Word: hotelful
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...They've picked the right place to stress-test budget lodging concepts. The average cost of a London hotel room is $234 a night, making the city one of the priciest in the world. Beecham says it was his personal experiences as a consumer - specifically, his distaste for what he calls "rip-off" charges for things like phone calls and movies - that inspired him to go into the business. He built a traditional hotel, but lowered costs by making careful choices in siting and design. Rooms at the Hoxton are all 20 sq m in size, roughly 20% smaller than...
...working on answers - and their novel approaches to issues such as room size and pricing could change the travel industry. One of these fledgling hoteliers is Sinclair Beecham, co-founder of the U.K.'s Pret A Manger sandwich-shop chain, who last autumn opened the 205-room Hoxton Hotel, which he calls an "urban lodge," in London. Urban lodge? Unlike a Shrager-inspired boutique hotel, where cool, sleek design often comes off cold, Hoxton Hotel has the homey comforts of a rural inn. Yet, says Beecham, "It's got concrete floors, exposed columns and exposed ceilings - it's very urban...
...contrast to Beecham's somewhat orthodox business model, the Yotel is downright radical, attempting to pack guests into much smaller spaces than Western consumers usually encounter. Woodroffe says he was influenced by Japan's capsule hotels, which feature rooms little bigger than the sleeping compartments on trains. Yotel's "pod rooms" will offer a bit more space than Japanese-style cocoons. Still, they're not for the claustrophobic. The largest are just 10.5 sq m, though they're tall enough for even the most statuesque of guests to stand up in. Also jammed into that space: tiny workstations...
...three operators offer special pricing plans for exceptionally thrifty guests. Like many airlines, both easyHotel and the Hoxton Hotel give discounts for early booking. (Reserving a month in advance at the South Kensington easyHotel will save you about $10.) Meanwhile, Woodroffe says he intends to rent Yotel rooms for as little as $49 for a four-hour stay. That will be possible because he plans to roll out Yotels at airports (a Heathrow Yotel is slated to open this summer) and other travel hubs such as train and subway stations, where guests in transit may require rooms only...
...Still, the London crowd seems to have a head start. Beecham says he's ready to open a second hotel and is already scouring the globe for suitable locations. There's already an easyHotel franchise in Basel; two more London branches are set to open this summer, followed by others in Luton, England, and Budapest. EasyHotel has also inked a deal with Dubai's Istithmar Hotels to open another 38 in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia. Meanwhile, a third Yotel may open as soon as year-end at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. Kuwait's IFA Hotels and Resorts...