Hotel 41 At Times Square Rating: 3.0 Pearls

Times Square, Manhattan, New York City

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The Hotel 41 is smack in the middle of Times Square and the theater district; marquees line the block. Though once seedy, Times Square was reborn in the mid-'90s as a commercialized tourist haven, lit by 24-hour flashing billboards and theme restaurants like ESPN Zone and Bubba Gump Shrimp. Today, visitors walking the streets are more likely to be accosted by a comedy-club promoter, a rickshaw bicycle operator, or a caricature artist than a mugger. It's crowded, but there's something unquestionably exhilarating -- and convenient -- about staying in the neon-lit heart of the city. Plus, the mayor recently decided to close off much of Broadway to traffic, making it more pedestrian-friendly.

• One block from the 1, 2, 3, 7, N, Q, R, S, W subway lines; two blocks from the A, C, E, B, D, F, and V subway lines
• 15-minute subway ride to Central Park
• Two-minute walk to Times Square
• 15-minute walk to the Empire State Building
• 30-minute subway ride to the ferry terminal to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
• 20-minute subway ride or walk to Rockefeller Center
• 20-minute subway ride to the American Museum of Natural History
• 30-minute subway ride to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the "Met") and 15-minute subway ride or walk to the Museum of Modern Art (the "MoMA")

• Both the standard and the Superior rooms are very small -- just 100 and 135 square feet. That about half the size of a typical guest room in New York and about on-par with a room at the YMCA.
• King Deluxe rooms are 200 square feet -- about average for New York, but still small -- and have a separate living space with a mini-fridge and couch, but the couch faces a blank wall.
• The Queen Junior Penthouse, at 350 square feet, isn't much of a "Penthouse" -- it's about the same size as a standard room at the Hilton Times Square -- but it, along with the King Penthouse, has a private wooden deck overlooking the street.
• Small, 27-inch flat-screen TV
• DVD player; free DVDs to borrow in the lobby
• Free Wi-Fi in all rooms
• Electronic safe, big enough for a laptop
• Some rooms have skylights
• Tiny bathrooms; standing shower, no tub
• Aveda bath products
• Bathrobes in every room
• No smoking rooms

New York has three nearby airports: JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark (in New Jersey). Getting to town from JFK or LaGuardia is usually more convenient than getting there from Newark, but travel times are heavily dependent on the time of day and traffic conditions. From JFK, a taxi to anywhere in Manhattan costs a flat rate of $45 and takes around an hour in average conditions. From LaGuardia, a metered cab ride to midtown Manhattan costs about $40 and can take 30 minutes if traffic is light, three times that if it's bad. Rides from Newark cost at least $40 (plus tolls) and can take more than 90 minutes. It's customary to tip your driver 15 to 25 percent.

Those looking to save some cash can use the privately run shuttle buses that are available at all three airports for about $14 per person. For more information on the shuttles, go to Super Shuttle or New York Airport Service. Public transit is also available for as little as $7 per person, but travel can take up to two hours and involve a lot of lugging bags up and down stairways.

For mass-transit directions right to the hotel, check out HopStop.com.