The New York branch [2] of the Ace Hotel [3] just opened yesterday, and it's a great corrective to the bloated, blinged-out interiors we've come to expect from boutique hotels. Rooms begin at a very reasonable rate for New York--$199 a night--especially given the prime location, at 29th and Broadway.

The burgeoning Ace Hotel chain has been lauded in the design press [4] for its hotels in Portland, Seattle, and Palm Springs. It exemplifies a design approach that has become quite hip among a new breed of hoteliers, such as the Story Hotel in Stockholm [5], which favors antiques and an at-home feel over the glamor exemplified by Philippe Stark and Marcel Wanders. Thus, the rooms in New York--designed by Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch, principals of New York-based design firm Roman and Williams--feel like a very stylish friend's apartment, rather than a hotel room. Notcot was privileged with a room [6] for the New York soft launch, and brought back images of the brand new rooms and the well-designed hotel collateral:

Check out more images [6] at Notcot.

Related Stories:
Marcel Wanders Designs Miami's Mondrian [7]
Morgan's New Hotel Site: Are you Cool Enough to Book a Room? [8]
Has Philippe Starck Jumped the Shark With His Home Gym Office? [9]
The Jet Blue of Hotels [10]