Hotels differ in style, size, quality, and a myriad of other factors all around the world. However, every single hotel in the world has one thing in common with the rest. They are designed to provide guests with accommodations and a place to stay so that they can enjoy and explore the city, town, country, or area that they are visiting. Whether you travel for business, for pleasure, or both, the hotel you stay in can have a major impact on your impression of the location you visit as a whole.
What you may not know about, are some of the different types of hotels that are popular around the world. One of the most unique and interesting types of hotels that you may be lucky enough to encounter in your travels is a capsule hotel or pod hotel. Although they are not the only incredible and unique styles of hotels in the world, there are others out there. Get to know more about capsule and pod hotels so you know what other types of accommodation to look for when you are traveling the globe. History Of Capsule Hotels
Capsule hotels are unlike any other hotels in the world. They originated in the city of Osaka in the Kansai region of Japan and on the island of Honshu. First debuted in the year 1979, capsule hotels were, at the time, considered to be the height of Japanese practicality and efficiency. The word, capsule, first began to enter Japanese vocabulary in the 1960s and has connotations of technological advancement, as well as compact and futuristic design.
A capsule hotel is one of the most unique and compact hotel experiences that you can have. Of course, this also makes it one of the most affordable. These hotels feature rooms that are extremely small. These long cube-like capsules are about six to seven feet long and perhaps three feet high. The idea is to give people just enough space to feel comfortable and get a good night’s rest, without all of the extra frills that take up space and could occupy your time and money.
Can These Hotels Be Ideal? If you are always on the go when you travel, whether it is for business meetings or sightseeing and experiencing the culture of the place you are visiting, then a capsule hotel could be just the ticket for you. The quality capsule hotels include a small television in the capsule as well as free (included) wifi access. Shades and/or capsule doors can be closed to make the capsule more private. They also have their own air conditioning controls within the capsule so that you can make sure you are as comfortable as possible in your small, yet accommodating room.
What About Your Needs Other Than Sleeping? The small capsules you sleep in when you stay in a capsule hotel are really only large enough for you to be in. You can fit your phone and possibly your laptop or tablet in with you if you need to use it, but that is just about it if you want to be comfortable when you sleep. However, sleeping is not all that you need to do at a hotel and you need to worry about the rest of your luggage as well. In these hotels, luggage is kept in a locker. Each guest has their own locker for their possessions so that everything is private and secure.
Shower and restroom facilities are communal in capsule hotels, but are comfortable and accommodating. And if you are concerned about feeling comfortable climbing into your capsule in your pajamas at night, you do not need to be as these hotels also offer separate groups of capsules for men and women.
Japanese Customs And Courtesies When you travel in another country, it is important to understand their customs so that you act accordingly when you are there. Japanese capsule hotels, while very futuristic and innovative in nature still incorporate customs and traditions of the nation.
As you enter a Japanese capsule hotel, you will likely see a series of small shoe lockers. This means you will need to take your shoes off as you enter the lobby to deposit in a shoe locker. Shoe removal is customary in homes and residences to avoid bringing in dirt and grime and to show respect. Most of these capsule hotels have cubbies of clean slippers right near the front door or desks so that you can wear slippers as your check in and get a key for your private shoe locker. These hotels also offer hotel wear that you can slip into when you are inside the hotel. In order to be comfortable guests are given a robe and sweat pants as well.
Keep in mind too that the communal bathrooms in a Japanese capsule hotel are truly communal meaning, that people bathe together in the more open Japanese bathhouse style. Women and men are separated in capsule hotels, so you will bathe only with people of the same gender.
Where You Can Find Hotels Like This Since their invention in Osaka, Japan in 1979, capsule hotels have intrigued guests and hotel owners around the world. Because of this, there are capsule hotels in areas other than Japan today. They are elsewhere in Asia, in Europe, and around the world. There is even a similar style of hotel in the United States known as a pod hotel.
Pod Hotels And What They Have To Offer Speaking of those pod hotels, it is important to understand pod hotels and how they differ from capsule hotels in some ways. The idea of pod hotels is similar to the idea of capsule hotels. They are designed to save space and accommodate more people. Pod hotels are also meant to create affordable hotel accommodation opportunities in the midst of major cities where they might not otherwise be able to find it.
Pod hotels offer numerous different accommodation options. Some of these hotels offer capsules similar to the original design of capsule hotels but most just offer miniaturized hotel rooms. These rooms contain a twin bed or a full bed, television, and a safe for your possessions in most cases. The smaller rooms have communal or shared restrooms between two or more rooms.
Larger rooms, on the other hand, may have private bathrooms and more amenities like a seating area and full closet. Additionally, some of these hotels offer shared rooms in which two guests who do not necessarily know each other stay in the same space. Some of these are bunk-bed style rooms others are more like dorm rooms or youth hostels in design and scope.
Choosing To Stay In Pods The idea is to save money and in the case of shared spaces, single travelers can avoid paying for extra space and amenities they may not need. It also adds a socializing aspect of traveling. In fact, all pod hotels have something of this socializing aspect because of the close quarters and shared spaces. With this information in mind, you can better understand the different styles of hotels that are popular around the world and how they can accommodate you in your travels. Unique hotels like these can help to make your trips more interesting and memorable as well as much more affordable at the same time.