Why One Travel Writer Keeps Coming Back to The Ludlow Hotel (10 Times and Counting)

Some hotels are good for a single memorable stay. Others earn a spot on your repeat list. For Condé Nast Traveler contributor and former New Yorker Megan Spurrell, The Ludlow Hotel on Manhattan’s Lower East Side falls firmly into the latter category—she’s booked a room there ten times since it opened in 2014.

Spurrell first stepped inside The Ludlow for a meal at Dirty French, the hotel’s buzzy restaurant, shortly after it opened. The experience hooked her. Even as a cash-strapped journalist living in the city, she started saving for staycations that let her escape roommates, order room service, and soak in a tub with the Manhattan skyline glowing outside the window.

The 175-room boutique property walks a careful line: it feels deeply embedded in the downtown scene, yet the rooms—with dark wood, brass fixtures, marble bathrooms, and oversized windows—offer a quiet refuge from the street. Guests can eat at Dirty French, grab a drink in the lobby, or take advantage of 24-hour room service and a round-the-clock fitness center. The location puts you steps from Katz’s Deli, legendary cocktail bars like Attaboy, and subway lines that connect to the rest of the city.

What keeps Spurrell coming back, even after moving to Los Angeles in 2021, is consistency. The hotel hasn’t chased trends or lost its neighborhood soul. “It still feels intimate rather than performative,” she says. On a recent birthday stay, staff left a bottle of wine with a handwritten note—a small gesture that summed up the service: attentive without being overbearing.

For travelers who want the energy of the Lower East Side without being swallowed by it, The Ludlow delivers a version of New York that feels lived-in, magnetic, and exactly right.