HotelChatter

Benji Lanyado Reports:

Pod Hotels Are All The Rage
It has been, perhaps, the year of the pod hotel. In a few weeks time, the mercurial Stelios of EasyCorp (sic.) will open his latest EasyHotel in Budapest, building on the success of four ventures (three British, one Swiss) so far. Nitenite have got a good ‘un in Birmingham and more on the way in Frankfurt, Berlin and New York, where it will join fellow podbuddy; the imaginatively named Pod Hotel . Qbic have pulled it off in the low countries, and a few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be the first person to try out the world’s first mobile pod , launched by ever-so-uncool UK chain Travelodge. We just can’t get enough pod, we’re told.

Yotel: "First-Class Accommodations"
It all adds up. Pod hotels are small, compact, good value, and efficient. A bit like that other great Japanese gift to the world: sushi. And somewhat inevitably, high in the ideaosphere, two and two collided - Simon Woodruff, scion of the Yo! Sushi chain, entered the pod hotel market. Yotel Gatwick is situated above the South Terminal arrivals hall at Gatwick Airport in London, and is designed to mimic first-class accommodation on a plane. ‘Aero-chic’ maybe? Let’s not go there.

Checking In
One punches pre-ordained numbers into the self-service check-in area, proceeds through the Galley (reception…plane theme, yeah?) and into ones pod. A Standard Cabin starts from £25 for four hours, from £55 overnight…a Premium one from £40 and £80. I’m in a Premium, darling.

Room Reaction
The lighting needs discussion. The corridor is a neon(ish) purple…a little surgical, a little porno. In the room it’s the same…adjustable with a gizmo on the side of your bed, the same gizmo that makes the bed morph from sofa to double berth. Which is cool to watch.

The interior, as you’d expect, is condensed. A decent double and a bit of floor space, separated by a glass wall from a slick bathroom with a large mirror- another slightly porno touch…you work it out.

Amenities, Technologies and £5 Movies
The ‘techno wall’ opposite the bed houses a flatscreen TV through which one orders movies (ok selection, bit pricey at £5 a pop), music (nay bad…surprisingly good reggae), and food. Don’t bother with the food. It seems they’ve applied the ‘pod’ concept here too- head to M&S Food in the arrivals hall for a proper fill.

Bottom Line
But all in all it does the job, with a dash- a small one- of luxury too. If you’re in between flights and can’t be arsed to trek into London proper, this is ideal. And you certainly forget you’re in an airport, which is something I frequently desire when in an airport. The single beds in the standard cabins are pretty big too- you’d easily fit two people in there without too much of a squeeze.

Once You Go Pod...
But the biggest revelation came the following week, when put up in an anti-pod (a normal hotel room). Ogling all the excess space around me, I found myself wondering "Is all that really necessary?" The answer, I realised, is probably not. I’d been podded. These little rooms could well be the future. It’s a hotel, people, just smaller than we know it.

Check out more of Benji's Yotel Photos on Flickr.

Related Stories:
· Yotel Review: Bed Retraction Starts Here [HotelChatter]