Shimmying my way through a tiny door, shoving an oversized backpack through the gap into a room less than a metre wide, an old African proverb pops into my head: “A diamond is a diamond, no matter how small.”
This particular gem is a perfectly-formed capsule bed in London’s newest Japanese-style pod hotel, Otherwander.
And the minute I’m ensconced in this warmly lit, freshly scented and futuristic “nest”, as it’s known at Otherwander, I know I’m going to sleep like a rock.
This is not my first pod-eo.
As one of thousands of weekly commuters to London, often known as TWaTs (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdayers), my quest for a sub-£100 bed has taken me from a hostel dorm with a leaky roof and bucket in London Bridge (£26 per night); to sharing a hot, small and dirty Airbnb room with a large louse in a heatwave in Chiselhurst (£65 a night); and via a selection of often shabby single rooms, regularly in basements, in and around Paddington, King’s Cross and Finsbury Park (barely scraping the budget).
I actually stayed quite recently in one of central London’s cheapest – and busiest – pod hotels and found it more coffin than cocoon.
So I don’t expect to find my favourite London stay – and best night’s sleep yet – in Soho, arguably the coolest but among the most expensive neighbourhoods in England.
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To a passer-by on Dean Street, it’s obvious that Otherwander is something different, with its neon-lit screen and airport-style perspex barriers lighting up a beautiful old building.
Given that I’d found and booked the hotel on Booking.com that morning – for just £65 for the night – it already seemed like I’d got lucky.
With a QR code sent to my phone when I booked, I didn’t even need to stop at reception, just hover the phone above the scanner and I’m in through the barriers and into a very cool, dimly-lit, modern communal space where half a dozen people – ranging in age from early twenties to late fifties – are dotted about tapping away on laptops or staring at their mobile phones.
I head up in the lift, where I’m joined by three twentysomething travellers and a businessman in a suit. Funky jazz music is putting me in a good mood before I’ve even reached my bed for the night.
On the second floor, I find my room number and scan the QR code on my phone again to open the door. I’m greeted by a sleek blue and white painted corridor of tiny hobbit doors.
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My “room” is a mattress in a cabin two metres long by 90cm wide behind one of these tiny doors. Once I’ve ditched my shoes by the door and squeezed in, it’s surprisingly comfortable.
Inside, there’s a digital display where I can adjust the lighting and temperature to my exact specifications – 19 degrees and a warm orange glow. The air feels fresh – perhaps on account of the place being only a few weeks old, but I’m also told the air is piped in from outside rather than recirculated.
There’s a little luggage rack and a mirror, charging sockets and even a hanger for my work clothes the next morning. I arrange my clothes for the following day and clamber out of the pod for a shower – taking the free, fresh towel I’ve been given.
In the bathroom, I find a man in his pants (these are mixed pods and shared bathrooms, so you do have to accept there may be half-naked humans around) and a row of rain showers, complete with shampoo and body wash.
By the time I get back to my capsule and crawl into bed, I feel clean, fresh, relaxed and I’m asleep within minutes. I don’t hear a sound from another guest the whole night.
I wake up the next morning feeling like I’ve had the best sleep in years.
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It’s a little bit of a contortion act to get my clothes on and pack up my things in such a tiny space, but it’s a small price to pay.
I head downstairs to the communal area. It’s 6.30am, but I find Fredrik Korallus, the Swedish CEO of Otherwander, working on his laptop. Six weeks since opening, he’s getting to know his customers.
“When we acquired this site, it was the highest rated hostel in London – Soho Hostel,” he tells me.
“We studied pod hotels in Japan in the 1970s and they were for the working man. We thought it was ideal for London to make accommodation accessible and affordable.
“We are getting businesspeople, global backpackers, city hoppers, commuters. Picking up a lot of people on the day and then getting repeat people. I just love it because we’re allowing a younger generation to get access to London.
“In a regular hotel room you get a lot of facilities, but you don’t use them. You use one towel, you sleep in one bed. We are trying to give you everything you need in a small space. It’s deconstructed hospitality.”
He has big plans to extend that hospitality further, with another site in London on the cards and a team exploring opportunities in New York, Edinburgh and Amsterdam.
I check out like I checked in, walking straight through the perspex doors with my QR code. Like an airport without the queues. And float into work, well-rested and ready for my week ahead.
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