Worst hotel value ever encountered
Worst hotel value ever, least functional room I have ever encountered
in a First World country!
I travel a lot for my work, staying in some of the finest hotels and
resorts in the world, and in plenty of convention hotels, airport
traveler hotels, even road stops by the Interstate. I know hotels. 
Yes, this hotel has a beautiful lobby, and is incredibly "designerly"
-- but the designs are not clever, and do not make it comfortable or
useful. It is so designer-friendly and minimalist that it has no sign
on the front, for instance.
I stayed at the Hudson at a supposedly discount rate which set me back
(room and taxes) $370 per night. For this I got a 144-sq ft room with
a view of an air shaft. It would take three of these to equal the floor
space of a normal room. 
The bathroom was so small I could not use the toilet sitting down (and
I am 6'2", not Magic Johnson).
There were no available electrical plugs in the bedroom area, only a
power strip in the center under the bed, all of its plugs in use. There
was no coffee maker to make a little tea in the middle of the night.
The smoke alarm was non-functional. The TV was mounted sideways to the
bed, so that there was no place to sit comfortably and watch the TV.
There was no place to sit at all except the bed and a minimalist steel
straight-back desk chair with a minimally-padded seat. The shower has
only one little shelf for the shampoo and soap - and it slants outward,
and has no lip, so everything slides right off.
Did I mention that someone barged into my room while I was talking on the phone? Evidently not staff, but another guest with the wrong room number. She said, "Didn't they fix that yet?" and walked back out. Huh? So this wasn't the first time this particular woman had walked into someone else's room? Was the staff giving out master keys to all the guests? After that I took all valuables with me when I left the room, and while in it deadbolted and chained the door. When was the last time I actually felt unsafe in my own hotel room?
At every turn, ergonomic, human-centered design is sacrificed for,
apparently, minimalist designer-centered design and just being plain
cheap. I will not stay again at the Hudson, or at any of the other
Monarch Group hotels.