Hotels that shrink the sleeping space to a berth or a compact pod and put the rest of the budget into location and shared rooms.
Tokyo, Japan
Two Japanese formats share one building here. Part of it works as a net café, part as a capsule hotel, and guests can move between the two.
It stands in Kabukicho, Shinjuku, roughly five minutes on foot from Shinjuku Station. Late trains and early departures are the obvious reason to stay.
Berths are stacked in rows with a curtain or panel at the end. Shared areas include a lounge and a large manga library, and washrooms are communal.
Hiroshima, Japan
This is a classic capsule-and-sauna house of the older Japanese kind. Bathing comes first and the berth is where the evening ends.
Guests change into house wear, use the baths and sauna, then climb into a stacked capsule for the night. The hotel takes male guests only.
It sits in central Hiroshima, within reach of the tram lines that run across the city. For a single night between trains, it does the job without fuss.
Philadelphia, United States
Philadelphia's first micro-hotel opened in 2019 on South 19th Street, a short walk from Rittenhouse Square.
Rooms average about 180 square feet. Some hold a bunk, others a single queen bed, and storage is built into the frame of the bed so cases slide underneath.
Tall windows stop the rooms feeling shut in. Downstairs there is a café, and the rooftop holds a restaurant and bar, so the small room is not the whole stay.