At Manhattan hotel, robot handles bags

Forget the bellhop. Meet the luggage robot.

It's the first of several high-tech, sleek amenities guests encounter at the Yotel, a new hotel that aims to provide a trendy stay at an affordable price.

Purple lighting, throbbing music in the elevators and futon-like sofas that transform to lie-flat beds at the touch of a button help set the mood.

Or maybe they just distract you from the tiny size of the rooms. At 170 square feet, perhaps "room" is too generous of a term. Yotel prefers to call them cabins.

Aircraft designers were hired to make the rooms feel larger than they are. An overhead shower fixture delivers water like rain, perhaps to make the stall (no tub) seem more spacious. Of course there's no room for a fridge or minibar.

But guests aren't expected to hang out in their rooms.

Around the hotel

Yotel's massive fourth-floor lobby includes four bars, a 7,000-square-foot outdoor terrace and a restaurant inspired by a sumo wrestling ring. Yotel CEO Gerard Greene -- who dresses more like a nightclub promoter than hotelier -- is seeking guests who are "young at heart" and considers his property to be the "iPod of the hotel industry."

Yotel opened its first hotels in 2007 at two of London's airports followed the next year by one at Amsterdam's airport. The chain aims to combine the efficiency of airplane space with the concept of tiny Japanese capsule hotels. At 669 rooms, it is also the largest hotel to open in New York since 2002, according to the city's tourism authority.

Everything here is self-serve.

The 20-foot-tall robotic arm at the entrance automatically stores bags in lockers for guests who want to wander around the city after the 11 a.m. checkout time (and no, you don't have to tip the robot). At check-in, airport-like kiosks spit out room key cards and an invoice. Instead of room service, prepared food is available from the concierge desk, which also sells hotel souvenirs like metallic Yotel water bottles.

But the real heart of the hotel is the action-packed terrace. The tapas-style menu has small plates such as beef sliders ($9) and a crunchy shrimp dish ($8).

The Yotel throws in free Wi-Fi, domestic phone calls, morning yoga and muffins and coffee for breakfast. For the budget-conscious, each floor has a communal kitchen area with a sink and microwave.

IF YOU GO

Yotel

570 10th Ave., at 42nd Street, Manhattan, 646-449-7700, yotel.com

RATES From $149, expected to increase to $200- $250 after August.