I visited a micro-hotel in NYC, where rooms are half the size of the average hotel and you have to w

Measuring just 150 square feet, the guest rooms at Arlo Hotels aren't meant for people who plan on spending most of their time holed up in their rooms.

At Arlo's boutique micro-hotels in New York City, the rooms are less than half the size of an average hotel room, there's a 24-hour "bodega" in lieu of room service, and you can sleep in bunk beds. What the individual guest rooms lack in size, they make up for in creative, space-saving design, according to managing director JavierEgipciaco.

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On Yelp, a couple of people compared Arlo to a hostel , with one calling it "overpriced fancy hostel" that lacks storage and space to work.

But Arlo's philosophy is to offer an abundance of welcoming common space and activities to offset the smaller rooms.

"The micro-room concept was one that we came to market with in the beginning, but then we realized pretty quickly that Arlo was a lifestyle and not necessarily a micro-concept lifestyle,"Egipciaco told Business Insider.

Inclusivity is a large part of their brand, he said, which is why the common areas are all open to the public without requiring anyone to buy anything. The hotel includes expansive, open shared space that comprises a lobby bar, an airy lounge area, a courtyard, a rooftop bar, and a restaurant that serveshealthy, seasonal fareand is run by chef Harold Moore.

We took a tour of Arlo's SoHo location to see just how small the rooms actually are and met the managing director to hear what Arlo Hotel is all about.

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Here's what it was like.

SEE ALSO: I stayed at Robert De Niro's ridiculously swanky new hotel in Ibiza and it makes you feel like a celebrity, if you can afford it

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