Most of us spend money on lavish hotel suites when all we really need is a soft place to sleep.
Capsule hotels, which are springing up around Asia, help tourists save cash by only charging for the essentials.
The busy Asian country of Japan opened its first capsule hotel, the Capsule Inn, in Osaka in 1979. However today, capsule hotels can now be found in other tourist hot spots including China, Malaysia, and other Asian countries. Typically each fiberglass capsule measures a minuscule two meter by one meter. That isn’t a lot of space for living, but it should do for sleeping and soaking up the room’s high-tech facilities. Capsules typically have a small bed and power for operating its television, light, and alarm clock. To meet the demand from busy Asian businessmen, rooms also tend to have wireless internet access. There’s no space for bathroom facilities, but communal washrooms help travelers feel fresh.
A capsule hotel in Japan
Capsules are stacked side by side and one on top of the other, something like pet cages at a boarding kennel. Curtains or fiberglass doors help guests maintain their privacy, and luggage is stored in lockers to ensure it doesn’t clutter the capsules.
Given their tiny rooms, capsule hotels aren’t the place for bunkering down with a family, or even a significant other. But if you’re traveling solo and hoping to save cash, the affordability and novelty of these rooms can be appealing. Expect to pay between $10 and $25 US for a 10 hour stay, or a little more for a full day, far less than you will at a backpackers’ hostel or other budget room.
