The gap is mostly money. Aman New York runs roughly double Baccarat's nightly rate and answers with an all-suite floor plan and a 25,000-square-foot spa; Baccarat returns crystal-lit glamour and a celebrated Grand Salon for far less. We score Aman 8.8 and Baccarat 8.7, so the decision is budget and mood, not quality.
Affiliate disclosure: when you book through links on this page we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We never accept payment for placement or rankings.
Begin with the two numbers that decide most of this: price and room count. Aman New York typically opens around $2,300 a night and climbs past $6,000 for its larger suites; Baccarat frequently sits near $1,000 in season, occasionally far less off-peak. On a like-for-like date, Aman tends to cost about twice as much, and that ratio frames everything below.
The second number is scale of stay. Aman is all-suite, 83 keys, with even its smallest room at 745 square feet, exceptional for Manhattan. Baccarat is larger and livelier at 114 rooms and suites. One is built around space, silence and a vast spa; the other around crystal, a glittering Grand Salon and a more public, dressed-up energy.
The honest split: Aman wins on ceiling, suite size, spa and the rarefied hush that comes with three Michelin Keys; Baccarat wins on value, glamour and a more sociable sense of occasion. Both sit within four blocks of each other in Midtown. The scored case for each follows.
| Aman New York | Baccarat Hotel | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | All-suite space, spa, top-tier hush | Crystal glamour, value, occasion |
| Opened | August 2022 | March 2015 |
| Rooms | 83 (all suites; smallest 745 sq ft) | 114 rooms & suites |
| Spa | Aman Spa, ~25,000 sq ft, 3 floors, 65-ft pool | Spa de La Mer, ~10,000 sq ft, 55-ft pool |
| Dining | Arva, Nama (omakase), Jazz Club | Grand Salon (Gabriel Kreuther direction), tea |
| Location | Crown Building, 730 Fifth Ave at 57th | 28 W 53rd St, across from MoMA |
| Rate from | ~$2,300/night (to $6,000+) | ~$1,000/night (off-season lows lower) |
| HotelsForKings score | 8.8 / 10 | 8.7 / 10 |
Signature: An all-suite hotel inside the 1921 Crown Building on Fifth Avenue, with a three-floor spa, Italian and Japanese restaurants and a subterranean Jazz Club, holder of three Michelin Keys.
Aman New York is the city's space-and-silence play. It occupies the landmark Crown Building at 730 Fifth Avenue at 57th Street, restored into 83 suites, the smallest of which is 745 square feet, a startling figure for Manhattan. The spa is the headline: roughly 25,000 square feet across three floors, with a 65-foot indoor pool, among the largest hotel spas in the city. Dining runs to the Italian Arva, the omakase counter Nama and a clubby downstairs Jazz Club, and the property is one of only four in New York to hold three Michelin Keys, the guide's top hotel distinction.
The measurable case is simple: more square footage per guest, a far bigger spa, and a hush that comes from a small all-suite house. If the point of the trip is to retreat inside the hotel, Aman gives you the most room to do it.
Honest trade-off: the price. Rates that open above $2,000 and routinely pass $6,000 make it one of the most expensive hotels in the United States, and the value sub-score reflects that. It is also calm to the point of reserved, those who want a buzzy, see-and-be-seen scene will find it muted, and a few guests find the contemporary-Aman aesthetic cooler than the Crown Building's heritage promises.
Weighted: Service 25%, Design 20%, Romance / Value / Food 15% each, Location 10%. Scores are HotelsForKings editorial judgments of each hotel, not guest-review averages.
Signature: A crystal-laden, Parisian-styled hotel across from MoMA, anchored by a glittering Grand Salon, a celebrated afternoon tea and the first dedicated La Mer spa in the United States.
Baccarat leads with glamour. Built by the storied French crystal house and opened in 2015 at 28 West 53rd Street, directly across from the Museum of Modern Art, its 114 rooms and public spaces are dressed in Baccarat crystal and contemporary-Parisian design. The social heart is the Grand Salon, with menus guided by two-Michelin-star chef Gabriel Kreuther and an afternoon tea that is a destination in its own right. Spa de La Mer, the brand's first dedicated US spa, adds roughly 10,000 square feet, four treatment rooms and a 55-foot indoor pool ringed by cabanas.
