The best meeting rooms on the Upper West Side

If you’re looking for something a little more special than the plain, white-walled meeting rooms you’re used to, 1 Central Park has the spaces for you. The four meeting spaces blur the lines between indoors and outdoors, with plenty of greenery, Persian rugs, warm wood finishings, and views of Central Park.

The Great Lawn (max. 70 guests) is the largest private space, with a conference table and the ability to partition into three separate rooms. The Ravine (max. 14) offers a conference table made of reclaimed wood and a natural moss wall. The Meadow (max. 11) and The Reservoir (max. 9) rooms are intimate spaces ideal for workshopping, centered by round tables for seamless collaboration. Whatever your meeting style, you can enhance it with chef Jonathan Waxman’s curated menus, made with fresh ingredients from local farms.

Planning services are also available, and you can rent the meeting floor for up to 100 guests.

The only JW Marriott branch in the city is in the Upper West Side – a fitting location for such a luxurious hotel. There are over a dozen breakout rooms for conferences, training sessions, and workshops, with capacities ranging from 7 to 160 guests. Some rooms – such as the Borghese Room (max. 70) – can be split into East and West with partitions, and easily brought back together. With so many versatile rooms and options, it’s a great venue for bigger companies with smaller sub-teams.

Rooms can be placed in theater, schoolroom, conference, and U-shape arrangements, and offer high speed Wi-Fi and modern A/V technology. Its location right on 59th St means many of the rooms offer impeccable views of Central Park, and a break from meetings may mean a stroll for some fresh air. We’d recommend it.

Arthouse is a boutique hotel housed in a historic building a block west of Central Park, infused with signature NYC flair and options for a varied meeting experience. The Conference Room is a bright, well-lit space fully equipped with a 50-inch flat-screen monitor, an eight-person boardroom-style table, and complimentary WiFi.

When work is over, head down to one of the lobby-level event spaces for a social hour with catering options by chef Abagail Kirsch. The Library is an inviting space with Chesterfield sofas, a prewar fireplace, and decorated bookshelves. The Piano Room, adjacent to the Bar, is a more sophisticated space, with velvet banquette seating, cabaret tables, and a red lacquer piano. These spaces host 50 and 40 guests respectively, and if you look closely, you’ll find original pieces by Basquiat and Warhol on the walls.

It’s hard to find a hotel on a tree-lined street in Manhattan, but The Wallace is one. Set in a 1926 building in a quiet section of the neighborhood, The Wallace offers a refined space for corporate meetings of any kind – from intimate fundraisers and auctions to presentations and meetings. The 1,100 sq. ft Pelham Room is a minimal, polished space that can host up to 70 seated guests in multiple seating configurations. A state-of-the-art audiovisual system, complete with a high-res projector and a 100-inch screen, is ideal for presentations and guest speakers. The events team can also provide a separate registration area for guests, as well as event-day storage and in-house catering for all-day events.

After work, head to the Wallace Lounge for Happy Hour cocktails and live music ‘til midnight.

The warm Tuscan tones, mahogany finishing, and thick curtains that decorate The Lucerne Hotel’s spaces evoke the familiarity of your grandmother’s living room – a welcome change from cool-white fluorescent lights and pasty white walls. The Executive Room is a private 1,000 sq. ft. meeting space that can be rearranged to accommodate theatre style (max. 75), conference (max. 30), schoolroom (max. 40), and U-shape (max. 35) arrangements. On the same floor is a smaller conference room, ideal for intimate meetings or breakouts for larger teams, and has a 10-person boardroom-style table.

Each meeting room has A/V and technical support, complimentary WiFi, surround sound, and projectors with drop-down screens. A full-service Business center is also available on the second floor.