While I do think capsule hotels are just too small, I do sympathize with wanting a lifestyle where you own an actual house on actual land in an actually quiet, rural environment, and occasionally commute into the city for work, sleeping in a pieds-a-terre, which for working-class folk would look something like a studio or 1-bedroom apartment within walking distance of the office. You would rent the studio on a monthly basis for basically as long as your relationship continues with that employer, stay there mid-week, and take rail 3-5 hours out to the rural countryside for the weekend.
That's hell. So most of the time you are away from your home and probably from your family if you have one. If you don't have one - you are leaving your home unwatched most of the time. You pay for 2 places instead of 1. 3-5 hrs commute away from your job - that's nuts by itself.
What you should dream of instead - most jobs becoming remote or physically proximal to where you live.
I love the idea, I don’t expect people are respectful enough for it to work where I am, I’d be worried about being stuck next to somebody watching videos on their phone at full volume all night.
Also
Choose a cosy London capsule hotel in a shared dorm for a sociable vibe, meet like-minded travellers, and swap stories or book out an entire dorm for a private group adventure.
This is literally the opposite of what I would want. It would be great to see a privacy and rest focused concept for this, which is what I associate the Japanese ones with, a place for exhausted salarymen to get some quick rest, rather than a backpacking hostel. Nothing wrong with the latter if that’s your thing but it’s not going to appeal to anyone over 25.
In 2023 I stayed in a capsule hotel in Bilbao. There I was told at check in that no talking or loudspeakers of any kind is allow in the capsules. That can only be done in the lounge area.
I spent 3 nights and got much better sleep than I would have at a hostel.
The story is interesting but clearly lacks the most useful parts:
- interview and feedback of people actually using it (since the author says they are not the target audience at the end)
- experience with the shower: does it feel private enough, was it clean, ...
- experience related to other people staying there: could you hear them? were they nice? socializing?
- feeling regarding the small space
I can't speak for this one, but I've stayed in a bunch of these over the years and they're exactly as quoted in the article - better than a hostel, worse than a hotel. Because the rate is higher than a hostel, it prices out the bottom rung crowd, and because the architecture explicitly prioritizes privacy over socialization, the visitors tend to be more respectful of one another. As such, it's quiet and clean enough, although obviously if you are sleeping next to a bunch of other people you may hear some snoring, farts, sleeptalking etc.
Some of these are better sound-proofed than others. Some even have little TVs or radios inside, but I've never found that worse than traffic or construction noise if you're anyway in the city. There's always earplugs.
Shared bathrooms suck, especially if you need to be out during "rush hour" when everyone else also needs to be out, but for a saving of $100+ per night there's plenty of people who would gladly accept holding their pee for a few minutes and/or getting into an already-steamed-up and damp shower cubicle. Most people gotta work 4 hours to make that kind of money back.
When I was commuting back to London for work I tried a hostel in Central London, I think it was about £25 a night 9 years ago. The room itself was clean and 'only' 6 people in it.
The main lobby was nice and a pint was a reasonable price - I sat there after having dinner at work, and read a book, which felt pretty nice to be honest.
The bed was comfy, with clean good smelling sheets.
But there were three issues that meant I went back to relying on friends and family until I got a local job.
1. Someone's feet smelt terrible - so bad it was hard to sleep
2. Someone snored loadly - it was even harder to sleep
3. The shower was grimy. I was lucky to have a ThirdSpace membership so showered there instead
It was a bargain and saved me traveling after a long day of work and having to be social after a very early start to get to London on the Monday. But the better option for me was to find a suitable local job and not do the extra long week commute. (I was also missing my family loads too, so it was never a longer term option for me).
I stayed at this exact location earlier this year. The showers are in individual stalls (felt private enough to me) and quite clean. You could hear other people occasionally but there wasn't any socialising and there's no space for it anyway. Spaces felt safe/cozy (unusually good light/sound design helped a lot I felt), although the lack of any storage/work space makes it less practical than a hotel room for longer stays. The audience was probably 80% tourists and 20% working poor.
This article is something of a PR-piece for Criterion Capital, who are generally not a good influence in London
"The Prince Charles Cinema near Leicester Square claims Aziz is trying to “bully” it out of its building, while his business has also played a key role in the closure of the world’s first YMCA branch near Tottenham Court Road."
https://www.londoncentric.media/p/asif-aziz-delta-point-croy...
"Why does a property company controlled by one of London’s richest men keep leasing expensive shop units to students with no obvious retail experience — only for those students to repeatedly vanish without paying millions of pounds in [property] taxes?"
https://www.londoncentric.media/p/asf-aziz-london-candy-shop...
