The Pickwick Arms hotel in New York has redesigned and rebranded itself as “the POD”.  They perfectly capture the line “It’s not the size but how you use it”.  And similar to Miss Sophie’s in Prague the POD combines minimalist design with funky colors, modern lighting, clean lines, and practical features.   Shared baths for the bunks and singles, and private baths for the queens and kings.

And $139 for a private room in New York?  Not bad.  Their site…

NY Daily News Article Below:

Seek inner peas at Pod Hotel  – East Side rooms are a tight fit but won’t squeeze the budget 

BY NICOLE CARTER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Sunday, June 24th 2007, 4:00 AM
Among the amenities is an iHome docking station so you can plug in your iPod and stay tuned into your own playlist. The pod people have arrived – the Pod Hotel people, that is.

The hip new hotel nuzzled between Second and Third Aves. on 51st St. in Manhattan offers travelers the opportunity to board in style without breaking their budget.With rooms starting at $89 a night, the Pod Hotel is the first in the U.S. to tout the power of the “pod,” a concept that promotes socializing between guests and maximizes small spaces.

And, yes, a majority of the rooms are small. But general manager David Bernstein insists that’s not a problem. “Sure, we could have knocked down some walls to make bigger rooms at $400-500 a night,” he explained, “But we knew we had a market here, so we left the rooms as the sizes they are and charged less.”

The 347-room hotel, formerly the Pickwick Arms Hotel, is redecked in mod furnishings and must-have amenities: flat-screen TVs, free wireless Internet and iPod docking stations in every room. The concept for the Pod Hotel comes from smaller, doorless rooms designed for travelers in Japan, but built here with more privacy.

The smallest rooms are about 100 square feet. They include bunk beds and a transit-inspired vanity station that looks like a cleaner version of an airplane sink. Single rooms and bunk bed rooms don’t have private bathrooms – a sign above the door lights up to let you know which of the four shared bathrooms are occupied.

Double rooms, priced at $139 a night for about 150 square feet, come with a private bathroom, bigger flat-screen TV and more storage space as the bed frame provides drawers. Outside the pods, the lobby features ample schmoozing room with chairs and couches, a spacious outdoor cafe, and an airy rooftop deck. And lone voyagers worry not, the hotel provides a community blog where you can link up with other travelers and reserves large tables at neighborhood restaurants – in case you’re without a dinner date.

AMENITIES

iHome docking station: Plug in your iPod and keep your favorite music with you when you’re away from home.

Vanity: Sink stocked with towels and soap.
Flat-screen TV: LCD TVs on flexible mounts in every room.
Directions: On the back of every door, a reminder to “Make room for fun.”