The Cooper Square Hotel Rating: 4.0 Pearls

East Village, Manhattan, New York City

Library in the lobby

The Cooper Square Hotel opened in December 2008 after four years of construction, setbacks, and ongoing controversy and vocal opposition from its East Village neighbors. Critics have dubbed the building the "neighborhood lightning rod," and New York magazine called it a "billowing white glass spire ... simultaneously arresting and comically out of place." But this is all par for the course when a $110 million, 21-story glass tower -- designed by Carlos Zapata (also of Soldier Field fame) -- sprouts up along the Bowery, among tenement buildings that date back to the 1850s. Overall, the design looks more Dubai than downtown New York.

Bent on defying convention -- often at the cost of convenience -- there is no signage on the lobby bathroom doors, and there is no reception desk. Upon check-in, a "receptionist" ushers guests into the library, where they can sip drinks and read free copies of the New York Times, Le Figaro, and Le Monde while lounging on plush B&B Italia couches and Eames Eames chairs until someone comes to show them to their rooms.

Still, the interiors are warm and comfortable -- they're designed by Milan-based Antonio Citterio, who also designed the Bulgari Resorts in Milan, Bali, Tokyo, and B&B Italia's headquarters. Thousands of books -- all of which are for sale -- are placed throughout the individual rooms and library. (Book-sale proceeds go toward homeless and low-income outreach programs and AIDS prevention, through the nonprofit Housing Works Bookstore Cafe.)

Unlike the runway-style techno at many other boutique hotels, the music is more low-key hip, from bands like Radiohead, Belle & Sebastian, and The New Pornographers. But the music might be a smidge too loud for some guests. For the same East Village grit and style, but with a crowd that's a bit more mature, check out the Bowery Hotel, only two blocks south.

Room service

There's no check-in desk at the Cooper Square. Instead, guests are taken into the "library" -- with its B&B Italia couches and a wood-burning fireplace -- by bellmen in dapper green cardigans. There they're seated and delivered free drinks while they wait for a staff member to appear and handle any paperwork. In theory it's a nice idea, but in practice it's an inefficient way to juggle guests, and it means you might have to wait a little longer to get to your room.

In my case, I waited a lot longer. Check-in is at 3 p.m. I arrived at 2:50 p.m. and was told that my room still needed to be cleaned. After waiting an hour with another couple of guests stuck waiting to check in to their rooms as well -- during which time no staff member came by to check on me -- I flagged someone down to ask about the holdup. Turns out it was a communication issue -- the room was ready all along. Other guests, like this reviewer, also got stuck waiting, in this instance until as late as 5 p.m.

However, all of the staff I encountered were prompt -- room service (served 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.) and towel requests got to my door in minutes -- and some staff members even made efforts to remember guests by name.

Just as there's no check-in desk, there's also no designated concierge desk. Instead, the concierge roams freely throughout the library (lobby), asking guests if they need any assistance. The person who helped me was young, but was able to recommend Great Jones Cafe, a really good burger spot with a divey feel, and Double Crown, a pricey but very good upscale comfort-food spot, both just a few blocks away.

The hotel offers a nightly turndown service, complete with a plum on your bedside table.

View on a Larger Map

Cooper Square, the actual square on which the hotel sits, is located in a neighborhood historically known for cultivating artsy, edgy intellectuals, partially thanks to Cooper Union, one of the nation's premier art, architecture, and engineering schools (full-tuition scholarship for all students), whose striking new academic building is located half a block from the hotel.

Cooper Square forms the northernmost edge of the Bowery, a milelong avenue in Lower Manhattan that was for much of the last century associated with the down-and-out: the homeless, the drug addicts, and the punk rockers who often fell into those categories as well. But these days the Bowery looks more like SoHo than Skid Row. A Think coffee shop, trendy clothing boutiques, and hip eateries like the newly opened DBGB, the latest endeavor from renowned French chef Daniel Boulud, now dot this once-desolate street.

Happily, the area still has some character, edge, and grit -- there is in fact a homeless shelter next door to the Bowery Hotel -- but thanks to the active foot traffic, it feels safe even late at night. In fact, it's the juxtaposition of the old and the new, the modern and the gritty, that makes the neighborhood what it is today, even if the Village Voice offices across the street continue to downsize, and even though purists still mourn the closure of CBGB's, the temple of punk that used to be a few blocks down the street. (There's now a John Varvatos store in its place.)

Located on the edge of the East Village, and just two blocks north of the Bowery, it's within easy walking distance of the Lower East Side, SoHo, and Union Square] -- an ideal base, in other words, for exploring Manhattan's vibrant downtown nightlife scene. It's also just a 10-minute walk to NYU (though there are actually some NYU faculty and academic offices across the street from the hotel).

The one downside to the hotel's location is that it's in a bit of a no man's land subway-wise. The 6, R, and W lines are closest to the hotel (within a few minutes' walking distance), but there are far more options if you walk 10 minutes north to Union Square, where you can catch an additional five lines, or 10 minutes south to Houston Street, where you can catch an additional four lines.

The hotel provides valet parking for $45 per day.