I stayed in this location as a solo tourist for four nights last year. I was in a "cocoon" not a capsule. My room looked a little different from the photo at the website for 1 person, in that there were no hooks on the wall for hanging clothes, but there was a low, small table that could be used to set a laptop computer on top. No chairs, no TV, no windows, but with a sink/toilet/shower. It was OK, although I probably wouldn't do it again, since I can afford something more traditional if I choose (like the Tower Hotel, which I moved to for another four nights).
The facility was nice, clean and modern (it is in the Trocadero building, I think they have over 700 rooms when I asked), but the cafe didn't open until something like 9 AM so I had to go out several times in the morning for my coffee. I ended up using the bathroom mirror backlight as a night light, otherwise it is pitch black.
One way to describe it is as a very pleasant jail cell, which (of course) you can leave at will.
I wouldn't worry about fire: it seems to be quite modern so most likely has quite some fire equipment and concrete. Common parts from the pictures don't seem to have much flammable stuff. Last time I stayed in London was in a hotel assembled from multiple old 3-4 floors buildings and multiple old wooden staircases, like to go to your room you had to go to floor 2 then end of a corridor then to floor 3 and right left and stuff like this in 1-person wide corridors and stairs. There I was scared of a fire because there was definitely a feeling of no way to escape fast.
Really? I spent a few nights in a capsule hotel in Shinjuku (Tokyo) and the experience was great. It was cheap, quiet, clean, and had everything I wanted (quiet private space, free coffee and "onsen" bath. Would definitely recommend.
Never stayed in one, but "quiet and clean" are pretty much de facto standard for any Japanese accommodation.
I always enjoyed their hotels, and my preference was usually some of the cheaper ones, like the Prince hotels. I have stayed in ones like the fancy Dai Ichi ones, but I felt that they weren't really all that much better than the cheaper ones (but I'm sure there's even fancier ones, for folks that can afford).
> Workers who moved out of London for remote work are under pressure to come back to the office in the city, and some are choosing to stay in Japanese-inspired sleeping pods for just £30 ($40).
People that could be living in human friendly spaces are being pushed to live in a tube for no significant reason other than the whims of the wealthy.
Even setting aside stuff like fire hazards or claustrophobia, notably absent from this is the ability to lead a social life inside: no place to bring a partner or a group of friends.
Your time will be spent at work or recharging for the next work day.
It sounds great to me. I travel regularly for work, and when doing so I work and sleep with no social life. I get as much work done as possible and then I go back to my house and family. I don’t need a big room or anything really, because I’m just there for work. They obviously don’t fit every use case.
I definitely shouldn’t have to pay more for a hotel because other people are claustrophobic. And the fire thing is a red herring, in a modern city there are fire codes and inspections - presumably this is very regulated. You’re almost certainly less safe staying in an unregulated air bnb, people have died in airbnb fires.
Try telling the boomer generation that they have to work in the city center, for a salary insufficient for suitable housing (read: space for children) close by.
Then, while remote-work could work, tell them they can’t, instead, push then toward sleeping in a king-sized coffin while god knows how they can manage having children.
Depends on a person I guess. I suffer in shared rooms and it's exhausting both physically and mentally for me. At the same time the few times I was in a capsule hotel were between OK and great - I just need a clean private space to rest and that's it.
I don't mind living in such a place if I'm alone. But I'm not a sound sleeper so I figured the noise is going to be very upsetting. I'll probably try to stay in the office if no one cares...
I'm exclusively a side sleeper. You use a U pillow, which the X5A rests between (something akin to the neck pillow you typically see used for airport travel; there are a lot of variations to test to find whatever works best for a given person in terms of comfort). There are also a lot of variations of cut-out pillow options for headphones/earbuds and ears (people with sensitive ears), for side sleepers.
So: X5A hard plastic ear segments between U shaped pillow (the U shape supports your skull, the hard plastic goes between the U) -> then ideally something very soft under the U shaped pillow which buffers between the hard plastic of the X5A and your mattress, so the plastic never fully presses against anything firm (if the plastic of the X5A meets something firm, then your skull is meeting something firm). Very soft memory foam can work great for that, or really anything super soft.
Does it cancel human voices effectively? I have tried a few such earphones but none of them is good against human voices. I'm particularly sensitive to human voices.
With earbuds it'll easily wipe out human voices, including louder voices. A number of years ago I rented an apartment where the walls were paper thin. I experimented with the most comfortable noise to utilize via the earbuds (which are worn inside the X5A). Either music or brown noise would entirely eliminate 100% of routine neighbor noise combined with the X5A headset. The brown noise was hyper effective in tandem with the X5A and far more comfortable compared to white noise (which is almost always a mistake to use as a noise interruption agent).
X5A + brown noise = you can't hear alarms, you can't hear dogs barking nearby, you can't hear yelling. All normal noises vanish. So be aware of your surroundings, you won't hear a typical fire alarm either for example.
