Hotel Mela — Hotel Review Rating: 3.5 Pearls

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Oyster Hotel Review

Reporter: Corina Z.
Updated: December 7, 2009

 Scene

The same folks behind a wave of midrange boutique hotels in South Beach (the Sagamore, the Strand, the Wave) bring their brand of Miami chic to Times Square with Hotel Mela. The two-year-old, 228-room hotel is the small, lower-priced alternative to the Times Square mega-hotels like the 863-room Westin or the 1,900-room Marriott Marquis.

It doesn't have a bar, unlike the nearby W Times Square or Dream hotels, but the Mela still tries to create a fun, nightclub-like atmosphere. The lobby is lit with hot pink lights, and the elevator with yellow. Techno music plays constantly in both spaces -- although it's never loud enough to be annoying. The staff are pretty casual and down to earth, unlike at the W Times Square, where the doormen treat the lobby like an exclusive lounge.

The hotel management claims that the aesthetic here centers more around "Italian contemporary sophistication." I can't vouch for that -- the lobby pillows from New York designer Jonathan Adler, needlepointed with the seven deadly sins and Liza Minnelli's mug, understandably stand out in my memory more than anything else, and don't seem particularly Italian. The hotel does seem to have much appeal to Italian tourists, however -- and Spanish tourists, and British tourists. "Mela," after all, means apple in Italian.

 Service

Overall, service was helpful and friendly but a bit slow on the uptake here and there. Room service arrived promptly in the morning, but my extra towels took an hour to arrive, and only after I put in a second call. Check-in was quick, but I wasn't offered the 20 percent discount at the hotel restaurant, Saju.

The concierge proved savvy. To test him, I asked him about places to take my friend and her two daughters. He suggested a good mix of the nearby (the Times Square Dave and Buster's) and the off-the-beaten-path (the space-themed restaurant Mars 2112). I tried to get last-minute tickets through him for the Broadway musicalsWicked or West Side Story. He said he could get Wicked but explained that the hotel goes through brokers: These tickets cost more than they would through the TKTS discount-ticket booth but offer better seats. Extra pull comes at a price, it seems.

What I was particularly pleased with was the wake-up call. A real voice called me in the morning and asked me if I wanted a follow-up. It was nice to offer the option, and at 7 a.m. I took her up on it.

 Location

Located on the (relatively) quiet 44th Street, between Broadway and Sixth Avenue, Hotel Mela is close to the action but not so close that guests can't get a decent night's rest. The hotel actually feels like a passageway between tourist-focused Times Square and the businessman's Midtown West. At the Broadway end of the block, you'll find the flashing lights of the multilevel Virgil's BBQ and the gigantic Times Square Toys R Us; at the opposite end, on Sixth Avenue, are the sedately lit offices of the Wall Street Journal.

More subway lines converge here than anywhere else in the city, all of them no more than two blocks away. The B, D, F, and V lines are at 42nd Street-Bryant Park, while the 1, 2, 3, 7, N, Q, R, S, and W lines are at Times Square-42nd Street.

 Airport Transportation

New York City has three nearby airports: JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark (in New Jersey). Getting into town from JFK or LaGuardia is usually more convenient than 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.

 Rooms

Rooms at Hotel Mela are stylishly outfited, but on the small side. Continuing the lighthearted mod look of the lobby, the rooms come with a 3-D card and a pair of 3-D glasses waiting on the bed. (The card informs that the minibar is left unlocked with the key outside. Cute.) New York hipster magazine Black Book and the Miami-centric Ocean Drive (a nod to the hotel company's Miami origins) are set on the desk.

But as with most New York boutiques, the rooms are pretty small. The standard, "Superior" room is only 190 square feet, a bit smaller than most hotel rooms in Times Square. It's not oppressively small, but my wardrobe, minibar, desk, and full-size bed did look a little crammed together. Couples can get a Superior room with a queen-size bed, for a little more bed space at least. The Deluxe (220 square feet) and Executive (300 square feet) rooms offer a queen- or king-size bed, but the rooms have about the same setup. The suites are even bigger and offer marble bathrooms, coffeemakers, and separate living areas. (Strangely, only the suites come with coffeemakers.) There are also two penthouse suites (Mela and Desire), which typically go for between $430 and $530 per night.

A 26-inch LCD TV is above the minibar. Pay-per-view comes in all the rooms, with a variety of new releases available at additional cost. All rooms also have free Wi-Fi -- the connection was excellent -- and an iPod-compatible stereo.

To protect rooms from Times Square's 24-hour light show, all rooms come with blackout shades over the windows. Too bad they couldn't keep out the sounds of my neighbor's wake-up call going off next door. Bear in mind that Hotel Mela's walls aren't the thickest.

