I several nights in the Mayor Hotel and will never stay again. I don't know how people gave this place 4 stars!

First off, it's located in Chinatown, which I personally am not a fan of. Nothing is in English, so something as simple as finding a store to buy a soda is difficult. I find that Chinatown is one of the dirtiest, smelliest parts of NYC. But if you don't care about that, it is a decent location in the Lower East Side. Just a short walk to some hotspots near Little Italy and a very short cab to SoHO and the Village.

But that was it for the good stuff. The standard room was 1 full size bed with about 1 foot of room around it, and a wardrobe. Which made it tight for 2 people. The bed, oh the bed was the deal breaker. It was like lying on plywood with a thin pad over it. I actually woke in pain from how hard it was. The pillows were decorative pillows that were flat with ruffled pillow cases on them, not real pillows. There is no temp control, the front desk controls the whole floor. So if you get hot or cold, too bad. It sits across from the Manhattan Bridge so it's loud, if you sleep light, bring earplugs.

I skipped on daily breakfast because it's in the basement with the washer/dryer and next to the linen room, and looked gross.

I will say the front desk staff during the weekday's was super friendly and helpful. The weekend staff however couldn't be bothered from Skyping to help me find a place to get coffee and soda's in the morning. I stood there for at least 5 minutes and she only looked up once and never attempted to help me.

Spend the extra $20 a night and go to a different hotel. You really do get what you pay for, there is a reason this hotel is so cheap.

Pros:

-Less than $200/night. Don't need to spend more than that especially if you're out most of the time exploring the city.
-Free simple breakfast 7am - 10 am. Baked goods, egg and ham sandwiches, bacon buns, cream filled pastries, croissants, coffee, and tea.
-Very friendly staff, especially those guys that work nights and early morning shifts.
-Location. Felt safe in Chinatown. Cheap restaurants/shops. 5-10 min. walk to E. Broadway (F) subway/metro station and 10-15 walk to Grand St. (B, D) station.
-Clean

Cons:

-Small room. Definitely the smallest room I've stayed in, and most of the time I've stayed in budget hotels that are less than $100/night.
-Hard bed with minimal padding. My bed at home is softer and more comfortable. However, I was able to sleep well. Then again, it was probably because I spent hours and hours walking around NYC, from morning until night.
-Located under Manhattan Bridge. There are traffic noises (trains and cars). Keep those windows closed.

Final Note:

I would definitely recommend this hotel. I enjoyed the location, probably because I'm Asian, but honestly, I felt safe in that area. The price was right and definitely cheaper than what I would've paid for in Times Square. If you're out most of the time exploring the city and just need a place to sleep at late nights and early mornings, this is a cheap place to be in Manhattan. A very big thanks to the staff for storing my luggage in the hotel as I spent my final day in NYC attending a Yankees game and spending more time exploring the city. I checked out (11 am) a day before my early morning flight, and asked the staff if they could store my luggage while I cruise through the city one last time. They said that they were okay with it and recommended that I take most of my valuables with me, which I did. My dirty laundry were the only items in my bags that I left at the hotel.

Once again, a big thanks to the Mayor Hotel staff! I would definitely stay there again.

-From the Guest at room 406, Sept. 15 to Sept. 20, 2012.

The hotel is well located in Chinatown but that was all there is nice to say about it.
The interior looks cheap, my room was small, the furnitures were degraded, I even found a stain of iron on the desk...
There were lamp missing with the wires bursting out of the wall. The A/C was not controlled from the room and the TV was barely displaying 6 channels...
The bathroom was cleaned everyday but it would have been great if the lady didn't let some of her hair on the floor or in the bathtub...
The walls were so thin that I could hear my neighbors snorting in their sleep.

But the real joke was the complimentary breakfast. "Served" in a small room in the basement, with a single 4 chairs table next to the washing machines (functioning!). You have the choice between helping yourself with some coffee or tea and some industrial sausage flavored breads...

For the price I paid for a week, I should have chosen to not take breakfast included in my reservation.
Did I mention that the so called WiFi was functioning only 10 minutes per connection?

We stayed here three nights and overall it was ok. rooms are tiny and the location was quite loud (manhattan bridge just across the street). we skipped the breakfast always since it wasn't very good. the upsight: you get clean rooms, a friendly stuff, in a quite central location for a moderate price.