TRAVEL / The invisible Manhattan: New York's top hotels are so discreet you can't find them, writes Michael Leapman

YOU CAN tell you have booked into a really smart New York hotel when your taxi driver has to search for the entrance. Where a decade ago the elite would opt for the conspicuous, grandiose flamboyance of the Plaza, the Pierre or the Waldorf, or the neon-lit sparkle of the Sheraton or Hilton, today they are drawn to the anonymous comforts of hideaways that as often as not have no name on the entrance and are scarcely distinguishable from the offices and other buildings that surround them.

They are not, for the most part, prodigiously expensive - but then at today's dollar/pound exchange rate nothing in New York is prodigiously cheap, either. A sign of the times is that not many of the newer hotels now leave fattening chocolates on your pillow at night: instead, some have free health clubs where you can shape up for the stresses of the city.

The Morgan is the most extreme example of the genre. On Madison Avenue near 37th Street (close to the Morgan Library, hence its name), you would guess at first that its arched doorway leads into the marble-lined lobby of a prestige office block. Only when you get close do you spot, lurking behind the smoked-glass doors, two men in black loose-fitting raiments - the outfit of choice for bellboys at such places - who will leap forward and hold the door for anyone bent on entering. The lobby is a large, dimly lit, almost vacant space, with a metal and leather settee hugging one wall and a few matching chairs scattered about the others. The hushed emptiness is the very opposite of everyone's image of a bustling hotel lobby. There is no sign of the usual yards-long registration counter, staffed by smiling receptionists doing their best to make it feel like an airport departure lounge. Here in this deserted expanse the only working area is an unobtrusive guichet to the left of the entrance, watched over by a lone reception clerk in a dark suit.

In the same vein (and formerly in the same ownership) is the Paramount, on West 46th Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, in the heart of the theatre district. Again no sign outside, again the smoked-glass doors, the arched entrance manned by black-clad doormen, the hushed tones and low lighting.

Currently the most fashionable - and most expensive - of this type of hotel is the upmarket sister of the Paramount, the Royalton on West 44th Street near the Avenue of the Americas, opposite the legendary (and also recently refurbished) Algonquin. The Royalton cannot quite manage anonymity, because much earlier in its history its name was engraved in stone above the entrance.

Nor is the lobby as understated as the other two. Unlike them, the Royalton's ground floor contains a popular bar and restaurant which, near the office of the New Yorker, now rivals the Algonquin as the place where the media and literary establishment like to lunch.

The corridor-like lobby, the work of the fashionable French designer Philippe Starck, stretches all the way from 44th to 43rd Street, with the lounge bar on the left as you enter and the restaurant at the far end. The registration desk, on the right, achieves the ultimate in anonymity: quite invisible from the door, the black-clad youths have to guide you to it, and to the lifts alongside.

Spending a couple of nights at the Royalton was especially poignant because it was one of the first hotels I ever stayed at in New York. Arriving 23 years ago as a resident correspondent, I lodged there for about a month.

Then it was the opposite of trendy: a fading hostelry, largely residential, that had seen better days. The doorman wore a green uniform with scruffy gold braid and a peaked cap. There was no restaurant or bar. The rooms were decorated in the overblown style of Louis the Bad - favoured by many hotels in that era - and the cast-iron radiators periodically emitted an abrasive, deep-throated clunk.

Today everything is dark, shiny and stylish. Our room was an essay in minimalism, furnished mainly in black lacquer and metal. With few flat surfaces, there was little scope for scattering our possessions about thoughtlessly and thus ruining the decor. There were two TV sets, a video, a CD player and tape deck, with up-to-the-minute video films and CDs available for borrowing. The king-size bed was an oasis of white amid the blacks and greys, adorned with three gigantic pillows (suggesting unorthodox sleeping arrangements), with white towelling bathrobes piled immaculately in the middle, like some oriental temple offering. A single flower in a vase stood in each porthole-shaped bedside recess.

There was a real fireplace which, the bellboy explained mysteriously, could be lit only when the temperature fell below 40F, because of back-draughts. Above it was the oddest feature of all: a single candle in front of a metal holder for art postcards that were changed daily: we had Salvador Dali on the first day, followed by Vincent van Gogh.

By the time we came to inspect the bathroom we knew the kind of thing to expect: a large and circular tub, a stainless steel washbasin shaped like an inverted cone and set into a transparent surround. The full-length mirrors were so angled that you could see your left and right profiles at the same time.

