Avoid Avoid Avoid
I stayed at the Public for 4 nights while attending a trade show. The hotel had recenlty been remodeled and the fresh new look of the lobby was nice. And I would agree with the assessment of this part of the hotel that most of the other reviewers provide - but I part company with these reviewers once you leave the lobby.
The room I stayed in was cramped with a king bed, a desk and a counter shelf. There was no other furniture. The furnishings were very short. I am not exaggerating - the top of the bed and night stands were no more than 18-20" off the floor. The bed was more of futon than a bed, with a mattress set on a rigid wood platform. I have never slept on a more uncomfortable bed. Because the room was so crowded and the bed set so low I kept banging my ankle on the corner of the bed. The comforter was nice and they did provide four down pillows. The pillows, however, were the type that flatten completely and provide almost no neck or head support.
The curtains in the room were not thick enough to block out the light from outside and I was on the 15th floor so the room was never really dark.
On the other hand the hotel used subdued lighting throughout including the hallways and the elevators. It was so dim in the elevators you had to get within 6" of the buttons to pick the right button for your floor.
Most everything in the room had been remodeled except for the bathroom door which must have been the original with an old beat up door knob and a door latch that did not work. The bath tub had very high sides and the bottom of the tub was higher than the bathroom floor. It made it very difficult to safely get out of a wet tub. Also they only provide a cloth shower curtain liner (no shower curtain). The liner was thin enough that water passed through. It addition it was so thin and light that even wet it tended to billow so you are constantly peeling the wet curtain off your body while you are trying to wash.
There was no real storage in the room and most of that was taken up with convenience bar. There was a small set of shelves in the closet. The closet was not lighted and the door opened in such a way that it blocked the only available nearby light. This made it difficult to tell what was what.
Bottom line: when you are traveling and working you just want a room that is comfortable and will provide a good night sleep. Both these elements were missing from my room at the Public.