HotelChatter

The Distrikt is on the south side of 40th Street—and on the north side? Port Authority Bus Terminal. Hmm, nothing says "big city" like the smell of bus exhaust.

The area around Port Authority is one of the few in Manhattan that still shows remnants of the past, in the form of dingy delis, erotic DVD stores, and pawn shops. But since The Distrikt is all about celebrating different ’hoods, guests should probably embrace the difference.

Apart from the bus terminal, The Distrikt’s neighbors include a Chase bank, a Payless Shoes, a Lucille Roberts gym, a liquor store, a "discount DVD" store that also sells "toys," a parking station, a cheap Chinese restaurant, and a pizza joint on the corner of 9th Avenue that sells slices for a dollar.

If you left any toiletries at home or had them confiscated at the TSA checkpoint, there’s a Duane Reade pharmacy on 40th and 8th Avenue. For fun, you and your friends can hit up the bowling alley inside Port Authority. Guests looking for more salubrious surroundings can skip over to The New York Times building for a coffee at Dean and Deluca, and shopping at Muji.

Whether you think this location sounds odd, gross, exciting, or cool, don’t give The Distrikt all the credit—they weren’t the first hotel on the block. The Distrikt joins the Tri-Pack Hotel that we’ve been watching which includes Four Points by Sheraton (326 W 40th), the Fairfield Inn (330 W 40th), and The Staybridge Suites (340 W 40th). The Four Points and Fairfield Inn are already open, and the Staybridge Suites is set to open in January 2010.

A peek through the scaffolding this morning revealed a large open concrete space that could be a lobby but was far from completion. But was it for the Staybridge or The Distrikt? (It was hard to tell with all the construction going on at both addresses.) Could this be The Distrikt’s 12-foot “Central Park” living wall? Hopefully we'll find out soon: The Distrikt is taking bookings from October 28 (from $275 a night for a Queen).