1. The Django Jazz Club

You’ve heard that saying “All Roads Lead to Rome.” For me, it’s “All Roads Lead to Jazz” which is why the Roxy Hotel is my go-to downtown NYC hotel. Tucked snugly in the hotel basement, there’s the Django, an absolute gem of a jazz club. And it has everything a jazz-club lover needs. Great music? Check. Great food? Check. Check. Great cocktails? Check. Check. Check. The club hosts some incredible musicians, including, on occasion, the trumpeter Chris Norton who is, bar none, the greatest live jazz performer I’ve ever seen. They also keep the music going late into the night which means that you can schlep back from Midtown after a Broadway show and still have your daily dose of jazz waiting for you just a few steps from your comfortable bed. The club’s dinner menu is small but diverse with both dinner and snacky-type options. I had a thin fruit cobbler and a lovely digestif on my first evening at the Django. The wail of the trumpet, the melting cream topping on the cobbler, and the tinkle of the ice cubes in the cold Frangelico personified the lyrics of Chris Norton’s inventive and exciting interpretation of “Pennies from Heaven.” Don’t know what I’m talking about? It’s on his album. Get it immediately.

2. The Roxy Room

If you’ve been to New York a few times, you’ve probably already discovered the hard way that New York is infamous for its questionable hotel rooms. And price point is not an adequate gauge of whether or not a hotel room is going to be inhabitable. I once stayed at a $500/night, 4 1/2-starrer in Manhattan, and there was a mousetrap under the radiator. It was a true and honest dump, and this is not an isolated experience for me. So, when you find an NYC room like the ones that you’ll encounter at the Roxy, you don’t take it for granted. First, the Roxy rooms are pristinely clean. From the hardwood floors to the cotton linens, everything is fresh and inviting. In addition, there is a well-stocked Smeg mini-fridge and a streaming TV. Though the standard king room is not what I’d call “roomy,” it is roomier than many NYC rooms I’ve stayed in, and if you’re lucky, you might even rate a Freedom Tower view.

3. The Roxy Bar

The hotel features a spacious and inviting lobby lounge space that feels a lot like a living room. But a really classy and vibey living room where musical guests light up the night with live music while hotel guests sit on long leather couches or in comfy armchairs enjoying delicious evening dinner fare like pigs in blankets and fresh lobster cocktail. They even have an oyster bar if you like that sort of thing. Most nights they have a piano player who plays instrumental versions of your favorite pop songs and jazz standards. And in the morning, they serve up delicious breakfast, both of the English and American varieties. The lobby lounge space even features a pool table and classic board game tables like checkers and backgammon. The space is so cozy that it begs the question “Why even leave the hotel?”.

4. The Roxy Cinema

The jazz club isn’t the only thing the hotel basement boasts. It also boasts a working art house movie theatre. They play lots of first-run independent movies as well as older movie favorites in 35mm. The art deco velvet walls and stage curtain inside the small theatre space make for a magical Old Hollywood vibe. Finish that off with some popcorn and candy from the delightfully vintage-looking concession stand, and you’ve got another reason not to leave the hotel.

5. The Mystery Switch

On the wall of each room, there’s a mystery switch.

Spoiler Alert:

It’s a white noise maker that creates a bedroom oasis that’s free of the delightful nightlife energy of the rest of the hotel. It’s so relaxing after a long day of big-city fun. This feature is technically in the Roxy room, but it’s so fabulous that it rates its own place on this list.

6. The Location

For Broadway lovers, the downtown Tribeca neighborhood might not seem like an obvious choice. It certainly wasn’t for me the first time I stayed there. In fact, it felt a million miles away from the familiar neon lights of Broadway, but I’ve grown to love the more sparsely populated Tribeca streets with their relative absence of psychotic horn honking and pushy CD peddlers. And I love the neighborhood restaurants and bars, many just a few steps away from the hotel, including Anejo Tribeca, a delicious Mexican restaurant right across the street from the Roxy, and the Soho Grand Hotel, which has a dreamy amber-lighted cocktail bar with live jazz. There’s a reason why A-list celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Jessica Biel, and Jake Gyllanhaal flock to this downtown neighborhood. It’s a little town inside of a really big one.