The 3M X3A + brown noise will drown out bird chirping and ~95% of human voice noise. The X3A is far more comfortable - slimmer - than the X5A. If you need max reduction of neighbor annoyance, nothing beats the X5A though. Neither of these are particularly expensive, they're both worth trying.
Some people try to use headphone type noise cancellation, which is mediocre at cancelling most noise. I found instead of using headphone noise cancellation, it was far better in most circumstances to use the X3A + earbuds while working - that tandem was very comfortable to wear for long periods of time. The X5A is not very comfortable, it's just max effective.
If London's real estate market had not been obliterated by allowing the world's mega rich to buy apartments they use twice a year for a week, then this disgraceful human stacking venture would not exist.
The ultra wealthy live in a very small number of buildings that have no meaningful impact on rental prices for normal people. The high end buildings that are mostly empty have rents starting at £3k/month for a studio, which is completely out of reach for normal people. London’s problem is the U.K’s problem: not enough housing is being built.
The middle-wealthy landlords are the people profiteering off of normal-people housing, but they are a symptom of not building enough.
> You’re one air con fuckup from asphyxiating on your own CO2 by the looks of it.
You might as well say the same thing about any sealed building, like virtually every skyscraper, or honestly most hotels I've stayed in (without exterior windows that you can open).
Buildings have air ducts for forced air flow. This isn't any different. Each capsule has one vent for fresh air, another that removes the air. It's the same way regular rooms work.
And oxygen and CO2 diffuse through air and ducts anyways, passively, even if blower fans fail. Plus there are additional gaps anyways for safety. You're not going to suffocate. They do actually think about these things in building codes. You're not allowed to build rooms that would suffocate someone if mechanical fans failed.
Ventilation for accommodation in the UK is extremely poorly regulated, or not at all, from what I can tell. I've been given rooms with a hermetically sealed window and no A/C unit.
I stayed at a brand new Hyatt the other day and the A/C had no "fan" only option (ie to avoid dry throats), and when off, provided no passive ventilation as far as I could tell. No opening window. And this was an aparthotel with a cooker etc. Absolutely ridiculous.
Premier Inn's budget 'Hub' brand chain have sealed windows and just wall-mounted A/C (not fed fresh air from a central duct). Should be illegal
I think legally they're allowed to use the 1 inch space under the door as ventilation...
You actually need a lot of ventilation in hotels because they often use very harsh chemicals especially in the linen
The story clearly mentions people who have no such choice but have to go to the city because their work requires it, and wouldn't spend 250$ per night to meet such requirement.
What you should dream of instead - most jobs becoming remote or physically proximal to where you live.
Also
This is literally the opposite of what I would want. It would be great to see a privacy and rest focused concept for this, which is what I associate the Japanese ones with, a place for exhausted salarymen to get some quick rest, rather than a backpacking hostel. Nothing wrong with the latter if that’s your thing but it’s not going to appeal to anyone over 25.I spent 3 nights and got much better sleep than I would have at a hostel.
Some of these are better sound-proofed than others. Some even have little TVs or radios inside, but I've never found that worse than traffic or construction noise if you're anyway in the city. There's always earplugs.
Shared bathrooms suck, especially if you need to be out during "rush hour" when everyone else also needs to be out, but for a saving of $100+ per night there's plenty of people who would gladly accept holding their pee for a few minutes and/or getting into an already-steamed-up and damp shower cubicle. Most people gotta work 4 hours to make that kind of money back.
The main lobby was nice and a pint was a reasonable price - I sat there after having dinner at work, and read a book, which felt pretty nice to be honest.
The bed was comfy, with clean good smelling sheets.
But there were three issues that meant I went back to relying on friends and family until I got a local job.
1. Someone's feet smelt terrible - so bad it was hard to sleep
2. Someone snored loadly - it was even harder to sleep
3. The shower was grimy. I was lucky to have a ThirdSpace membership so showered there instead
It was a bargain and saved me traveling after a long day of work and having to be social after a very early start to get to London on the Monday. But the better option for me was to find a suitable local job and not do the extra long week commute. (I was also missing my family loads too, so it was never a longer term option for me).
"The Prince Charles Cinema near Leicester Square claims Aziz is trying to “bully” it out of its building, while his business has also played a key role in the closure of the world’s first YMCA branch near Tottenham Court Road." https://www.londoncentric.media/p/asif-aziz-delta-point-croy...
"Why does a property company controlled by one of London’s richest men keep leasing expensive shop units to students with no obvious retail experience — only for those students to repeatedly vanish without paying millions of pounds in [property] taxes?" https://www.londoncentric.media/p/asf-aziz-london-candy-shop...
