Walker Hotel Tribeca

"Why did this hotel catch your attention? What's the vibe? The main entrance is on the street level, while the check-in desk is downstairs. Entering this way, while requiring a walk down the stairs with a suitcase to check in, is actually quite welcoming. The street level floor is lovely! Sprawling, high ceilings, huge windows, lots of nooks for sitting and tables for working. When I showed up around 8 p.m. and entered into the main lobby/street level, I walked into a really cozy scene. There was music playing, young, hip people on sofas and chatting (granted, it was fashion week, but the low price, good design, and the location in Tribeca pretty much guarantee it will always be filled with young creatives), great low-level lighting, and the sweetest little bar where I ordered a glass of wine and a slice of almond cake (obviously more important than checking in or dropping my luggage in my room). What's the backstory? It's a pretty low-pro hotel group made up of this property and a sister Walker in Greenwich Village. While both pride themselves on great design and excellent downtown locations, the Greenwich property is a bit more traditional luxury, while the Tribeca property is more about value—very small but impeccably designed rooms at a crazy price point for the city. Tell us all about the accommodations. Any tips on what to book? I stayed in a Cortland Corner King room, one of the more spacious of the room types yet still only 190 square feet. At first, I was sure it would be tight...but it didn't end up feeling that way at all. While many small space hotel of the micro or pod variety feel super stripped down and totally unwelcoming—swapping out any fun or soft goods for modular, easy to clean furniture—this hotel takes a different tack. Yes, rooms are small, but the furniture and layout maximizes space in smart not spartan ways. My king bed (very comfortable, crisp white linens) was pushed into a corner nook to take advantage of floor space, but there were windows on both walls so it actually felt like a little aerie from which to look out on the city. (My partner had to crawl over me to go to the bathroom, but whatever). The shower/toilet is separated from the main room by a sliding barn door. The space is small, but a full-glassed-in shower stall helps it from feeling claustrophobic. The closet and sink/vanity area are actually in the main room, which surprised me at first, but, it's so much more pleasant to put on makeup and blow dry your hair in a larger space not steamed up from a shower and with natural light. There are nice decor touches—beautiful herringbone blond wood floors, shelves above the bed filled with objet and art books, a tufted leather club chair. Is there a charge for Wi-Fi? No charge. Wi-fi is free, good, and easy to access. Drinking and dining—what are we looking at? When I was there, the majority of the F&B was not yet up and running, but the bar in the lobby that serves coffee and pastries in the morning and cocktails and dessert in the evenings was open. There is also a Blue Bottle Coffee on the street level that sort of opens into the lobby. There's also a sub-cellar cocktail bar, Saint Tuesday, which offers live music after 10:30 p.m., and Happy Be, a rooftop bar overlooking Manhattan's skyline, as well as a veg-forward, beautifully designed sit-down restaurant. And the service? Super smooth. Casual but professional and really willing to go beyond (I wanted a late night bite and the staff member who was working the desk came up with like 30 nearby options). Check in and out was a breeze. What type of travelers will you find here? Young, hip, most likely doing something creative and probably in town for work. Again, I was there during fashion week, so the beautiful people quotient was high, but there were lots of hip late 20-to-40-somethings. There was a designer being interviewed in the lobby when I came down one morning. There were casual business meetings going on over cups of coffee. Guests didn't feel like tourists. They felt like they were in town for a purpose and totally comfortable moving around NYC and using the hotel as home base. What about the neighborhood? Does the hotel fit in, make itself part of the scene? The location is great—a block south of Canal and just off of Broadway—which means that you can walk to Soho, the financial district, the West Village...just about any neighborhood downtown, plus you're by the Canal subway stops so you can get uptown and to Brooklyn easily. Several high profile Chelsea galleries have relocated to this block in Tribeca, so you can literally exit the hotel and swing by Bortolami, Alexander and Bonin, and James Cohan galleries. It boils down to an incredibly central (for the downtown crew) location. Is there anything you'd change? I'm not sure if I was unlucky in terms of middle of the night construction...but it was really loud. I wish they had thicker windows, or they need to provide earplugs. Any other hotel features worth noting? There's a nice gym. Once the rooftop bar opens, I think that will be a really great addition to the hotel and the neighborhood. Bottom line: Worth it? Why? The rooms are small, but most NYC hotel rooms are pretty petite, and if you're spending copious amounts of time in your hotel room when in NYC, well, it's probably not the city for you. The price is great and you aren't sacrificing anything design-wise or with the public spaces." - Rebecca Misner