Lofty Lodgings A new class of airy, open and affordable hotels is springing up.

With hotel prices surging, business travelers are taking arenewed interest in midmarket hotels, which usually tradeattractive price points for not-so-attractive design points.

A new hotel company, NYLO, is trying to change that trade-off. The idea,according to CEO John Russell, is to offer the chic style of urbanlofts and the amenities of boutique hotels at midscalerates--typically $115 to $135 per night. NYLO rooms will bespacious, airy, light-filled and slightly industrial. Each roomwill have a flat-screen TV and free high-speed internet; amenitiesinclude a 24-hour restaurant, business center, library, meetingfacilities and gym. The first NYLO properties will open nextyear.

NYLO's intention, Russell says, is to do for loft hotelswhat W did for boutique hotels: Carve a new lodging category thatresonates with trend-conscious consumers, standardize it, and bringit to multiple markets.

For now, NYLO has few competitors. One is Loft 523 in NewOrleans, which originated in 1880 as a carriage and dry-goodswarehouse. It's small enough--18 units--to assign a personalassistant to each guest; the rooms are a generous 600 square feet.The décor is luxury minimalist: bare walls and floors, sconcesrather than bedside lamps, but cushy Italian beds, huge bathrooms,two-headed showers and sexy freestanding bathtubs. Room rates startat $199.

Another competitor is The Loft Hotel Tribeca, set in the LowerManhattan district that contains the city's largestconcentration of residential lofts. The property, slated to openthis summer, has 45 rooms. In-room amenities include flat-screenTVs and DVD players, and the hotel offers a business center, Wi-Fiand a 24-hour concierge. Room rates start at $295.