Hotels Near the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, 2026
By Matt Spaulding · October 26, 2026
Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Rockefeller Center's holiday page puts the 2026 Tree Lighting Ceremony on Wednesday 2 December. On 26 October the Lotte New York Palace shaded that date "minimum stay required" on its calendar and wouldn't take it as an arrival date. The InterContinental New York Barclay answered "No rooms available for selected dates" for 2 to 3 December, and again for 1 to 3 December. Both are within 9 minutes of the tree. Christmas Eve and Christmas night were easier. Eleven hotels here sold each one as a single night, the Barclay among them, and the Lotte's calendar showed both nights as available. At The Plaza, the booking page turned down every December night we tried.
Everything here is for the 2026 season. On 26 October 2026 we opened each hotel's own booking page and asked for one night on its own, for two adults in one room, on 2, 24 and 25 December, and stopped at the rate list. At the Lotte we got no further than the calendar, and at the Barclay no further than IHG's search list. When the Barclay refused, we tried longer stays. At the Plaza we asked for 2 and 24 December, and then for other dates. Walk times are OpenStreetMap foot routes from each hotel's address to the tree on a normal day, so they know nothing about holiday barriers. Any of it can change from one day to the next.
The hotels, nearest the tree first
Thirteen hotels, none more than 13 minutes on foot. Six are in our Midtown East area, five in Times Square and two around Central Park.
The Lotte, at 455 Madison Avenue and 50th Street, is nearest, 6 minutes away (434 meters). The rates on its booking screen already include a Historic Preservation Fee of $30 a night plus tax. We didn't get past the calendar this time, so we haven't checked that fee again.
All three nights sold at Omni Berkshire Place, 21 East 52nd Street, also 6 minutes from the tree (447 meters). Its room list flagged "ONLY 1 LEFT" on 10 of 13 options for 2 December and 6 of 12 for 24 December. On 25 December, 4 of 10 carried a flag like it. The $45 destination charge is per night, plus tax, and every screen said the price includes it.
The Waldorf Astoria New York, 301 Park Avenue, is 7 minutes from the tree (540 meters). For 2 December Hilton's screen said "31 rooms found", and for both Christmas nights "26 rooms found". The hotel publishes no fee. On 26 October the rate list didn't show one either.
For 2 December, Hilton's screen at the New York Hilton Midtown said "12 rooms found. 19 are currently sold out." Christmas Eve came back "22 rooms found" and Christmas night "20 rooms found", with no sold-out count either time. The hotel is 8 minutes away (596 meters), at 1335 Avenue of the Americas. Hilton's price includes a $40 a night mandatory charge and, the screen says, leaves out taxes.
The St. Regis New York, Two East 55th Street at Fifth Avenue, is 8 minutes from the tree (608 meters). Marriott sold it each night, and every time the screen read "Includes 50 USD Destination Fee", a fee the hotel's own pages don't list.
The Barclay, 111 East 48th Street, is 9 minutes away (646 meters). IHG's search list showed a rate for Christmas Eve and for Christmas night as single nights, 24 to 25 and 25 to 26 December. The hotel charges a $45 a day amenity fee plus tax, which IHG's booking screen shows as $51.63 with tax. The search list doesn't show fees, so that figure wasn't checked this time.
Go to citizenM New York Times Square on citizenM's own site and you end up on marriott.com. It's 9 minutes from the tree (669 meters), at 218 West 50th Street. Every night we asked for sold, and on 2 December the screen flagged "ALMOST SOLD OUT". Marriott's rate list showed no fee line, and citizenM doesn't publish one.
Three more Marriott hotels in Times Square sold every night we asked for, with a destination fee inside the price. The Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel, 811 7th Avenue, is the nearest of them at 9 minutes (674 meters), and its fee is $35 a night. A minute farther on, the W New York - Times Square at 1567 Broadway (748 meters) includes $40. The New York Marriott Marquis, 1535 Broadway, is 11 minutes out (855 meters), with $45 a night in the rate and "ALMOST SOLD OUT" on the screen on all three nights. None of the three lists its fee on its overview page.
1 Hotel Central Park, 1414 6th Avenue, is 12 minutes away (881 meters). Its own booking page had rates for 2, 24 and 25 December. Every rate shown included the $49 amenity fee (per room, per night, plus tax), which the hotel collects at check-in.
The farthest of the 13 is Pod 51, 230 East 51st Street, 13 minutes on foot (975 meters). Its booking page offered 14 options you could book for each date. The facility fee is $29.84 a night with tax included, and the booking screen doesn't break it out.
The Plaza
The Plaza, 768 Fifth Avenue, is 12 minutes from the tree (899 meters). Its site hands you to Fairmont's booking page, which answered "We apologize, there is no availability for your search." for 2 December and 24 December. It gave the same answer for 9 December and 13 January 2027, two dates we tried only as a check, so it refused every December and January night we asked for. That says nothing about Christmas. The same page sold 11 November and showed the Urban Experience Fee on its own line. The Plaza's own site puts that fee at $65 a night plus tax, subject to change. Call the hotel.
If you want lighting night
Ten of the 13 hotels sold 2 December as a single night, and the nearest of them is the Omni, 6 minutes from the tree. At the Barclay, search for Wednesday and Thursday together. IHG's search list showed a rate for 2 to 4 December, and for 1 to 4 December as well. We don't know how many nights the Lotte wants.
The fees
Eleven of the 13 charge a fee. The Waldorf and citizenM publish none. The smallest is Pod 51's $29.84 a night, tax included, and the largest is the Plaza's $65 plus tax. Most of these screens fold the fee into the price they show. The Plaza's puts it on a separate line, and the Hilton Midtown's says its price leaves out taxes, so check what a price includes before you compare two hotels. The city's hotel tax is covered in NYC hotel tax and destination fees.
What isn't posted yet
Rockefeller Center's holiday page says the "Tree returns to the Plaza on November 7", meaning the plaza at Rockefeller Center, not the hotel. Past the lighting date, it says "Check back for more details as the season gets closer." On 26 October it had posted no crowd or viewing plan for 2026. Last season's tree came down on Saturday 10 January, and this season's take-down date isn't up. New Year's Eve has its own guide, Times Square Hotels on New Year's Eve.
