As someone with a keen interest in new trends in the hospitality industry driven by design, I found the Hotel Americano to be a fascinating case.
As other travellers have noted, it's cool, hip, funky, etc. but in a part of Chelsea that is still very "transitional" (warehouses and car repair shops, a huge housing project just across 10th Avenue). Though only a few blocks away, the Standard Hotel, for example, and the High Line park area where it's located, is worlds apart from this neighborhood. That said, the rates at the Americano, for the "boutique hotel" experience you're getting is a great deal at around $250 a night. Still, you'd have to be fairly young and adventurous and city-savvy to make this hotel your base if you're a visitor to NYC.
First, the rooms. Very small at around 200 - 250 sq. ft. but well designed with an entire wall that is a window giving the feeling of a much more ample space. Still, the rooms are tiny and not recommended for extended stays. Get the ones on the upper floors (6 and avbove) facing uptown so you get largely unobstructed views of the city. We had room 73, a corner room, which gave us an additional "transom" window on the west side. A section of the main window opens for ventilation, a great feature and one that all hotels should have. (I hate being in a hermetically sealed room!). We quite enjoyed the bed on a wooden platform "ryokan" style, as the hotel notes.
But not so much the cold, hard concrete floor (though there are felt slippers available for use in the closet), or the near absence of shelves or seating (the bean bag is impractical and takes up a lot of space in what is already a small room).
I liked the iPad loaded with music and the hotel's app with all the necessary info about the hotel and the neighborhood. But not so much the intermittent quality of the "Airplay" feature that kept dropping the wireless music feed into the room's speakers. Finally just ended up playing it through the iPad's tinny speakers.
Loved the bathroom amenities, the Aesop bath products, the Japanese wash towel, and the glass shower booth. BUT, and this is a big minus that many others have noted, it's way too dark in there! I would think that aside from this being a huge inconvenience for most people, it would also present a serious liability for the hotel in the event of accidents (after all, bathrooms tend to get wet, slippery, with hard surfaces and metal hardware that are likely to produce serious injuries). Surprised that the hotel's legal counsel wouldn't have already pointed this out.
The hotel is fairly new and still seems to be ironing out some rough edges. Some suggestions for the hotel: the sheets are obviously high quality but make sure they are big enough to fit the mattress (the flat sheet for the mattress was too short to stay wrapped adequately around it, leaving my toes to rest uncomfortably on the somewhat scruffy mattress pad that became exposed). Make sure there are two pairs of slippers and and two robes in rooms designed to accommodate two people (only one of each in our room and then had to call housekeeping for the second pair of slippers; did not use the denim robe, though it looked cool, I prefer Frette or simple soft terry).
Finally a small gripe with the restaurant, which kept messing up my booking, taking it once for the rooftop bar/grill and then calling back to cancel without a good explanation, and then entirely losing my booking for their restaurant on the first floor, the Americano. The food was fairly good but not extraordinary, considering the considerable competition in this neighborhood. The service was courteous and efficient if not altogether warm and attentive. I would probably eat elsewhere in any of the many fine restaurants in Chelsea or the nearby Meatpacking district next time.
I like the Americano overall for what it manages to pack into a fairly small footprint (a lot that is probably 50 x 100) and only about 10 stories including the rooftop (also much smaller in reality than the photos would suggest; the pool is practically a large bathtub), which does offer a nice outdoor space to take in some views of the city while you sip your drink.
The hotel staff seems friendly enough, though I didn't really require their services beyond the routines of checking in and out, so it's hard to evaluate. Thought there should be a doorman out in front, just to help with guests coming into the hotel or needing a cab or whatever, but there was none the time I was there.
As I said, it's a weird combination of austerity and luxury but one worth trying to see if it suits you.
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