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New Microhotels Fight Airbnb With 65 Square Foot Rooms (nytimes.com)
HughPickens.com writes: Amy Zipkin writes in the [New York Times] that a growing number of so-called microhotels are taking a smaller-is-better approach to fight Airbnb, offering rooms in New York City for about $100 a night. The catch? Some rooms measure 65 square feet and offer a shared bathroom. "Disruptions from short-term rentals are creating a whole new supply channel," says Scott Berman. The micro concept first gained traction in Europe with brands like CitizenM and Yotel at airports and in urban centers. Now the model is expanding. Yotel, which has a property in Manhattan, plans to open others in San Francisco, Boston, Miami and Brooklyn, as well as London, Geneva and Singapore. Pod expects to open another hotel in Manhattan, as well as in Brooklyn and Washington. "We are focused on the millennial-minded consumer, with an emphasis on style, attitude and design at an economical value," says Vicki Poulos. But some travelers don't necessarily agree that the comfort level equals that of regular hotels. "At first, it is entirely novel," says Diana Edelman. "But then reality hits that it is nearly impossible to open a suitcase in the room without hitting your head on the bed's 'roof' or that you are showering next to the toilet and sink."
I've stayed at CitiezenM in Times Square. Damn nice hotel for the price.
If I'm visiting New York City I'm not there to hang out in the hotel room. All I need is a _clean_ room, soft king bed (I'm tall and my wife likes her space ;-) and a _clean_ bathroom. CitizenM covers this perfectly.
However, I would personally never stay somewhere with a shared bathroom! That's a bit _too_ "European" for my tastes :-)
I travel for business and I travel alone. I don't need a room bigger than you would find in a sleeper car in a train. But the shared bathroom? That sounds like the MBA technique where they deliberately make you miserable in some unnecessary way so that you will upgrade. Airlines have mastered this. They could make the seats with a tiny bit of extra leg room for just a few dollars more per flight. But they won't because they want you to upgrade for a zillion dollars more. The same with the executive lounges, etc. They make the normal waiting areas cold, noisy and uncomfortable so that you will want to go into the executive areas.
But here is my ideal hotel experience. I book my room on a phone. Then when I get to the hotel I use my phone or CC to get into the tiny tiny room that it says is mine. No humans, no wasted extras such as desks, ironing boards, etc.
If there are any features that I would like it would be stunning noise proofing.
One thing that I have long thought would be possible would be that instead of hotels that were huge buildings full of hotel rooms, there would be these little rooms tucked into nooks and crannies throughout the city. Then the management company would send maids out to clean the rooms scattered around. A restaurant would have a few in an old storage room. An office building would have a few dozen on a floor that wasn't used anymore, etc. For me there is little advantage to having a room that is surrounded by 400 other rooms. Being in the office building that I am doing a contract in would be far better.