The bathroom in the Cooper 4 Room

No two rooms are created equal in this super-sleek obelisk-shaped glass building. The 145 room have 50 different floor plans, which are organized into five categories, one through five, and are all a fair amount larger -- and immensely brighter -- than the average New York hotel room. Designed with modern, custom-made B&B Italia furniture, the rooms look modern -- and have not-so-intuitive lighting and faucet systems -- but they're pleasantly warm and comfortable.

Ranging from 250 square feet to 350 square feet, all rooms have either a queen- or king-size bed, and the price depends on the room size and its view, which can range from an interior courtyard view in the Cooper 1s on Floors 3 to 6 to the Cooper 5 Corners, which have two full glass windows and incredible views of the city above the ninth floor. There are also studios and suites that range between 450 and 625 square feet, all with unobstructed views.

Amenities include a 37-inch Sony Bravia flat-screen TV with hundreds of channels and movies on demand, a Sony iPod docking station with legitimately awesome sound, a Lexon cube alarm clock, and a Philips cordless phone.

The bed -- a pillow-top mattress topped with a two-inch featherbed, a down duvet, and 400-thread-count Egyptian cotton Sferra linens -- is incredibly comfortable, though some might argue that all the padding on top of additional padding makes them a little too soft.

Bathrooms in a Cooper 4 room are large by most New York standards, and have separate tubs and showers (the lower-tier rooms are smaller, and only have a shower). But like so much else in the room, the bathrooms are beautiful but not very practical. Tubs are barely big enough for one slender person, and though the black sinks and vanities are sleek, they're shallow and show every single splatter of toothpaste. The bathrooms are also very dark: Despite a huge window in mine and a sleek light fixture, it was hard to illuminate the entire bathroom, and putting on makeup can be especially tricky.

Toiletries are from Red Flower, a boutique based in SoHo that created a custom scent for the hotel called Wanderlust. Curbed received a press release describing the scent as "water, steel, violet, white woods, and resin," which, um, isn't all that helpful.

Minibars are hooked up with an unconventional collection of, among other items, Hendrick's gin, 10 Cane rum, and Boylan's sodas. But it only gets weirder -- there's also a can of Oxia "personal oxygen," vitamin powder from fitness guru David Kirsch, and a travel kit of Loraine makeup.

The lobby library

There is no gym, but Cooper Square bests the nearby Bowery Hotel's small, dark, on-site gym by providing free passes to the New York Health & Racquet Club, only 535 feet away. The gym is one of the best chains in Manhattan, and offers everything from spin classes to personal trainers, massage therapy, nutrition counseling, and a two-story bouldering wall. Hours are 5:30 a.m. to midnight Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends.

The hotel is filled with more than 6,000 books on topics ranging from food to design to erotica to classic literature. All of them are for sale, and all of the proceeds go towards New York City Housing Works, a nonprofit dedicated to ending AIDS and homelessness.

In addition to its books, the hotel is helping to keep print media alive -- a free copy of the New York Times is left outside every guest's door in the morning.

The Wi-Fi is fast, reliable, and free. And there's a Sony laptop that the computerless can borrow for free.

In the future -- at some unspecified time -- the hotel also plans to open a screening room -- a surefire way to bring in a few celebrities, as demonstrated by the Bryant Park Hotel.

No deposit is required to bring a pet, just a signature on a waiver guaranteeing that your dog won't poop on the B&B Italia furniture, et cetera. If he does, off to a kennel he goes. Canines must be on a leash at all times in the hotel's public spaces, and no pets are allowed in the restaurant. Also, be sure to give the hotel a heads-up if you're bringing your dog so they can hook you up with a bed, a bowl, and some "freshly prepared food by our chef," according to hotel literature. Sample menus include chicken, brown rice, and corn, or liver, broccoli, potato, and bacon -- but no golden spoons.

This hotel doesn't exactly exude a "bring the kids" kind of feel, and I didn't see any little ones during my stay. Cribs and rollaway beds are free, but the latter only fit into suites (there are no adjoining rooms). Table 8's menu is decidedly geared towards adults, but the smaller room-service menu has a few kid-friendly items, if you're willing to pay $15 for French toast or $17 for a burger and fries.

The Loews Regency and Affinia Fifty are all better situated near kid-friendly attractions uptown.

The hotel is brand-new and looks every bit the part. My room was spotless, though the makings of some slight wear and tear were already apparent on the pale green carpet. Otherwise, you could eat off the floor.

The Trilby, which opened in February 2011, is the only restaurant and the third to give business a try since the hotel opened.

It feels like a quirky lounge, with dim lighting, long red couches, a zombie mural on the wall, tables that look more like tree logs, and lots of booths. They serve drinks and predominately American food, like roasted chicken and mini short rib sandwiches. Open daily for breakfast 7 a.m. -- noon, lunch noon -- 4 p.m., and dinner 4 p.m. -- midnight.

Room service is available from 6:30 a.m. until 11 p.m. and features generous portions, especially in the berry department, which seems an obvious place to skimp. The juice is fresh-squeezed and the coffee comes in a French press.

The hotel has two bars, one on the ground floor attached to the restaurant and another on the second floor with a really nice patio that closes at 8 p.m., no exceptions. (The place is abhorred by the hotel's residential neighbors.)