There are two ways you can think about Sydney’s first capsule hotel, which opened mid-2017. The stacks of sleeping boxes, with their deco-futurist exteriors and space-age interiors, are either coffins with cotton beds, or first-class airline cabin seats. Unlike the latter, a night in the Capsule Hotel will set you back only around $60.
All pods are built for one, and there’s no option to twin-share. The Capsule Hotel is like a slightly more private room in a hostel – instead of a bunkbed you can pick from a pod with a door that opens from the front (basically a sleeping tube you have to crawl inside) or the side (more like a standard bunk, but enclosed). All sleeping pods have Netflix-enabled TV screens, and there’s free, fast Wi-Fi throughout the hotel. The pods are stacked in two tiers, and there are large lockers for you to store your luggage in.
All bathrooms are shared, and there aren’t a tonne to go around. Originally the owners anticipated a backpacker-heavy crowd, but so far there have been more guests travelling for business than leisure in the 70-room hotel.
The Capsule Hotel is located bang in the centre of town, across the road from Haymarket (Sydney’s Chinatown), and a short walk downhill from Darling Harbour. This makes it very convenient, if noisy. If you’re a single traveller who is more private than claustrophobic, and are looking for accommodation at dorm-room prices, then the Capsule Hotel is your silver bullet.