July 28, 2008

US & CANADA | US | NEW YORK

Sailor’s Delight

By Doug Black

A Manhattan landmark looks to downsize in style.

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Better known for soaring buildings and larger-than-life personalities, the Big Apple is taking a small-scale approach to its newest hotel. Really small. 50-square-foot small. The Jane hotel, which just began welcoming guests this month, has 200 pint-sized rooms, most of which can house a single person, one twin-size bed and little else. It may sound like a low-rent flophouse, but the Jane is part of a global trend toward highly stylized pod hotels. The concept pairs capsular floor space with minimal amenities to attract cost-efficient travelers who use their room for sleep alone.

But while some pods aim for nothing more than a cheap sleep, the Jane targets guests in search of classic New York. In fact, this West Village hotel is positively steeped in history. Built in 1908 by the designer of Ellis Island’s immigrant stations, the Jane was originally the American Seaman’s Friends Society and Sailors’ Home, a temporary refuge for distressed seafarers. In 1912 it housed the surviving crew of the Titanic, and later spent tenures as a YMCA and an off-Broadway theater (birthplace of the bawdy musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch) before becoming a private hotel. It got snatched up last year by Sean MacPherson and Eric Goode — the trendsetting duo behind Manhattan’s Bowery and Maritime hotels — who envisioned a return to its nautical roots.

And return it did. Preserved as a city landmark since 2001, the building retains its watchtower façade with suitably seaworthy interior decor. The guestrooms — or “cabins” as they’re affectionately called — are ocean-liner chic, replete with wood paneling and overhead shelves. There’s no room for entertaining — that’s reserved for the restored lobby (originally a grand ballroom), while communal bathrooms are down the hall.

The Jane, though, is not exactly roughing it: the hotel has all the requisite tech (WiFi, iPod docks and flat-screen televisions) even if it lacks the exclusivity the Waverly Inn, another neighborhood holding under the MacPherson and Goode empire. Entry costs a paltry 99 bucks per night in one of the 150 Standard Cabins. And for a slightly escalated price, guests can enjoy bigger beds and their very own bathroom. Try not to get spoiled.