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Coffin Hotels Opening Near You

An anonymous reader writes "Britain will soon see the launch of a chain of automated, short-term hotels for travelers and businesspeople." From the article: "Each soundproof cabin will contain a sofa that converts into a double bed, a pull down desk, closet space, adjustable mood lighting, a shower, wireless Internet, an iPod connection and a flat-screen TV. Check-in and check-out will be automated, but food and drinks will be available."

16 of 229 comments (clear)

  1. I think I am going to have to change my name... by Mr.+Flibble · · Score: 5, Insightful

    To Case:

      The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.

    "It's not like I'm using," Case heard someone say, as he shouldered his way through the crowd around the door of the Chat. "It's like my body's developed this massive drug deficiency." It was a Sprawl voice and a Sprawl joke. The Chatsubo was a bar for professional expatriates; you could drink there for a week and never hear two words in Japanese.

    --
    Try to hack my 31337 firewall!
  2. Re:iPod? by User+956 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "an iPod connection" - You insensitive clod! What about my Creative Zen?

    It's probably just a powered USB port. To most of the world, that is "an ipod connection."

    --
    The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
  3. Makes sense. by Belseth · · Score: 4, Insightful

    There really isn't a downside. Anyone who has traveled much knows you rarely spend much time in the room other than sleeping so large rooms are mostly wasted. If you are staying for more than a few days you pick up a traditional room. They are being put in airports for a reason. People don't stay more than a day or two around an airport and traditionally airport hotels are extremely expense. I'd absolutely go that route if I got stuck with an overnight layover. Beats dropping a couple of hundred for a place to crash.

  4. Claustrophobic by leguirerj · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I don't like confined spaces.

  5. Sheesh, 10 square metres? by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "...business travelers crammed into 10-square-meter cabins."

    They make it seem like 10 square metres is very little. I live in a 1-room, 15 square metre apartment, and I have plenty of space for all my furniture. There's even enough room for a small kitchen in the corner.

    Sheesh... Lousy pampered business-men...

    *Grumble, grumble*

    --
    Eat the rich.
    1. Re:Sheesh, 10 square metres? by slappyjack · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Holy christ, that's quite possibly the most American thing I've seen written on /. to date, and it embarasses me to no end.

  6. Re:... no thanks ! - Britain is a dirty island .. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Why is this modded troll?

    Im from the UK and i dont find this offensive. Infact its a correct image of the UK.
    Alot of people have lost respect for there enviroment.

  7. Not a troll! by Teun · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Shit moderation, this is not a troll, these are sad facts of life on the Island of Britannia!

    --
    "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
  8. Re:Somethiing similar already exists by Kijori · · Score: 1, Insightful

    If they intend mostly to build at airports and other high-throughput venues, they'll be able to charge an almost extortionate amount and the high demand will take care of the rest.

  9. Re:The lack of natural light by tomjen · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Suppose you come in at an odd hour - say 3pm but are suffering from jetlag. Then it would be a good thing not to have any natural light, and a soundproff hotel room.

    --
    Freedom or George Bush
  10. Re:Ipod connection? by The+Great+Wazzoo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "This smells like some smart marketing suit yelling out requirements "we need this...and that!... and an Ipod connection!""

    Congratulations, you've won the jackpot. Indeed, it's marketing. What else did you expect? Someone starting up a business with the intention of going bust? Those people are trying to sell a product, which, consequently, has to appeal to their market's tastes. iPods have proven to fit in that picture. So, indeed, it's smart marketing. Good work, I'd say.

    What do people have against business doing business? Sometimes people seem to forget that businesses are /required/ to have the intention of making a profit. That means marketing.

    Your remark was a bit naive.

  11. Re:that's huge! by Alcoholist · · Score: 2, Insightful

    These mini hotel rooms remind me a lot of the cabins on a cruise ship. They pack a lot of stuff into those.

    --
    Bibo Ergo Sum.
  12. Cruise ship cabins by Mal-2 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Has anyone else noticed these look a lot like prefabricated cruise ship cabins? They too run about 3 meters on a side and contain a functional, if spartan, bathroom. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if these are just a bunch of prefab cubes stuck in a building by crane, then plastered in. At least they don't automatically come with a roommate, like crew quarters...

    Mal-2

    --
    How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.
  13. Mod Parent Insightful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I believe that the promoters have this trade very much in mind, though don't expect them to admit it. Many escorts (upmarket) and street girls (downmarket) in the UK do not have a place to go and rely on using hotels. This adds about 50-100 GBP to the punter's cost, and the punter also has the embarassment of dealing with a hotel receptionist knows what's going on (probably seen the girl many times before). These things will be a Godsend to the trade.

  14. Re:that's huge! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    These Western-style capsules seem to miss the point, a bit, but I guess these are about "luxury" and not necessarily function.

    Well, the Japanese-style capsules assume you're under about 6-foot tall and not obese. That excludes a fair percentage of westeners.

    By the time you scale-up a Japanese-style capsule to fit the average westener, you probably don't lose too much by making it a quarter or half-size hotel room.

  15. Re:Capsule flights--yes please! by fish+waffle · · Score: 2, Insightful
    I don't understand why nobody seems to sell capsule flights, particularly for long hauls.

    Lots of reasons it turns out:

    • Some people who lie down for a long time will have some difficulty standing up after. That would slow down deplaning, especially in an emergency.
    • For equivalent/maximal space usage, capsules would have to be stacked. Then you need a certain agility to access upper ones, which limits who can have which capsule.
    • Oh good, your capsule is the one previously occupied for 7 hours by someone with serious b.o., perfume, or even vertigo issues. Cleaning a capsule is a lot more work than cleaning a seat.
    • Capsules take up more space. Think about it---your average coach seat does not have room for you to stand up, and is fairly minimal in surroundings in other dimensions too. A capsule that wouldn't be obscenely claustrophobic would definitely require more space. Keep in mind that a few inches of extra space is the major difference between business and coach prices.
    • It's hard to eat/drink laying down. While the whole point might be to facilitate sleeping, not everyone sleeps well on planes, so inevitably they'd be consuming food/drink.
    • People wouldn't stay in their capsules. They'd keep coming out to stretch etc; you'd need to provide some kind of mingling, common space, which would require more space per person.
    • People would have sex in them. Messy.