Small could be beautiful if.....
The idea of small hotels in large and busy cities is indeed very interesting. But it all depends on how the idea is implemented.
In the case of Pod 39 it appears the designers and the actual owners of the place interpreted the idea as a way of making a huge amount of money in a small space. Not much tought besides that in the small things that make a pod hotl an experiece that people would like to repeat.
But it is not completely their fault. The prices in New York City are so crazy that even a room like the one I was in in Pod 39 (at a price that if considered per square meter could maybe outprice the Plaza or the Four Seasons) is easy to sell, even if, I think, in most cases only for once. I am n activist but it would be nice if we custumers could one day say that we refuse to pay such crazy prices and avoid to stay in NYC... But I am eaming here.
Returning to the Pod39. The location is exceptional. The structure is new and stillmay become a nice place while works are still underway. But i Think that most of the damage is already been done.
The rooms are small... but really very vervy small... No space for much els then the bed. Confortable debs and nice bathrooms. The idea of having a glass wall is intelligent because otherwise the room would wb really claustrofobic. But it appears the intelligenceof the project ends here, at least for the rooms I have seen.... I have seen 2 because the first one I was given had the bed turned in a way so that my head (the part of the bed where the pillows are) was in the middle of the room and my feet against the wall.. I have seen others and it is the same. I think the ason is the fact that there is a wndows on the other side but I would never sleep in this way. Would you? 
There is no space at all for anything but yourslef. the liggages should b placed under th bed but th space is very little and can only fit cabin size luggages. It would heve been enough to highger the bed of fwe centimeters or use one if those beds that can be opened up to fit thing beneath the matress. There is a safe but no place to put anything else. The walls however are absolutely empty. With a few dollars any Ikea could hvae given them some shelves where to put at least some of the things a traveller brings. The same in the Bathroom. There is one huge mirror, also in the shower???? but no place to put the soap or shampoo!!! 
The tv has a lot of channels but the choice was to use a rather small screen that, jbeing on the other side of the rooms, was almost impossible to see... this is probably why they kept the room small. Here too a small amount of money would have given a pleasent extra.
Windows. Very good they open. But the glass is not sound proof and I had a huge I mean really huge air coditioning system in front of mine and could not sleep most of the time. 
Sound proof... not at all I could hear people next to me and, worse of all, the noise of their air conditioning system that is, as I was told, connected to mine. So if you turn yourslef off you must hope the others do the same. 
But waht really makes a hotel is the management and I think the is really a lack of it. Uring my stay there was a fi in a transformer and there was o electricty after 7 in the morning. On the 17th floor there was also no water.... that means no washing ... no drinking ... no???? On departure I asked for a discount considering that I had not been given at least half of teh services . No way!!! nobody was there to help the poor staff to answer to the many angry custumers.
What about a voucher ???? 
As a whole this is my first and hope last time I visit the hotel and I will tell all the people I know to stay clear even if it means paying some extra. Eventually it did cost 187 dollar a night!