Hip room or a hip room? That's the question you have to ask yourself before plunking down the big bucks to stay at the new–in–2014 Ludlow Hotel. In the heart of one of Manhattan's trendiest neighborhoods, with a lobby that just about defines the word "scene" (it houses "Dirty French," the latest bistro from Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi and Jeff Zalaznick, three of the city's most celebrated restauranteurs), this is where all the cool kids are staying. But I have to assume that they aren't traveling with luggage because there's no space for it in rooms that are lilliputian even by NYC–standards. (Which is, I must say, a bit of a slap in the face as the hotel was newly built to be a hotel, and not a renovation of an existing space). Still, you will feel like Sarah Jessica Parker or Alec Baldwin when you stride past the hopping bar scene in the lobby, and up to your itty bitty space, where you can wrap yourself in one of the real sheep's skin throws that casually drapes your chair, gaze out at a spectacular view of Lower Mahattan (if you have a room on an upper floor), and cozy up in your oh-so-trendy spindle-topped four wooden bed (the mattresses are darn good, I must admit).