Cassa Hotel Times Square

Cassa Hotel Times Square occupies the first four stories of a 12-story building, with the rest of the building occupied by residences. Inside, the contemporary lobby has a minimalist aesthetic that features lightly finished concrete and wood, and bare white walls. A long communal wood and metal table is topped with a cluster of white candles and a large bowl of fresh apples. Beside floor-to-ceiling windows are several low-lying wooden chairs where guests can sit while waiting to check in. The hotel's only other common space is up on the roof, where the expansive terrace offers views of the surrounding high rises and is a nice spot for mingling and fresh air. There are modern, white-cushioned wooden chairs and couches lining the space, interspersed with gray concrete planters. Loungers surround a rectangular grass lawn, and there's a hot tub for guests' use. This area is shared with the residents of the building. The hotel draws leisure travelers and couples, who like the modern tech-ready rooms and location convenient to Times Square and Broadway. Business types appreciate the location near the Javits Center.

Cassa Hotel Times Square is on Ninth Avenue at 39th Street, two blocks from the Port Authority Bus Terminal and Lincoln Tunnel in a noisy, high-traffic area. The neighborhood is called various things, but most locals know it as Hell's Kitchen, which is a buzzing collection of excellent restaurants, lively bars, LGBT-friendly venues, theaters, and nightclubs. The heart of the Theater District is within 10-minute walk, as is Times Square. Penn Station and Madison Square Garden are also a 10-minute walk from the hotel. Jogging paths and parks along the Hudson River can be reached by walking 10 minutes west of the hotel, as can the Javits Center, which hosts most of the city's major conventions. The New York Public Library, Bryant Park, and the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum are all within 15 minutes on foot.For those looking to see farther-flung sights, it's a five-minute walk of several subway lines at 42nd street, including the A,C, E, 1, 2, and 3 lines. It will take about 15 minutes by subway to reach Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, and St. Patrick's Cathedral. For something more local, it's a 25-minute subway ride to the East Village and 20 minutes to Williamsburg. It's a minimum of 20 minutes to LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International and 30 minutes from JFK International Airport -- but those drive times don't figure in traffic, which in this part of the city will almost always be brutal. By combination of public transportation and walking it's about 40 minutes to LaGuardia and Newark Airports, and 50 minutes to one hour to JFK.

Rooms at the Cassa have a contemporary, with modern lighting and a neutral color palette of white, grey, beige, and brown. Walls are largely bare, though some feature contemporary art, and there are patterned rugs and woven bed throws in some rooms. The dark wood laminate floors up the class a notch and hardwood furniture has simple, clean, Scandinavian lines, with retro accents like the vintage desk chairs. The dark ceilings complete the on-trend look and are a bold design choice. In-room tech is top-notch, including 48-inch flat-screen HDTVs with movies on demand, iPads for use inside the hotel, and free Wi-Fi. Beds feature thick mattresses and white duvets. Desks sit beside windows with sheer curtains, letting in a good bit of natural light, and each room has a heather-gray armchair. Suites have proper living areas. Stocked minibars and one-cup coffeemakers come standard along with safes. Bathrooms are a real treat here and look about as hip as possible, with white subway, large glazed-concrete vanities, and antique-style black matte fixtures. Each includes a roomy walk-in shower plus premium toiletries, though some of the grout-work in the shower areas looked a little sloppy. All rooms are nonsmoking and are large by Manhattan standards (ranging from 300 to 350 square feet, or 28 to 33 square meters). Being that they're on the first four floors of the building, rooms don't have great views and some rooms can pick up street noise.

The Cassa Hotel Times Square has no breakfast service or restaurant for lunch and dinner, but it does offer free morning coffee and tea and free fruit all day long. A neighboring restaurant will deliver meals to the rooms. The 12th-floor rooftop terrace has a hot tub and deck with seating, with views of the surrounding area. A rooftop bar is slated to open in 2016. The 1,000-square-foot fitness center (shared with building residents) is far larger than many hotels in this category. It has several modern treadmills, stair-steppers, weight machines, free weights, and a bank of flat-screen TVs. The hotel's staff provides concierge services, from sightseeing advice to Broadway tickets and dinner reservations. The hotel also offers meeting rooms, baggage assistance, in-room massages (for a fee), airport transfers (for a fee), and the front desk is manned around the clock. The hotel has no business center, but rooms have iPads and the front desk can print documents. Wi-Fi is also free throughout the property. Valet parking is available, but it's expensive.