Central Park For A Garden: Trump International Hotel & Tower New York

The dog bed is black, with white piping, and it has been placed under the window on purpose. Beyond the glass, a long way down, is the whole of Central Park, over eight hundred acres of trees and lawn running north as far as you can see. Next to the bed are two steel bowls on a mat, a box of treats, and a toy newspaper called The Daily Rover. It is a very New York welcome. The hotel has given your dog a room with a view of the garden, and the garden happens to be the most famous park on earth.

The Garden Across the Road

No Manhattan hotel has a real garden. There is no room for one. What separates the city hotels that work for a dog from the ones that merely permit one is whether they understand that the city itself is the amenity, and Trump International Hotel and Tower understands it completely. It stands on Columbus Circle, on the south west corner of the park, and the walk from the lobby to the grass is about thirty seconds. Where another hotel would point you at a scrap of artificial lawn on a roof, this one points you at Central Park.

That changes the shape of a stay. The first walk of the morning is not a lap of the block. It is the park at dawn, before the city has properly woken up, with your coffee in one hand.

Upstairs

The tower itself is a Forbes Five-Star hotel of a hundred and seventy six rooms and suites, and every one of them is built around the window. The glass runs floor to ceiling, so on the park side the view is not a glimpse between buildings but the whole green sweep of it, from Sheep Meadow up towards the reservoir, with the Upper East Side skyline standing along the far edge. Ask for a Central Park room when you book and the morning light does the rest.

Most of the rooms come with a kitchen, and the suites have proper ones, which is a quiet luxury for anyone travelling with a dog. There is a fridge for their food, a sink for their bowls, and a counter to lay out breakfast without calling anyone. Downstairs is Jean-Georges, with its two Michelin stars, and Nougatine beside it with tables out on the Circle. In-room dining comes from the same kitchen, so an evening in with your dog curled up by the window is dinner from one of the great restaurants in New York, sent up on a tray.

A Proper Welcome

The welcome here is genuine and complete. Most of the rooms take dogs, so you are not shunted into a single category or handed whatever is left, and two dogs may share your room. The fee is a hundred and twenty five dollars once for the whole stay rather than a nightly toll, and there is no deposit to worry about. Those are generous terms for Manhattan at this level, and they tell you the hotel means it.

Best of all, and rare in this city, you may leave a settled dog alone in the room while you go out to dinner. That is the difference between building your whole evening around your dog and simply having a good one, with them waiting comfortably upstairs. Downstairs, your dog is welcome in the public lounge and out on the terrace, so there is somewhere to sit together between walks.

Trump Pets

The welcome runs under the hotel's Trump Pets programme, and it is a proper one. Your dog arrives to a bed of its own, real food and water bowls, treats, waste bags, a drinking mat, a bandana and a set of dog friendly do not disturb signs for the door, with toys to keep them busy. If you are travelling in real style, you can ask for the Trump Pets teepee for the room.

The concierge does the rest. They will arrange a dog walker if you have a long lunch, find a sitter for a proper night out, book grooming, and talk you through the best routes into the park before you set off. An emergency vet number is kept on file at the desk, so you are never scrambling for one in a bad moment.

A Day Here With Your Dog

Set the alarm, because the park keeps a secret for early risers. Central Park is directly across the road, and dogs are allowed off the lead in the designated areas before nine in the morning and again late in the evening, which turns an ordinary walk into something close to magic. Aim first for Sheep Meadow, fifteen acres of open lawn a few minutes inside the park. From there, wander the shaded paths of the Ramble, or take the full loop of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir for a proper morning march with the skyline reflected in the water.

When you fancy a change, Riverside Park runs along the Hudson a few blocks west with its own early morning off lead hours, and the Hudson River Greenway beside it gives you a flat, uninterrupted riverside path for as far as your dog cares to go.

You will eat very well with a dog at your feet up here. AG Kitchen on Columbus Avenue is the easy favourite, with dogs welcome at its outdoor tables and a proper menu for them of arroz con pollo, beef sliders and even ice cream. A couple of blocks south, P.J. Clarke's at Lincoln Square is a classic New York bar and grill on the corner of Columbus and 63rd, with pavement seating where a dog settles happily. Opposite Lincoln Center, Bar Boulud does Daniel Boulud's French bistro cooking and welcomes dogs at its sidewalk tables, and nearby The Smith is a lively brasserie with generous outdoor seating that takes a dog in its stride.

The two things every travelling dog owner wants to know are close to hand. If your dog needs a wash and a tidy, A Cut Above Pet Stylists on West 69th Street is a short walk into the Upper West Side. And should the worst happen, BluePearl Pet Hospital runs a round the clock emergency room on West 55th Street, a few minutes south of the hotel, and the front desk keeps a vet number to hand.

Why It Matters

New York is a hard city to do well with a dog. The hotels that take them tend to offer a bowl and a bill, and leave the rest to you. This one gives your dog a bed by the window, a welcome kit worth unpacking, a concierge who knows the park, the freedom to stay settled upstairs while you go out, and the greatest back garden in any city in the world. For an owner who wants Manhattan done properly, with their dog beside them, there is very little to better it. Book it, bring your best friend, and take your morning coffee into the park.

Good to Know

The hotel welcomes dogs of twenty five pounds and under. Dogs join you in the lounge and out on the terrace, while the bar and restaurant are kept for people, which room service takes care of easily.

Trump International Hotel & Tower New York scored a Roch Rank of A. Read the official Roch Dog review or visit the hotel's website.