Capsule hotels coming to England!
The Syndney Morning Herald is reporting that a Japanese-style capsule hotel will soon be opening near London’s Heathrow airport:
In the late 1970s a bunk-style concept swept Japan. Architect Kisho Kurokawa had ushered in a cubic revolution with his Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tokyo’s Ginza district. It was a world first; 140 furnished, box-shaped, replaceable living units suspended from a central core. *
Kurokawa’s ideas for the high life didn’t catch on. But stripped to its bare bones the cube concept became a runaway success in the shape of the Japanese capsule hotel. The architect, who has since designed Kuala Lumpur’s international airport, is now likely to be chuckling heartily at the latest idea for airport accommodation. It’s a marriage of the capsule hotel with comforts inspired by BA’s business class.
The Yotel will have both premium and standard cabin capsules, costing from $100 to $175 a night, providing privacy, rest and sleep tweaked with a touch of class. Travellers will also be able to book cabins in four-hour blocks for $62.50, ideal for sudden delays or lengthy lay-overs. A 40-cabin Yotel will open later this year in London’s Heathrow’s Terminal 4 and a 50-cabin one at Gatwick. A third Yotel is planned for central London next year.
Each air-conditioned, 10.5 square metre capsule contains a sofa-bed, work desk with free Internet connectivity, en-suite bathroom with “monsoon rain shower” and flat-screen TV, with program downloads available. There’s no mention of a mini bar although food and drink will be available. Bookable on-line, each Yotel will have fully automated check-in and check-out. Does this sound like your kind of hotel? Can you see the concept catching on?
Sounds pretty cool. Here are some pictures:
The hideous Nagakin Tower, an example of the original Japanese capsule hotel concept.
The interior of a Nagakin Tower room: not too shabby.
One of Yotel’s rooms: pretty cool.
I have yet to stay in a Japanese capsule hotel, but I am reasonably sure most of them have much smaller capsules than the ones pictured above.
