Heralded as America’s “first micro hotel with four-star design”,
Arlo Hotels brings a fashion-forward approach
to their two properties located in the stylish neighbourhoods of
SoHo and NoMad. Thanks to their wild popularity, a third outpost,
the Arlo Midtown, is slated to open in 2019. The brand’s
thoughtfully designed rooms measure an average of 150 square feet,
but even its smallest spaces come with smart amenities like
hand-held clothing steamers and sleek walnut furnishings. The hotel
prides itself on its lively public spaces, which put an emphasis on
community programming – think
sustainable pop-up shops, wellness workshops, Cozy AF Knitting
Classes and Really Sexy Variety Parties…

Since opening in January 2018 in the Flatiron district, Freehand New York has attracted a cool-kid
following for its imaginative design evocative of European-style
hostels.
This is the second Manhattan property by Sydell Group, which is
best known for the
The Line Hotel in Los Angeles and the NoMad Hotel just a few
blocks away. The Freehand lives up to its hype with 395 highly
functional Roman and Williams-designed guest rooms (including the
250-square-foot “Three’s Company” room featuring a twin-sized bed
lofted over a queen bed). Spaces are accented with artwork by MFA
students from Bard College, which the hotel partnered with for its
artist-in-residence program – a perfect homage to the building’s
history as a hotel for famous writers, artists and musicians.

There’s a reason that Moxy Hotel’s Magic Hour Rooftop Bar &
Lounge is one of the best places to play in Manhattan. The cheeky
hotel chain, which made its NYC debut in September 2017 with the
opening of the 612-room Moxy NYC Times Square, is designed to
appeal to the young-at-heart. Its Yabu Pushelburg-designed quarters
are petite (ranging between 150-350 square feet) but have all the
bells and whistles including ultra-comfy beds, luxurious rain
showers and “flexible furniture” that can be stowed away when not
in use. Its expansive public spaces include New York City’s largest
all-season hotel rooftop bar and lounge, which hosts events ranging
from dance parties to yoga classes. With two new properties opening
in Manhattan – Moxy NYC Downtown and Moxy NYC Chelsea – modern
travellers will have more sophisticated play spaces to choose from
this year.

With four properties in New York City, Pod Hotels has challenged the status quo of
tiny living in the Big Apple. Their newest Manhattan location, Pod
Times Square, opened its doors in January 2018 to unveil 665 guest
rooms (each measuring 115 square feet) as well as its
tropical-inspired rooftop tiki bar, The Polynesian. Its other New
York locations (Pod 51, Pod 39 and Pod BK) follow the same design
philosophy, offering budget-friendly, socially connected and
tech-savvy amenities. This past summer, the brand launched its Pod
Pads, a collection of 45 extended stay suites that give travellers
and digital nomads a chance to enjoy an ethos of “timeliness,
cleanliness and simplicity” for a little bit longer.

Since opening its first hotel in Amsterdam,
citizenM has been on a mission to bring its
version of the futuristic micro-hotel to cities around the world.
Naturally, its first New York location in Times Square has become a
buzzy spot for tech lovers. Each of its pod-style rooms come
equipped with Samsung tablets that control everything from the
lighting to the music, while public spaces are equipped for
business travellers. The brand’s newest location, the citizenM New
York Bowery Hotel, is set to open in September 2018 and has already
nabbed the title of the world’s tallest modular hotel. The
20-storey building features 300 rooms that were all pre-assembled
in Poland, a rooftop bar with sweeping views and several
collaborations with local artists that give the property a
distinctly Lower East Side vibe.