TriBeCa — Triangle Below Canal — sits between SoHo to the north, the Financial District to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. It's Manhattan's most expensive residential neighborhood by average square footage, and the hotels here reflect that: small in number, high in quality, and catering to a clientele that prefers discretion over flash.
The neighborhood's character comes from its history as a 19th-century industrial and warehouse district. The massive cast-iron and brick loft buildings on streets like Duane, Franklin, and White were converted into residential co-ops starting in the 1970s, when artists priced out of SoHo began arriving. The artists were eventually followed by finance families and celebrities — TriBeCa today is home to more Oscar winners per block than anywhere outside of Beverly Hills, and the school-run on Chambers Street on weekday mornings has the unmistakable texture of wealth doing its best impression of normalcy.
For visitors, TriBeCa offers a combination of excellent dining (Robert De Niro's Nobu and Locanda Verde are neighborhood institutions, and the blocks around Hudson and Franklin have developed a serious restaurant scene), proximity to both SoHo and the Financial District, and the Hudson River Park waterfront just minutes from any hotel front door. The neighborhood also connects directly to the 9/11 Memorial and Brooklyn Bridge via a 15-minute walk.
The TriBeCa Film Festival (held each spring) transforms the neighborhood for two weeks every April — book months in advance if you're visiting during festival time, but also understand that this is when TriBeCa is at its most animated and interesting.