Slashdot Mirror
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."
What's an Ipod connection? And what does it do? Say it's to enable people to fill up their mp3 player with new music, why isn't it just a USB port? If it's so you can hear your music, why isn't just a jack stick?
This smells like some smart marketing suit yelling out requirements "we need this...and that!... and an Ipod connection!"
Given the fact that in general, British public areas are usually filthy in terms of grime and litter, I don't think this is going to work.
How do you know who slept in one of these "pods" before you, or what state you'll find one in ?
Some of the B&B's I've stayed in here have been downright nasty, as well as some hotels and hostels.
We can't even keep our hospitals clean.
Also, everything gets vandalised here, even the windows on the trains have graffiti scratched onto them.
I can imagine "parties" occuring in these pods, where 4 or 5 kids crowd into them, drink themselves into a coma and vomit all over the place - don't think it could happen ? - heh, try living here.
A slashdotting - you get the stick first and then the carrot !
Expect to see a lot of these places springing up by 2012. And dont expect them to be cheap.
I'm living near london now but very happy that I will be in another country by 2012. London will be hell on earth. Good luck to the locals!
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Capsule - err, Coffin as its British translation seems to go - when the room is 10 square meters? Oh hey - I do live in an apartment of 1 living room, 2 bedrooms, and 3 capsules. Err, coffin sized bed rooms. And my room (shared) is a coffin size too? If that was a news of opening finally a real Japanese sized capsule hotel, it would score as geek news, but I don't see its geek newsworthness for the sake of it containing the word iPod.
Not every hotel. There are some very decent chains and plenty of decent independents out a bit. Go at the right time of year and you'll even find decent offers in more upmarket places. I've never had to spend more than £100 a night and frequently spend a lot less for a decent place. but if you're foolish enough to rent a "tourist class" room around Picadilly Circus then you can expect to stay in a rathole. The same is true of Amsterdam, but even worse since the narrow building construction means you'll be hauling your bags up 3 flights of steep stairs.
The smart thing to realise about London is that the Tube is your friend. It's easy enough to find somewhere lying out a bit which is only 15 minutes away from all of the attractions.
I think that this would hit a great niche for me in terms of non-business travel if they had one of these in London proper (or any other city I'd like to visit, London being a personal favorite). I *don't* need a really fluffy hotel room, but the last "quaint" place I stayed in was not that nice. So somewhere between "super-budget" and "luxury" I could see people going for a small room but with the right features. Something $100/night in London that didn't suck would probably go over very well.
"Where quality is like a dead stinking rat - you just can't miss it."
"Costing roughly 70 dollars a night (but also bookable for four-hour periods), the rooms are aimed at passengers waiting for connections or those who want to sleep or work before a meeting." ...or lonely business men wanting somewhere to entertain the "ladies".
Having these hotels in hub airports would probably make them pretty popular with those who miss connections or have cancelled flights. This fall, I was going through Detroit, and they cancelled my connection with the next one in 8 hrs. Exhausted, and with a toddler in tow (who desperately needed a nap), I gladly plunked down $220 for 7 hrs in a Westin (most expensive nap ever). I would have loved to have had a $70 capsule hotel as an option.
Normally just seems to mean a mini jack. Sometimes with a cradle for the IPod itself. Obviously in a perfect world "3.5mm Stereo Speaker Connection Cable" is more accurate, but it doesn't quite roll off the tongue, does it?
Or if you are in Japan and want a nice traditional cheap hostel-style room, then find a 'ryokan' somewhere.
I'd seriously like to know where you found an actual cheap ryokan.
In my (limited) experience, a ryokan will be traditional and charming, but always somewhere from "quite a lot more expensive than the usual business hotel" to "you have got to be kidding, I could buy these square feet in Tokyo with that kind of money".
That's not to say a ryokan isn't worth the stay; on the contrary. If you're vacationing in Japan, go for the ryokan over the boring hotel every time.
But again, if you're adventurous, take one night or two at a love hotel; the experience really is worth it. My local favourite is "Chapel Christmas", where it's Christmas every day of the year: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jannem/75774506/
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I would like to see flights with capsules.
Since I'm over 2m tall, the seats are extremely uncomfortable.
