itself is full of independent restaurants, a superb Shaw Festival theatre, and the kind of quiet charm that balances perfectly against Toronto's energy. We always build this into our Toronto itineraries.
It depends on what you're looking for. Aman New York suits those wanting absolute privacy. Mandarin Oriental is best for Central Park views and families. Faena New York is for those who love design and theatrics. The Mark is the Upper East Side classic.
Hotel Bel-Air offers a secluded canyon setting with swan-filled gardens — perfect for families wanting peace. The Maybourne Beverly Hills is central and polished. For a sustainable option with great energy, 1 Hotel West Hollywood on the Sunset Strip is excellent.
Absolutely. Toronto has a world-class dining scene, outstanding museums, and some of Canada's finest hotels. The Four Seasons Yorkville, Shangri-La Toronto and newly renovated Park Hyatt are all exceptional. Pair it with a trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake wine country.
From penthouse suites to private museum tours — let us design the city break your family will never forget.
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