Beds come with pillow-top mattresses, a fluffy, 330-thread-count duvet and 100 percent Egyptian cotton linens. The bed was comfortable but not the astounding, ultra-padded dream that the W Times Square's bed is.

In my Superior room, the bathroom was a decent size, but there were no cabinets and not much space for perching toiletries, short of a narrow shelf attached below the sink mirror. Still, the H20 toiletries were a nice addition, particularly the sea-salt body scrub. My bathroom didn't have a tub, just a glass-enclosed shower stall. But some standard Superiors do come with bathtubs -- guests just need to request one upon booking. (The same goes for Deluxes and Executives -- some have just showers, some have bathtubs with showers.)

Dark- and white-chocolate popcorn from the Upper East Side sweets shop Dylan's Candy Bar is included in the minibar -- a nice local touch.

 Features

A 24-hour fitness center includes high-quality LifeFitness treadmills, ellipticals, and cycling machines plus free weights -- but not much in the way of strength-training machines. There's a flat-screen TV, but unlike at the W's swank gym, the individual machines don't have private video monitors.

The hotel's 24-hour business center consists of two computers, a printer, and an ATM. The computers can be used for $7.95 for 15 minutes. The front desk will receive incoming faxes for free; outgoing faxes cost $3 for the first page and $1 for each additional page. A small meeting room can accommodate up to 12 people, and the penthouse suite accommodates up to 25 people.

 Pet-Friendly

Only extremely small pets are allowed at Hotel Mela -- 12 pounds or less. There is no cost per day, but a $125 deposit is required.

 Family

In the standard Superior Room, fitting a rollaway ($20 per night) is a tight squeeze. Families need to book a suite or at least the Executive room with double beds to get a little breathing room. Cribs are free.

Baby-sitting services can be booked through the concierge, but the hotel will need 24 hours advance notice. The concierge can also help with finding great kids' activities in the area or booking tickets to a Broadway musical.

Times Square has become pretty kid-centric over the last 10 years, and there's no shortage of activities here. The Times Square Toys R Us on the corner houses a gigantic Ferris wheel for kids to ride; after that, they can gawk at the 4,000-square-foot Barbie dollhouse. Same-day tickets to kid-friendly musicals can be found at the TKTS discount-ticket booth around the corner. Radio City Music Hall, where the Rockettes and numerous marquee acts perform each year, is about three blocks away, on 50th Street and Sixth Avenue. Rockefeller Center, home to the famous gigantic Christmas tree and ice skating rink during the holiday season, is at 50th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues, only six blocks away.

Family-friendly restaurants are abundant -- just make sure to prepare for some ramped-up tourist prices. Try Carmine's, the New York Italian chain known for its heaping family-size helpings of spaghetti bolognese and lasagna. I also add in the concierge's suggestion of Mars 2112 for lunch. How can you go wrong with waiters dressed up as creatures from another planet?

 Cleanliness

In my room, the hair dryer needed some dusting, but I found no signs of any real subpar housekeeping. The sheets and towels were crisp and clean, and the carpet was well vacuumed.

Even though the hotel is only two years old, the furniture was already showing some signs of wear on the edges.

 Food

For every overhyped New York restaurant, there's another that doesn't get the credit it deserves: Mela's hotel restaurant, Saju Bistro, is an example of the latter. I'd highly suggest this French Provencal bistro for dinner or brunch. Prices are reasonable, especially for this area: My delicious homemade pappardelle with scallops, the house special that night, was $18. The Black Angus hanger steak with potato puree and tomato Provencal was $22. It doesn't take a long trip around Times Square to realize that most area restaurants gouge tourists, and ones like Saju Bistro are the unsung gems of the neighborhood. Ignore the overly Frenchified decor (herbes de provence, red-and-white checkered tablecloths) and order up Saju's prix fixe theater menu. Three courses for $28 is a steal in this area.

Just outside the hotel, there's loads of options. For those in the mood for hearty southern BBQ over a bowl of bouillabaisse, head down the block to Virgil's. (It's impossible to miss with those flashing red lights.) Other nearby standouts include Osteria Al Doge, serving pizza and homemade pasta, and Sardi's, a veritable institution for the New York theater set.

For a great meal under $10, head to the Kwik Meal No. 1 food truck on the corner of 44th Street and Sixth Avenue, just a half-block away. Not too many lamb-pita carts are decorated with rave reviews from Gourmet magazine. This one is.

 Bottom Line

In the heart of Times Square but just outside most of the noise, the 228-room Mela boutique brings a little South Beach style to Manhattan. Free Wi-Fi, great beds, and a high-quality fitness center make the Mela an excellent alternative to the Marriott Marquis or Westin Times Square.