What the Upper East Side offers
The Upper East Side (UES) is Manhattan's most consistently expensive residential district, and hotels here tend to reflect that — the neighbourhood skews older, quieter, and more formal than its Upper West Side counterpart. What you get in exchange is immediate access to Museum Mile: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, the Neue Galerie, the Cooper Hewitt, the Museum of the City of New York, and El Museo del Barrio are all within a short walk of each other along Fifth Avenue and its side streets.
Where specifically to look
The most convenient UES hotels sit between the 60s and 80s streets, close to the 4/5/6 subway lines running down Lexington Avenue. Hotels further east (toward Second and Third Avenues) are generally less expensive and still walkable to the museums and Central Park.
Who it suits
Visitors whose itinerary is museum-heavy and who want a quieter residential feel over a central tourist zone. Families doing multiple museum days. Visitors who've done a Midtown-based trip before and want a different base.