We spend the night in the new rising-star class of hotels in Japan.
There’s a new class of travel accommodation that’s been rising in popularity in Japan recently: the container hotel. Not to be confused with capsule hotels, in which you rent a slot in a wall of sleeping compartments for the night, container hotels give you an actual private room…but that room in enclosed within what’s essentially a converted shipping container.
Container hotels tend to be less expensive than conventional lodgings, but do those saving come at the cost of cramped, maybe even claustrophobic discomfort? To find out, we sent our Japanese-language reporter Takashi Harada to container hotel Cradle Cabin, located in the city of Tateyama in Chiba Prefecture, to spend the night.
As you can see, each container is narrow enough to fit inside a parking space. Granted, these are parking spaces wide enough to accommodate shipping trucks, but still, it doesn’t seem like a lot of left-to-right space from the outside. Things didn’t look any more encouraging when Takashi opened the door to his room, and he inwardly groaned a little at how narrow the layout appeared.
However, after stepping past the entry area, he discovered a surprisingly well-designed interior with all the space he really needed.
Sure, the dimensions are still cozy, but this is pretty much as much space as you get in Japan’s budget-friendly “business hotels.” As for why the area just inside the door seems so narrow, that’s because the container has its own self-contained bathroom and shower.
This was also a pleasant surprise, as Takashi had been bracing himself for the possibility that container hotels would only have a communal restroom and bathing facility. Instead, he had a fully private setup, again comparable to what you’ll find in most regular budget-priced Japanese hotels, including a nice washlet-type toilet.
Continuing to check for places Cradle Cabin might have cut corners, he next checked the bed. Once again, though, his worries were misplaced. The mattress was soft but supportive, and the housekeeping staff had laid out two pillows of differing firmness for him to pick from.
Neatly arranged on and in the desk were a smart TV, clock, phone, hot water kettle, coffee mugs, hair dryer, and tissue box, again, the expected array of niceties for a Japanese hotel…
…and next to the desk was a microwave, a rarity in Japanese hotel rooms, and a nicely sized refrigerator with a freezer compartment too.
Peeking into the shower again, Takashi confirmed that even the provided soap and shampoo are up to scratch, as they’re made by Pola, a well-respected Japanese brand…
…and while you have to grab them from the check-in desk, Cradle Cabin provides all sorts of toiletries like towels, slippers, cotton pads, razors, hair brushes, as well as complimentary coffee and green tea.
In short, this container hotel isn’t missing anything that you’d expect from a regular hotel, and considering the 8,080 yen (US$51) that Takashi was paying for the night, the quality of those amenities were actually above what you usually get in that price range.
But now for the big question: Does staying in a container hotel trigger a claustrophobia attack? Not in Takashi’s case. Yes, the lack of windows can feel a little strange at first, but once he was settled in for the night, lying down in bed and relaxing while watching TV, he stopped being really conscious of being surrounded by four solid walls. Later, after he turned off the lights and closed his eyes, he enjoyed a deep, restful sleep. There was no unwanted ambient light seeping into the room to wake him up in the early morning, and since none of his container’s walls were in contact with those of any other guests, there wasn’t any sound coming through them either.
That said, when Takashi stepped out of his container the next morning, he did feel acutely aware of how wide open the outside world is, and if your travel style involves spending a couple hours in the afternoon just relaxing in your room, the lack of exterior views might start to feel a little oppressive. But as a place to spend the night, capsule hotels are surprisingly comfortable, and now that Takashi has stayed in one, he’d have no worries about staying in another, like maybe Cradle Cabin’s new location it’s planning to open soon in Nishitokyo, west of downtown Tokyo.
Related: Cradle Cabin Tateyama
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