If I could opt for a coffin and an unfolded nap, I would almost certainly do so.
Then weight distribution would be easy for the airlines.
Of course there's safety issues, "someone please think of the children."
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... though the price is a little high for what you get.
:)
I recently took a motorcycling vacation through the UK, and honestly finding places to stay was a little tougher than it is in the US. Here you can be sure of finding a budget hotel easily and quickly. Most of the time, to find somewhere to stay in the UK you've got to be either (a) near a big city or (b) near a tourist trap. That becomes a problem because typically the hotels are more expensive in these areas.
Had this sort of thing been available, then the two nights I spent in London out of my two weeks I probably would have stayed there. It seems like just the sort of thing I needed; small, convenient and the price is not too high. My experience of hotels in England seems typically much higher than I'm used to. While traveling (not for business) I'm usually more than happy with a $40 per night Red Roof Inn.
Having said that, I did end up staying at a hostel in Cardiff that was a lot cheaper than this (and almost stayed at a hostel in Brighton except for finding a great deal on a hotel room down the street). If you don't mind the "communal living" stuff and can live with the odor of weed in the lounge then this is a great option, especially if you're touring on a motorbike or just generally trying to keep the budget low.
Back on topic, I would definitely use hotels like this when traveling. Usually all I need is a single night, and I don't intend on spending a huge amount of time in the room itself. I find the wireless Internet and stuff a little useless though... if this is really a room just to sleep and then go do stuff then why do you need a reason to stick around the little room?? When I was touring, if I wanted to use the Internet I normally didn't use the Hotel Internet connection and instead found a nearby Internet cafe. More sociable, and usually pretty cheap. Plus, I got some good (and bad) tea and coffee out of it
I've stayed at a couple of capsule hotels around Tokyo (one near Shimbashi, another in Ueno) and found them to be comfortable and even relaxing. As I understand it, a lot of the capsule hotels grew out of the sento (public bath-houses), so many have a bathing area, which includes not only a place to shower, but spa-style tubs of warm, hot, and/or cold water to relax or detox. When you check in, you also get cheap but functional Japanese robe to undress into. Between that, the baths, the, uh, interesting porn in the capsules (there's a TV in them), and the beer vending machines, spending 3500-5000 yen (about $30-45) for one night isn't all that bad, and depending on where you live, definitely better than $100 for a cabride home because you missed the train (which I've also done).
These Western-style capsules seem to miss the point, a bit, but I guess these are about "luxury" and not necessarily function. Even so, I'd much rather enjoy (and spend money on) a nice bath in a capsule hotel than a glitzed up night in one of these.
I'd love to see airports, train stations, and maybe a few other places have short term rentable units even smaller.
Imagine a space 9 feet long, 3 feet high, and 3 feet deep. At one end, a 2 foot wide by 2 foot deep table on which could be placed a carry on bag. An electrical outlet could be available for charging laptops and such. The other 7 feet in length (2.13 meters) would be a padded, easily cleanable surface. Set in the wall at the back would be two one time use cleaning rags, a one time use pillow, and a cheap sheet & blanket. Well filtered airflow with a CO and CO2 alarm built in would be a requirement of course.
You put in a credit card, it snaps a picture of the unit and then it opens. You are agreeing to a contract that says:
1. If its not clean, you have 1 minute to decide that and reject the unit.
2. You agree to use it for $x/hour.
3. You agree to a $50 fee if you do not leave it clean.
Assuming it opens, and is clean, you take the first of the two cleaning rags and wipe it down. Toss the rag, and pull out the sheet and blanket, the one time pillow and you've got a bed. Plug in the laptop to charge, pull the door closed behind you and sleep. Both you and the laptop get a couple of hours rest and recharging.
On leaving, you toss the sheets and pillow away, wipe down the bed with the other rag, take your stuff and leave. When you close the door another picture is taken of the "finished" state of the unit in case you've left a mess. A short cleaning cycle runs using fresh air, UV light, and who knows what else. The unit is ready for the next person.
Given most of these places have enough height to them, you could easily stack two.
In an airport, having them in the secure part of the terminal combined with good strong wall makes the security threat pretty minimal.
There are many times in airports I'd have been willing to pay $30 or more for a few hours that way.
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