The mini-bar contained only non-alcoholic drinks. A liquor licence for a New York hotel is today so expensive that many do not have them. The bar and restaurant downstairs are run by a separate company.

The Royalton's celebrity guest list includes scores of film and rock stars and literary people: Al Pacino, Keith Richards, Julian Barnes, Yoko Ono, Michael Douglas, Jodi Foster and many more. For those who fear being overwhelmed by trendiness, there are quieter places to try in the range of 'boutique' hotels - any with fewer than 200 rooms.

You could head way uptown to Madison Avenue and 92nd Street, where the Hotel Wales has just been restored to something like its original turn-of-the-century character. Far from the ice-cool modernity of the Royalton, Morgan and Paramount, it has had many of its old fireplaces uncovered.

This and the comfortable Victorian-style furnishings give a pleasantly old-fashioned feel, enhanced by the Pied Piper Room on the first floor, where free afternoon tea and biscuits are served - a rarity in New York. Continental breakfast is also served there and, unusually, included in the room price.

Although a couple of miles from midtown, the hotel is handy for the great museums on upper Fifth Avenue - including the Metropolitan, the Guggenheim and the Cooper-Hewitt. The Wales is often used to accommodate couriers sent by overseas museums, so a high cultural tone is maintained - reinforced by Sunday chamber concerts.

The Wales has a reputation locally, too. When we told an Upper East Side friend where we were staying, she recalled once fleeing there for a couple of nights when her teenage children were getting too much for her.

Other newly restored boutique hotels with a claim to originality include the Irish-owned Fitzpatrick, on Lexington Avenue close to Bloomingdale's, and the Elysee, on 54th Street near Madison Avenue, which accommodated the theatrical, literary and sporting elite of earlier generations. Tennessee Williams, Marlon Brando, Lillian Gish and the baseball player Joe Dimaggio were among long-term guests.

If you want where you stay to be part of your New York experience, rather than just a place to hang your hat, all these offer something a bit out of the ordinary and are worth considering.

Michael Leapman is the author of 'The Companion Guide to New York' (HarperCollins pounds 16.99).

ADDRESSES AND RATES

RATES are in dollars. The current exchange rate is dollars 1.4 to the pound. Prices are quoted per room, without breakfast except where stated. All offer significantly reduced weekend rates. When phoning from the UK, the code 010 1-212 should precede the numbers below.

Morgan, 237 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016. Tel: 686 0300. Fax: 779 8352. Singles from dollars 180, doubles from dollars 205.

Paramount, 235 W46 St, New York, NY 10036. Tel: 764 5500. Fax: 354 5237. Singles and doubles available from dollars 135.

Royalton, 44 W44 St, New York, NY 10036. Tel: 869 4400. Fax: 869 8965. Singles and doubles from dollars 235.

Hotel Wales, 1295 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10128. Tel: 876 6000. Fax: 860 7000. Singles and doubles from dollars 135, including breakfast.

Fitzpatrick, 687 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022. Tel: 355 0100. Fax: 355 1371. Singles from dollars 180, doubles from dollars 200.

Hotel Elysee, 60 E54 St, New York, NY 10022. Tel: 753 1066. Fax: 980 9278. Singles and doubles from dollars 125, including breakfast.

TRAVEL NOTES

GETTING THERE: Fly with American Airlines (081-572 5555) to New York from pounds 290 return and to San Francisco from pounds 370 return (book at least 7 days in advance, minimum stay 7 days, maximum stay 1 year). Virgin (0293 562000) Apex fares start at pounds 240 return to New York and pounds 387 return to San Francisco via LA (at least 21 days in advance, minimum stay 7 days, maximum stay 1 year). Virgin Late Saver fare to New York is available before 13 March; book within 3 days of travel and go for pounds 198 return (minimum stay 1 Saturday night). BA (081-897 4000/

0345 222111) Apex return fares to New York start at pounds 240, San Francisco at pounds 324 (at least 21 days in advance, minimum stay 7 days, maximum stay 1 month). Trailfinders (071-938 3232) offers New York return from pounds 184, San Francisco from pounds 219.

FURTHER INFORMATION: United States Travel & Tourism Administration, PO Box 1EN, London W1A 1EN (071-495 4466). New York City Convention & Visitors Bureau, 2 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10019 (010 1-212 484 1200). San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau, 201 Third Street, Suite 900, San Francisco, CA 94103-3185 (010 1-415 974 6900).

(Photographs omitted)