The Jane Hotel Rating: 3.0 Pearls

West Village, Manhattan, New York City

Unusual, very tiny accomodations

The 200-room Jane Hotel once provided temporary lodging to surviving crew members of the Titanic, and was later turned into an apartment cooperative. In 2008, hoteliers Sean MacPherson and Eric Goode (of Bowery and Maritime Hotel fame) restored the handsome West Village landmark into a cute and quirky micro hotel. Fans tout the hotel's stylish and unusually inexpensive rooms, free Wi-Fi throughout the building, polite and friendly staffers, and easy access to the West Village and the Meatpacking District.

Even so, plenty of guests arrive, eager to try a 50-square-foot Standard Cabin (or actually attempt to share the tiny space with a friend in a Bunk Bed Cabin, which sleeps two). The decor is more sleeper car on a luxury European train than budget hotel room. These tiny, cleverly designed rooms feature under-bed cubbies for storage, a wall-mounted flat-screen TV with a DVD player, and an iPod dock. For a shower, guests can head down the skinny hallway to one of the two shared bathrooms (the hotel even provides the flip-flops). Those not comfortable going the communal route, may want to book one of the newly added Captain's Cabins, which are 150 to 250 square feet in size, have private bathrooms, and run $250 a night.

The Jane is home to an outpost of Nolita's popular, celeb- and model-filled Cafe Gitane. The casual, shabby-chic restaurant serves its light Moroccan-French food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

For equal amounts of boho chic with a little more elbow room, consider the even more historic Chelsea Hotel. There's also the Ace Hotel, a little bit farther uptown in Chelsea, which says it's committed to keeping its base rooms below $200, regardless of the time of year. If you're set on a night in a micro hotel, there's also midtown's Pod Hotel, which is more modern in design but also offers itsy-bitsy rooms for about the same price.

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The Jane Hotel is located in far-yonder West Village territory, next to the West Side Highway, on a quiet cobbled-stoned block lined with prewar brownstones. To some visitors it might seem like the middle of nowhere, but just a few blocks east guests will find the bustling and trendy restaurants and nightlife of the Meatpacking District and the eccelectic shops of the West Village. This neighborhood is the place to be for those who like their stay low-key, youthful, and even vaguely European.

• Hotel is three to four blocks from the 1,2, 3, and F subway lines
• Taxis may be hard to find at night.
• Hotel is about 30 to 90 minutes from all three airports ($40 to $50 taxi ride).
• Union Square is 15 minutes away by foot.
• Across the street from the Hudson River Greenway, great for running, strolling, biking, and people-watching
• Two blocks from the enormously popular Highline elevated park
• A five-minute taxi ride to the ferries that take visitors to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
• Steps away from quirky shops and unusual restaurants and eateries, including local favorites like the Chelsea Market and Pastis.