How small is too small for a hotel room?
 

One of the hotels (Dream) I am looking at for an upcoming trip to NYC is 160-175 square feet which scares me. I was trying to do a NYC boutique/non chainy hotel (I love them, husband does not). I have been unable to find out what the size of the medium rooms are. Could we move and breath in such a size room ;-)

I have heard that the botique hotels, especially in New York, can be very small. I've talked to a few people who have stayed in such botique hotels and said, while nice, the rooms were just way too small.

Most cruise ship cabins are 150-200 sq feet so that may give you a frame of reference. It's certainly not large.

IMHO, a tiny hotel room feels MUCH smaller with two people rather than one, perhaps because of tripping over each other and noplace to put twice as much stuff. The best way to find out the size of the rooms is to call the hotels themselves. But I suspect there's a reason they don't put it on the web site!

If you search these boards, you can dig up plenty of discussions about non-chainy NYC hotels. Or scan the reviews at a site like tripadvisor.com.

This may help you: a typical "motel" room with two double beds is about 280 square feet, including the bathroom. You are talking about a room of about half that size, including the bathroom. That is very small.

For two people, you need at least 200 square feet, and even that is pushing it if you stay if more than a night or two, IMO. 250 and up is a good size.

The room you describe is the equivalent of 13 feet by 13 feet. Do you have any rooms at home this size to compare it to?

Does this include the bathroom area or do they just quote the living area? I don't know what the practice is for quoting hotel room sizes.

When ya break the window putting the key in the door, it's a little too small. :-)

The biggest problem is where to put your luggage. There is nothing more irritating than having to jump over your baggage just to get to the bathroom or the door of your room.

I stayed in a room at the Broadway Inn in NYC that was so small it could have been a closet. I am guessing it was about 100 sq feet. I was alone so it was OK, could not imagine being in that room with another person. It was smaller than a cruise ship cabin. BUT, I loved the location of this cute hotel.

150 is the size of a small ship cabin in which 2 single beds just fit. 200 is the size of my garage.

How many nights are you planning? That may make a difference. ((C))

I guess that's what happens when you stay in some of those "non-chainy" broom closets posing as hotel rooms. Console yourself knowing you paid a lot of money to be taken advantage of.

If you would like a room a bit larger, try the Grand Union Hotel just off Madison Ave in the 30's. I was there recently and checked out the rooms, they are a very nice size, pretty bathrooms and the entire hotel was recently rennovated. I think the room is $125 per night. They also have suites that are a bit more.

Have a great time while you are here.

I am not a NYC hotel expert, but I would recommend the Michelangelo (which is in midtown) as a non-chain, small hotel with large rooms and bathrooms. Personally, I find that after the hustle and bustle of a day in Manhattan, I like having a larger room in which to decompress--personal space is at a premium in NYC! But the Michelangelo isn't "hip"--it has an Old World Italian style. You can look up its website...good luck!

So I just spoke with the people at Dream and here is what they told me (size does not include the bathroom):

Small room with double bed 160-180 sf
Medium room with queen bed 180-200 sf
Large room with king bed or 2 doubles 220-240 sf
Suite 1 King 260 and up

So these rooms are tiny. Yikes!

Yikes, indeed! For me, at those prices, that's way too small, I don't care how sweet the decor is! Dave makes a good suggestion: pick a room in your house, measure it, and see how it compares to the hotel rooms you're considering; picture yourself and your suitcase(s) in it. If you experience shortness of breath, it's too small!! ;-)

Makes the Venetian in Las Vegas seem positively palatial, doesn't it? Standard rooms are 750 sq ft (and in low season can be had for $89/night---no sense of being taken advantage of in that setting).

"Boutique" doesn't mean small rooms. Check out the Avalon, near the Empire State Building (32nd St). A classy boutique hotel. The "junior suites" are in the 450 sq ft range, and we paid $200 a night... buffet breakfast included.