HotelChatter

Hotel: The Ace might be too grungy for the New York Times but the lobby is a perfect place for Digital Nomads like ourselves.

Location Layout: The high-ceilinged lobby was made for working on your laptops, catching up with friends, vegging out with your Stumptown coffee and a copy of the NY Post or having small meetings with co-workers. And all of the above were happening during our visit. We're not even sure any hotel guests were hanging out there. It seemed like all New Yorkers.

Outlets: The long tables, where we sat, have outlets built into them.

Furniture: The long tables have simple, straight-backed chairs but there are armchairs and couches for you to lounge on. And while this doesn't quite fit under the "furniture" category, we have to give a shout-out to the spacious and clean bathrooms.

Digital Nomad Tolerance: Very high, however, we were surfing the web courtesy of our Verizon Wireless USB internet card. We did not test the Ace Hotel's internet access which is supposedly free with a WiFi code.

Phone Calls: Reception is loud and clear. But everyone we saw was either emailing or texting away.

Overall Mood: This felt like working from your neighborhood coffee shop, only with cooler decor, accessible outlets, nicer furniture, tables free of coffee cake crumbs and the only sound you hear is from people talking, not from baristas making lattes.

Digital Nomad Grade: A. We could have worked from here all day. The only issue is that we got a strange allergic reaction on our ear and had to hightail it to the Duane Reade three blocks away. Could that allergic reaction come from the odd-looking bug that was flying about? (It was like a cross between a moth and a mosquito.) Possibly, but we can't say for sure. We just hope that digital nomads will still be able to work from here after the hotel's much anticipated restaurant, The Breslin, opens (which will be adjacent to the lobby.)