Room Mate Grace (formerly Hotel QT), New York, United States

Young, fresh and irreverent, design boutique hotel Room Mate Grace is a stylish stop-over for travel-savvy artists, theatre actors and shopping bargainistas on a budget. Positioned bang in the heart of midtown, a New-York minute from Times Square and Broadway, Bryant Park and the Rockerfeller Center, Room Mate Grace is perfect for hipsters who don’t mind forgoing such luxuries as a bath tub and a few extra square metres of bedroom.

The rooms

This design boutique hotel doesn’t scrimp where it counts. The beds are raised ostrich-leather platforms and are gloriously comfortable and the 140 rooms are slickly designed. The showers are as powerful as a monsoon, and the cheeky Kiss my Face bath products are as effective as you’d find at the Four Seasons (better, in fact – and we’ve tried both).

The facilities

You won’t find butlers or room service at this budget boutique hotel, but the staff are friendly and more than happy to help with any concierge questions. There’s also a 24-hour kiosk in the lobby where you can stock your own mini-bar (each room has an empty fridge) at prices somewhere between the supermarket and average hotel prices.

A small pool, steam room, sauna and gym are available for guests of the boutique hotel, while the buzzing low-lit ground floor bar hosts a different DJ every night. And while you won’t get a complimentary newspaper delivered to your room, continental breakfast and in-room wifi are included in the room rate.

Oh, and if the free paper is really important to you, there’s a stack of Metro Internationals sitting in the lobby to be grabbed on your way out. If only all budget hotels could be this groovy and thoughtful…