Considering its history as a haunt of well-known writers and actors, this 1902 hotel is surprisingly unpretentious. Its most famous association is with the Algonquin Round Table, a witty group of literary Manhattanites who gathered in its lobby and dining rooms in the 1920s -- a clique that included short-story writer and critic Dorothy Parker, humorist Robert Benchley, playwright George S. Kaufman, journalist and critic Alexander Woolcott, and actress Tallulah Bankhead. One reason they met here was the hotel's proximity to the former offices of the New Yorker magazine at 28 West 44th Street (the magazine now resides in the Condé Nast tower on Times Square). Come here for a drink at the cozy bar, dinner and cabaret performances in the intimate Oak Room, or just stroll through the muraled lobby. Subway: B, D, F, V at 42nd St.