I guess snails were not available at the time https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2025/dec/04/... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46241159
The facility was nice, clean and modern (it is in the Trocadero building, I think they have over 700 rooms when I asked), but the cafe didn't open until something like 9 AM so I had to go out several times in the morning for my coffee. I ended up using the bathroom mirror backlight as a night light, otherwise it is pitch black.
One way to describe it is as a very pleasant jail cell, which (of course) you can leave at will.
My biggest worry about these types of places would be safety. A fire could be horrifying.
I always enjoyed their hotels, and my preference was usually some of the cheaper ones, like the Prince hotels. I have stayed in ones like the fancy Dai Ichi ones, but I felt that they weren't really all that much better than the cheaper ones (but I'm sure there's even fancier ones, for folks that can afford).
The problem with capsule hotels is that it attracts the wrong crowd. In Japan it works because they are considerate.
I've used a capsule pod for a week. Drunk people having sex above your head is not fun. Those plastic pods are a bit flimsy.
The last day there was a whole polish work crew that invited there girlfriends. They had no problem walking around in their underwear.
I had this Japanese vibe in mind, but that was quickly gone.
> Workers who moved out of London for remote work are under pressure to come back to the office in the city, and some are choosing to stay in Japanese-inspired sleeping pods for just £30 ($40).
People that could be living in human friendly spaces are being pushed to live in a tube for no significant reason other than the whims of the wealthy.
Even setting aside stuff like fire hazards or claustrophobia, notably absent from this is the ability to lead a social life inside: no place to bring a partner or a group of friends.
Your time will be spent at work or recharging for the next work day.
I definitely shouldn’t have to pay more for a hotel because other people are claustrophobic. And the fire thing is a red herring, in a modern city there are fire codes and inspections - presumably this is very regulated. You’re almost certainly less safe staying in an unregulated air bnb, people have died in airbnb fires.
See https://montrealgazette.com/news/owner-of-old-montreal-build... for example
It seems like any low paying job that lets them get back home every evening would be better than this.
I think it’s time for a societal reality-check.
edit: checked wrong location, only 1 of the locations has capsules and it is 27 pounds as advertised
https://zedwellhotels.com/locations/london/piccadilly-circus...
Edit, Jan 1 is £48
Still forcing workers to return to office when they have already gotten used to remote work is so messed up. Capitalism sucks.
Fully agree on forced RTO being evil.
So: X5A hard plastic ear segments between U shaped pillow (the U shape supports your skull, the hard plastic goes between the U) -> then ideally something very soft under the U shaped pillow which buffers between the hard plastic of the X5A and your mattress, so the plastic never fully presses against anything firm (if the plastic of the X5A meets something firm, then your skull is meeting something firm). Very soft memory foam can work great for that, or really anything super soft.
X5A + brown noise = you can't hear alarms, you can't hear dogs barking nearby, you can't hear yelling. All normal noises vanish. So be aware of your surroundings, you won't hear a typical fire alarm either for example.
Some people try to use headphone type noise cancellation, which is mediocre at cancelling most noise. I found instead of using headphone noise cancellation, it was far better in most circumstances to use the X3A + earbuds while working - that tandem was very comfortable to wear for long periods of time. The X5A is not very comfortable, it's just max effective.
The middle-wealthy landlords are the people profiteering off of normal-people housing, but they are a symptom of not building enough.
You might as well say the same thing about any sealed building, like virtually every skyscraper, or honestly most hotels I've stayed in (without exterior windows that you can open).
Buildings have air ducts for forced air flow. This isn't any different. Each capsule has one vent for fresh air, another that removes the air. It's the same way regular rooms work.
And oxygen and CO2 diffuse through air and ducts anyways, passively, even if blower fans fail. Plus there are additional gaps anyways for safety. You're not going to suffocate. They do actually think about these things in building codes. You're not allowed to build rooms that would suffocate someone if mechanical fans failed.
Your body measures CO2 (not O2), and will escalate to full-blown panic will before it’s particularly dangerous. You’d leave on your own.
Ventilation for accommodation in the UK is extremely poorly regulated, or not at all, from what I can tell. I've been given rooms with a hermetically sealed window and no A/C unit.
I stayed at a brand new Hyatt the other day and the A/C had no "fan" only option (ie to avoid dry throats), and when off, provided no passive ventilation as far as I could tell. No opening window. And this was an aparthotel with a cooker etc. Absolutely ridiculous.
Premier Inn's budget 'Hub' brand chain have sealed windows and just wall-mounted A/C (not fed fresh air from a central duct). Should be illegal
I think legally they're allowed to use the 1 inch space under the door as ventilation...
You actually need a lot of ventilation in hotels because they often use very harsh chemicals especially in the linen