There are no hotels on Pier 17, and that's fine
Pier 17 is a building full of restaurants, shops and a concert venue on the roof. It has no rooms. So every search for a hotel near Pier 17 is really a question about which Financial District block you want to walk back to, and the good news is that the pier is walkable from almost all of them.
We're at 17 John Street. From our door you head east on John Street toward the water, then a couple of blocks north along the waterfront, and you're at the pier in roughly ten minutes on foot. That's the whole journey. No subway, no car, no figuring out a route home at midnight.
What's actually at the pier
The Rooftop at Pier 17 is the reason most people book a stay near here. It's an open-air concert venue on top of the building, with the Brooklyn Bridge and the East River behind the stage, and it runs a season of shows through the warmer months. Book the room after you have the concert tickets, not before, because the shows sell out first and the dates move.
The restaurants inside Pier 17 are a mix of sit-down rooms and quicker counters across the building's floors. It's the Seaport's food anchor rather than a place locals treat as a neighbourhood spot, and prices reflect the view. Our honest take: eat here if you're already at a show or want the water in front of you, and eat on Stone Street if you want the better version of dinner at a lower number.
The Greens, the rooftop bar and lawn setup at the top of the pier, runs seasonally alongside the concert calendar. Check what's open before you walk over in January; the rooftop side of this building is a summer proposition, and the pier in winter is a much quieter thing.
Why stay a few blocks inland instead of on the water
The cobbled blocks right at the Seaport are lovely and they are also where everyone goes on a Saturday. Staying five or six streets back gets you a quieter evening and costs you a walk of a few minutes, which is a trade we'd take every time.
It also puts you nearer the subway. Fulton Street station is about three minutes from us and carries a lot of lines, so getting to Midtown or Brooklyn is straightforward. The blocks closest to the water are further from that station, which you notice on a rainy morning.
What our apartments give you that a room near the pier usually doesn't
Every apartment we have comes with a fully equipped kitchen, studios through to a three-bedroom that sleeps eight. If you're here for a concert weekend that matters less; if you're here for a week with family, being able to make breakfast before anyone has to negotiate a restaurant is worth real money.
A few other practical things. Some suites have a washer and dryer in the unit and you can filter for those when you book. If yours doesn't, our laundry room is free and we put the detergent pods out. We book per suite rather than per person, so the rate doesn't climb with the size of your party. There's a front desk staffed 24 hours, which is the part you'll care about when a show ends late. Downstairs there's a gym and a guest lounge with coffee, and there's a rooftop terrace of our own, which is a nice place to end an evening if you didn't feel like walking back out.
We don't do breakfast. Coffee in the lounge, and a kitchen upstairs.
Getting to the pier, and everywhere else, from here
East on John Street to the water for Pier 17 and the Seaport. West, about the same distance, for the 9/11 Memorial and One World Trade Center. South for Wall Street and the Stock Exchange. The Brooklyn Bridge pedestrian entrance is a short walk north of us, which makes a morning crossing to DUMBO an easy thing to do before the day heats up.
Weekends down here are quiet. The offices empty out on Friday and the streets stay calm until Monday, apart from the Seaport itself, which is the one part of the neighbourhood that gets busier at the weekend rather than emptier. Staying inland means you can choose which of those two versions of the neighbourhood you're in at any given hour.
If you're coming for a show
Buy the tickets first. Then book somewhere you can walk home from, because the alternative at 11pm on a summer Saturday is a queue for a car in a crowd of a few thousand people who all want the same thing. Ten minutes on foot up John Street beats all of it.