Good location for Theater
We spent three nights at the Hotel Mela in May.The hotel is in an excellent location for NYC theater, Times Square, and the half-price theater TKTS booth. It's an easy walk to Rockefeller Center also. Subways are very nearby. That said, it was impossible to get a taxi from the hotel. They did not seem to come down the street, and if they did, the hotel just west of the Mela got them first. We ended up walking with our suitcases to Penn Station.
Our room, 1607, faced the airshaft near the top floor of the hotel. It was bright and VERY quiet due to this. I would not want a room on the airshaft on a lower floor. They must be quite dark and gloomy. The elevators worked quite promptly. The room was quite compact, with a very comfortable bed and nice linens. The closet was tight - in order to fit long items we had to take the ironing board out. That said, it's great to have a small ironing board and iron. There was a coffee maker and a mini-fridge also. The mini-fridge is fully stocked and works on a sensor system. Don't touch anything in it unless you want to pay for it. I think there is a 20 second grace period before the item goes on your bill. The same with the snack items on top of the fridge. If I ran a hotel, the first thing I would do is leave space in a fridge for a guest's own bottle of water, soda, whatever, to stay cold. 
Our problem with cold drinks was compounded by the lack of ice machines in the hotel. A note on the fridge says a guest should just call for ice and it will be right there. The first time we requested ice it took two calls and 50 minutes to get it. The following night, the ice never arrived at all. We were told the hotel was full so things were slower. If your hotel is full, you have more income and should have the appropriate staffing level for those nights.
We also ran out of hot water on two ocassions. The first was when I was in the shower. The second was one morning when there was no hot water at all. One doesn't expect this is a modern major-city hotel.
The Mela has free wi-fi. This is a definite plus and much appreciated. Although it was very slow, it worked and put to shame more expensive hotels that charge ridiculous fees for internet usage.
The staff we enoucntered were all very nice. John Balkicki was helpful, and our housekeeper was excellent. None of the staff, however, stopped groups of people smoking right outside the lobby doors - next to the two signs that state clearly it is a non-smoking area. The smoke drifted through the doors and was annoying when entering or exiting the hotel.
I wish I could give the Hotel Mela a four or five star review. However, with the lack of hot water, the ice problem, and the taxi situation, I cannot do so.