Need space? Then you might want to think twice before bedding down in any of these cubbyholes. But still, while the world’s tiniest hotel rooms average just 74 square feet — about half the size of Eva Longoria Parker’s walk-in closet — they are in turns quirky, cute, cool and even luxurious. Plus, they can save you wads of cash while simultaneously ensuring that you’re snug as a bug in a rug.
“What’s not to like?” said Reneta McCarthy, a senior lecturer at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration. “It’s something small, efficient and from a sustainability standpoint, just makes more sense.”
The most miniscule quarters by far are found in the slew of capsule hotels found throughout Tokyo and the rest of Japan. Typically measuring just 18 square feet, the stacked sleeping capsules are not much roomier than coffins — though they do have TVs and wireless connections, and offer a cozy spot to curl up in for businessmen too tired or tipsy for the long commute home. A communal bathroom on the same floor makes for an all-purpose hotel experience at an efficient price.
Some spots are small on space but big on creativity, making clever use of odd objects — like Austria’s Das Park Pipe Hotel, offering 34-square-foot crash pads inside of repurposed cement drainpipes, or De Vrouwe van Stavoren in the Netherlands, letting travelers bunk within 100-square-foot rooms made of old wooden wine casks. The Capsule Hotel, also in the Netherlands, has its guests sleep within bright-orange, 133-square-foot oil-rig survivor pods moored in the Hague.
Then there are the trendy, high-tech, stylish micro-hotels — sleep spots smartly designed to save you money, aggravation or both when traveling to pricey cities or through high-stress airports. In New York, for example, the no-nonsense Jane Hotel offers 50-square-foot cabin-like quarters for around $100. Think small train compartment with flat screen TVs and iPod docks for high-tech travel on the go. And in Amsterdam, Schiphol Airport has both Citizen M, with mod, tech-savvy rooms measuring 150 square feet, and Yotel, whose cool collection of 75-square-foot pods can also be found at London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports.
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