The number that matters here is the rate. At often around half Aman's price for comparable dates, Baccarat delivers genuine five-star design and a sense of occasion at a meaningfully lower cost, which is why its value sub-score leads.
Honest trade-off: it is the busier, more public hotel. With 114 rooms and a popular bar and tea scene, the lobby and Grand Salon can feel like an event rather than a retreat, and standard rooms are city-sized rather than Aman-large. The spa, while strong, is less than half Aman's footprint, and peak-season rates can climb closer to Aman territory, eroding the value gap.
Weighted: Service 25%, Design 20%, Romance / Value / Food 15% each, Location 10%. Scores are HotelsForKings editorial judgments of each hotel, not guest-review averages.
Full profile: crystal interiors, Grand Salon and Spa de La Mer.
Beaux-Arts Fifth Avenue classic with butler service.
Park-front grandeur a short walk north.
Contemporary 57th Street option near Carnegie Hall.
At these prices, the date moves the rate by thousands. We track both hotels, when Aman suites soften, when Baccarat dips toward its off-season lows, and which suite category is worth the jump, and send the honest version, one email at a time.
Book Aman New York when the hotel is the trip and budget is not the constraint. The all-suite floor plan, the 25,000-square-foot spa and the three-Michelin-Key hush make it the highest-ceiling stay in the city, ideal for a cocooning, spa-led escape. Skip it if you want a lively scene or care about value.
Book Baccarat for crystal-lit glamour and a genuine sense of occasion at roughly half the nightly rate. Its Grand Salon, afternoon tea and Parisian design deliver a dressed-up New York night without Aman's price. The 0.1 between our scores is noise; the real question is whether you are paying for space and silence or for glamour and value.
A ranked shortlist, a special offer worth booking, and the overpriced stay to skip. Straight from the editors.
They serve different briefs. Aman New York is the higher-ceiling choice: 83 all-suite rooms, a three-floor 25,000-square-foot spa and one of only four three-Michelin-Key ratings in the city, at the highest prices in town. Baccarat is the more attainable, more sociable luxury, with crystal-laden interiors and a famous Grand Salon. We score Aman 8.8 and Baccarat 8.7.
Aman New York is materially more expensive. Nightly rates typically start around $2,300 and run past $6,000 for the larger suites. Baccarat is more variable: rates often sit around $1,000 a night in season, with off-season weekday lows reported near $325. In practice, Aman is roughly double Baccarat for comparable dates, which is the core of the value gap.
Aman, on size and ambition. The Aman Spa spans three floors and about 25,000 square feet with a 65-foot indoor pool, one of the largest hotel spas in Manhattan. Baccarat counters with Spa de La Mer, the first dedicated La Mer spa in the US, at roughly 10,000 square feet with four treatment rooms and a 55-foot pool, smaller but with a strong brand identity.
Both work; the choice is mood. Aman is the quiet, cocooning, spa-and-suite option for couples who want to disappear into a calm, residential hush. Baccarat is the more glamorous, sociable pick, with its crystal-lit Grand Salon, celebrated afternoon tea and a livelier bar scene. For a big-budget hideaway, Aman; for a dressed-up city celebration, Baccarat.
Aman New York is all-suite with 83 keys, the smallest of which is 745 square feet, exceptionally large for Manhattan, which is central to its sense of space and exclusivity. Baccarat Hotel New York has 114 guest rooms and suites, so it is the larger, busier property of the two, with more of a see-and-be-seen public energy.
Aman has the deeper program, with the Italian restaurant Arva, the Japanese omakase counter Nama and a subterranean Jazz Club, part of why it holds three Michelin Keys. Baccarat's dining centers on the Grand Salon, with menus guided by two-Michelin-star chef Gabriel Kreuther, and is best known for its afternoon tea and crystal bar rather than a full restaurant roster.
Both are in Midtown, about four blocks apart. Aman occupies the 1921 Crown Building at 730 Fifth Avenue at 57th Street, steps from Central Park and the Plaza district. Baccarat sits at 28 West 53rd Street, directly across from the Museum of Modern Art. Either way you are in the heart of Midtown's luxury-shopping core.