HotelChatter

The Lobby
Alright, listen, we ain't gonna play: the lobby is teensy. It's, like, a sliver of a lobby. It's got a Miami-meets-NYC-vibe goin' on, with bright red walls, tons of sunlight (thanks to floor-to-ceiling glass walls on two sides), stark white floors and some sparkly rectangular Fontainebleau-esque chandeliers.

Yes, those balloons you see in the photos were really there; they were covering the floor of what will eventually be the lobby bar/lounge/possibly restaurant space — but they don't have an operator for that yet, so those balloons might be hangin' out there for a while.

Worth noting: in the back of the lobby, there is a complimentary Artisinal breakfast spread laid out every morning. We didn't see the food itself, but we did see a snapshot of it — cheesy and carby and everything we'd want in an indulgent free hotel breakfast.

The Rooms
Hmm, the rooms. Frankly, they remind us of our cool artsy NYU friend's dorm room — except this particular friend spends all her time in the art studio, so she doesn't do too much fun stuff to her own place. The floors are hardwood (which lends an NYC apartment feel to the spaces), but there is something very...stale about them. Funky art and pops of color are the only bits of excitement about the rooms; the rest is kinda meh. And the in-window A/C unit reminds us of our own lame-o NYC digs.

Truthfully, the rooms seemed like nothing special to us. Nothing really stood out; all the standard amenities were there, the decor was nice and they certainly did a kickass job of renovating the spaces (everything looks and smells brand spankin' new), but they lacked pizazz and personality.

Big showers, though! And nice flatscreen TV's. Cool art. Can you tell we were kinda unenthused?

Other Stuff
We can't believe we'e saying this, but the coolest parts of the hotel are those murals we saw in the staircases that we sort of poked fun at before. They lend that little bit of quirkiness and character that the rooms seemed to lack.

Also: the staffers seemed to have a great attitude and were truly excited about the hotel; we watched a guest check in and the two front desk agents helping out were friendly, articulate and seemed genuinely jazzed about the place, which is, sadly, something that's pretty hard to come by 'round the NYC hotel scene these days.

Bottom Line
We weren't blown away, but we'd suggest it to someone looking to stay in the area wanting a bare-bones, clean, spankin' new room — so long as rates stay down in the under-$200 range, which we suspect they won't.

Opening rates for the MAve start at $169.00.