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CNN Live At Daybreak

Some of Big Apple's Hotel Rooms Anything But Big

Aired July 03, 2003 - 05:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: New York may be known as the Big Apple, but some of its hotel rooms are anything but big.
Our Jeanne Moos squeezed into one such hotel in Manhattan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Most hotels offer a room with a bed, but how about a bed with no room?

VALERIE KUBALA, HOTEL GUEST: I think you just stretch your arms and stretch your legs, you can, but you touch four walls in one.

MOOS: New York hotel rooms are notoriously small, but this is ridiculous.

(on camera): Mind if I check? There you go.

(voice-over): We're talking rooms that are as little as eight feet wide and nine feet long. The TV hangs from the ceiling. You can book one of these miniscule rooms at the Washington Jefferson Hotel for 99 bucks, a bargain for midtown Manhattan.

BOB LINDENBAUM, DIRECTOR OF COMFORT, WASHINGTON JEFFERSON HOTEL: When we renovated the whole building, we basically had these small spaces left. And we came up with the concept of something for the budget luxury traveler.

MOOS: Budget luxury? Sounds like an oxymoron. Sure, there are tighter quarters at those Japanese capsule hotels, where guests sleep in pods stacked atop one another. But the W.J. bills itself as luxury.

LINDENBAUM: With a two tone limestone bathroom.

MOOS: Though the view isn't much. You get a mini armoire with a mini ironing board. The British occupant of this room says she had no idea what she was in for.

KUBALA: It was a shock, actually, when we opened the door, and you open your door and it's, that's your bed.

MOOS: Valerie Kubala says she booked from the Internet and the rooms looked spacious there. Out of 127 rooms, 17 are teeny. It sort of makes you feel like you've stepped into a cross between "Alice In Wonderland" and "Being John Malkovich."

(on camera): What do you do with your suitcase?

LINDENBAUM: Most people pretty much put it underneath the bed.

MOOS (voice-over): That's where Valerie put hers. But tiny rooms are nothing compared to the W.J.'s previous claim to fame.

(on camera): So the cheese room was right back here?

LINDENBAUM: Yes.

MOOS (voice-over): Back before the hotel was renovated, we covered this story in Room 114. Don't bother calling the maid, not unless she's fond of fondue. An artist covered the room with a thousand pounds of melted cheese. Talk about having a fling at a hotel. Now that's room service.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired July 3, 2003 - 05:50   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: New York may be known as the Big Apple, but some of its hotel rooms are anything but big.
Our Jeanne Moos squeezed into one such hotel in Manhattan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Most hotels offer a room with a bed, but how about a bed with no room?

VALERIE KUBALA, HOTEL GUEST: I think you just stretch your arms and stretch your legs, you can, but you touch four walls in one.

MOOS: New York hotel rooms are notoriously small, but this is ridiculous.

(on camera): Mind if I check? There you go.

(voice-over): We're talking rooms that are as little as eight feet wide and nine feet long. The TV hangs from the ceiling. You can book one of these miniscule rooms at the Washington Jefferson Hotel for 99 bucks, a bargain for midtown Manhattan.

BOB LINDENBAUM, DIRECTOR OF COMFORT, WASHINGTON JEFFERSON HOTEL: When we renovated the whole building, we basically had these small spaces left. And we came up with the concept of something for the budget luxury traveler.

MOOS: Budget luxury? Sounds like an oxymoron. Sure, there are tighter quarters at those Japanese capsule hotels, where guests sleep in pods stacked atop one another. But the W.J. bills itself as luxury.

LINDENBAUM: With a two tone limestone bathroom.

MOOS: Though the view isn't much. You get a mini armoire with a mini ironing board. The British occupant of this room says she had no idea what she was in for.

KUBALA: It was a shock, actually, when we opened the door, and you open your door and it's, that's your bed.

MOOS: Valerie Kubala says she booked from the Internet and the rooms looked spacious there. Out of 127 rooms, 17 are teeny. It sort of makes you feel like you've stepped into a cross between "Alice In Wonderland" and "Being John Malkovich."

(on camera): What do you do with your suitcase?

LINDENBAUM: Most people pretty much put it underneath the bed.

MOOS (voice-over): That's where Valerie put hers. But tiny rooms are nothing compared to the W.J.'s previous claim to fame.

(on camera): So the cheese room was right back here?

LINDENBAUM: Yes.

MOOS (voice-over): Back before the hotel was renovated, we covered this story in Room 114. Don't bother calling the maid, not unless she's fond of fondue. An artist covered the room with a thousand pounds of melted cheese. Talk about having a fling at a hotel. Now that's room service.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com