Brooklyn's Coolest Hotels And Hottest Hangouts

(CNN) -- Never mind the image of the stereotypical hipster with a waxed handlebar mustache riding a vintage fixed-gear bicycle in Brooklyn.

While they still exist at the Mast Brothers chocolate factory at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, what's currently popping up alongside this New York borough's artisanal cocktail lounges and trendy restaurants is a new generation of hotels.

Catering to travelers from overseas, around the United States or just over the river in Manhattan, these high-design enclaves put guests right in the middle of the laid-back, artsy Brooklyn vibe.

In fact, Brooklyn has become so entrenched in mainstream culture that producers for "The Bachelor" booked Monday's rose ceremony atop the luxe William Vale hotel in the neighborhood of Williamsburg.

It's a far cry from the area's manufacturing history, but the past is still front and center via original buildings; reclaimed wood, bricks and other material; and subtle design touches that evoke the borough's centuries-old trade and manufacturing industry.

Here are six of our favorite brand-new hotels and a couple of members of the old guard doing new things. All six serve upscale craft cocktails on property and feature city views that are better than any postcard.

McCarren Hotel & Pool

The original gangster of the nouveau Brooklyn hotel scene, the relatively petite 5-year-old McCarren Hotel & Pool has changed with the times and begun adulting with the rest of the neighborhood.

The 64-room hotel recently introduced a Babies Who Brunch menu on Sundays, replete with a playroom, foam mats and Disney or Pixar movies for the kids and unlimited drinks for the adults.

The upscale but spare midcentury design in the lobby trickles up to the rooms, all outfitted with Eames-style shell rocking chairs, furry throw pillows and Frette linens on the beds. (Coffee-loving travelers dig the Nespresso machines in every suite.) The hotel's scene-y see-and-be-seen outdoor pool, framed by a bold, splashy mural by street artist LovebErto, is practically made for Instagram.

Hilton Brooklyn

The Hilton Brooklyn, which opened this past November in rapidly gentrifying Boerum Hill, takes its building's 1800s rope factory heritage very seriously: The carpeting in the hallways features a giant rope motif, the rooms' custom-made charcoal-sketch toile wallpaper depicts shipbuilding scenes, and the print of the navy-blue-and-white carpet in the rooms subtly recalls interlocking ropes. Vintage maps of Brooklyn dot the hallways and are incorporated into metalwork in the lobby of the 196-room "boutique-style" hotel.

Corporate travelers who are used to Hilton's usual perks will be happy to see there's an executive lounge and opportunities to earn rewards points, plus nice touches like Peter Thomas Roth toiletries and bowls of free fruit in the lobby.

(Other budget-friendly hotel options close by include the wellness-focused EVEN Hotel, from $199, which has workout equipment in each room and houses the basketball teams that play against the Brooklyn Nets, and the Holiday Inn, also from $199, whose French Korean restaurant, Brasserie Séoul, with its metal café chairs and Edison light bulbs, looks as though it was lifted right out of Williamsburg.)

The Williamsburg Hotel

A towering Jenga-like structure built with reclaimed bricks, the Williamsburg Hotel is in the middle of a rolling opening, but two of five floors of rooms are available to book right now. Delightfully noticeable is the hotel's signature scent (think expensive fresh laundry), designed by Brooklyn-based company Apotheke, which also makes the hotel's toiletries.

The rooms strike a delicate balance between opulent and homey, with gold fixtures in the bathrooms, quilted leather headboards, gilded dark-wood wardrobes, velvet couches and bright knit blankets at the foot of the beds. Eventually, egg-shaped chairs will hang from the rooms' balconies, ideal for taking in Manhattan views, or the perfect selfie. The hotel rolls out the red carpet for pets, providing each fluffball with a cushioned bed, a chew toy shaped like a trophy and stainless-steel food and water dishes.

The William Vale

Positioning itself as a brand-spanking new, resort-inspired hotel rather than an homage to Williamsburg's past, the monstrous 22-story, 183-room William Vale has eschewed design hallmarks like reclaimed wood and old-timey signage that scream "Brooklyn!" Instead, guests get art installations in the lobby and in the elevators, ultra-modern furniture and sweeping views of both Manhattan and Brooklyn through towering panes of glass. Oh, and "The Bachelor." Every room has a balcony.

Up top, the hotel's sprawling nightclubby cocktail bar, Westlight, hosts both locals and guests looking to take in the views and try original cocktails with names like the College Fund, made with three kinds of rum, tiki bitters, cream and root beer. Fun fact: The hotel is also home to retail space.

One newly announced tenant is Dylan Sprouse -- yes, of "The Suite Life with Zack & Cody" fame, who is now a master brewer. His mead-focused brewery, All-Wise Meadery, will churn out pints and bottles this summer.

Wythe Hotel

Retrofitted into a former cooperage that was built in 1901, the Wythe Hotel has been doing its vintage-meets-modern thing since 2012. It still retains the building's original pine beams and factory windows but infuses the space with of-the-moment accoutrements, including framed modern art in the lobby and eco-friendly toiletries by local purveyor Goldie's. The hotel's 70 rooms carry the same industrial but homey vibe, with radiant-heat concrete flooring, beds made from reclaimed ceiling timbers, and picture-perfect views of Manhattan in premium rooms.

1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge

A sage blessing ceremony kicked off the opening of the five-star 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge in mid-February as the first guests checked in to the massive warehouse-like space in Dumbo, right by the Brooklyn Bridge.

The 10-story nature-focused hotel has plenty of nods to the location's manufacturing heritage, the sea, and the bridge itself everywhere on the property. It includes the slim metal rods of the entrance's grand staircase, intended as an ode to the bridge; an art installation in the lobby featuring 6,000 pounds of rope-bound obsidian rocks; and the elevator, whose rough wooden planks are meant to evoke a shipping container.

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