Sunday, 2 May 2010

HOW SMALL IS TOO SMALL?

How small are Manhattan hotel rooms?  The New York Times just had a feature in the travel section on the "chic" new boutique hotels with rooms ranging from 50 to 136 square feet.  Yes, travelers in New York City actually stay in rooms as small as 7 feet wide by 7 feet long.  Europeans, that is less than 5 square meters.


Picture a hotel room that it is almost exactly the size of a king-size bed -- if the bed were the entire room, without any clearance to move around.  I'm guessing these rooms have shared bathrooms in the hall.  Either that, or the toilet is mounted half-way up the wall and the "shower" is a plastic container of wet wipes.


One quote from the article really stood out for me:

�It�s like having a virtual Manhattan apartment,� said Peter Griesar, 41, a regular guest, noting that the rough cost of a month�s stay � $2,670 � was not a bad deal for a West Village address. �The price is right, the neighborhood�s great, and who spends time in a hotel room in New York anyway?�

Accommodations that are no bigger than a bed are not like having a Manhattan apartment.  They are like sleeping in a closet in a Manhattan apartment.


I have been feeling a bit inadequate because I am about to start swapping a small 1-bedroom home after 10 years of offering a spacious 3-bedroom place instead.   Despite describing the place as "small and basic" in the headline of my swap listing, offers have been pouring in.


I have been very up-front with everyone who has contacted me for a swap that the apartment is tiny.  One possible exchange partner expressed the general response to my negativity as follows:  "Is it bigger than a hotel room?"


Yes, I can honestly say it is bigger than about four hotel rooms, judging from the current standard noted in the NY Times.  The only hotel rooms in Manhattan that even compare are the sort described as "Presidential Suites".  I think swapping this place may be easier than I expected.


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