Once you get over the fact that it's a converted Travelodge and that the doors open right to the street, it's a very good place. It's not too far from downtown Boise (15 min walk, maximum) and each room has a minimalist European feel to it, which reminded me of places in Amsterdam and Oslo. Definitely not what I expected when staying in Boise!

The bar is definitely worth a try too!

My wife and I stayed here one night based on a high recommendation from a friend. Very cool concept and it almost works. We liked the design of the rooms but they just didn't have a good balance, especially the bathroom. The style is high end but it somehow clashes with the fact that the hotel used to be a crappy, concrete establishment. It gives off a David Lynch-like feel which can be cool but somewhat unsettling for a good, romantic evening. Plus, the rooms stayed quite cold, especially the bathroom, even with the heat on for a few hours. The drinks down in the bar were good and the vibe nice and cozy. Other people seem to really like the place so perhaps I'm being too critical or have stayed at too many concept hotels that really work. Its good, just not great.

My husband I go to Boise quarterly to do some volunteer work for a nonprofit and discovered the Modern Hotel and Bar on Trip Advisor. It was newly renovated with a fun retro chic style decor, had a lively bar and was very affordable for downtown at $99/night. Our only complaint was that the room was kind of cold when we first arrived so we turned on the heat. Later that night, it got so hot that I turned the heat off completely. To be honest, I didn't spend much time looking at the controls so it could have been operator (me) error. Would defintely stay there again.

From the outside, this looks like a nicely renovated Travelodge. (I seriously think it was) but renovated by some people with really good taste who have traveled a lot. Once you get past the weirdness of your door opening to the great outdoors, the following features are nice:
-Great location downtown, but not in a noisy area.
-The most mind-blowing orange juice and Grapefruit juice every squeezed from fruit.
-Busy and lively bar with bartenders who are passionate about making a good cocktail. For heaven's sake they have two sizes of ice cubes!! If they tweak out about that, you can only imagine the lengths they go to make a good drink.
-Outdoor courtyard with gas and rock fireplaces in the place where the pool used to be
-Very comfortable beds & high end bath amenities from Aveda
-Ceiling mounted shower head in a huge shower.
-Perfect WiFi in the room and elsewhere
-Coffee is excellent

The following things are not so great:

-The shower made a very loud foghorn noise for about 5 minutes after you turn it on.
-Boise is not warm in the winter and thus every time you open the door, the entire room chills
-Desk/work area is way too narrow for serious business travelers who work in their rooms and the work lighting is poor.
-The continental breakfast is minimalist, which turns out to be kind of lame (other than the mind-blowing orange juice and coffee) It is toast, granola, milk and bagels. Period.

Overall, it was a fun place to stay and definitely worth checking out.