Great location, super friendly staff, and serene, spa-like rooms--the Nu hotel has it all. My husband and I just had our best getaway weekend in years and it is all thanks to the "new" Nu Hotel on the north end of Smith Street in the Bococa (Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens) district of Brooklyn.

Since the hotel is in walking distance of most of Brooklyn's up and coming neighborhoods, as well as the Brooklyn Heights Promenade (with its spectacular view of the NY harbor and lower Manhattan), dozens of top notch restaurants, trendy boutiques, hundreds of 19th century brownstones, and even a movie complex, there is really no need for a car or even a subway. However, if you come by car there is a parking garage ($25 per day) just adjacent to the front door of the hotel and most all subway lines in Brooklyn are within a few blocks making Manhattan only a 15-minute ride away.

In addition to the convenient location, the staff is extremely friendly and within a few minutes we were on a first name basis with all of them. Each night when we came back to the hotel it was like coming home to a family.

The rooms, which look deceptively stark on the hotel's web site, are refreshingly clean, white, and bright. (And the largest we've ever had in NYC.) The environmentally correct cork flooring is easy on the feet and conscience since cork is sustainable and renewable. Accents of chocolate brown and a colorful hand screened pillow enliven the room as does the very New York specific art work. The high-end mattress and down pillows make sleeping a Zen experience. The room also comes equipped with a desk, an easy chair, a small refrigerator, and a 32 inch flat screen TV.

I cannot recommend the Nu Hotel more highly.