At N5,000 you can sleep in a 'cubicle' in Japan

onnaedo

June 9, 2015 6:11 PM

A 12 square-meter standard double with a shared shower and toilet costs just 3,600 yen (roughly N5,000) a person.

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With a booming tourism industry, the cost of accommodation continues to skyrocket in Japan as many people troop into the island nation for a dose of culture and adventure.

Taking matters in stride, Grids is a hotel that opened in April, which is converted from a 34-year-old office building and offers rooms from 3,300 yen (about 4,800) to about 5,000 yen (about N8,000) a person.

The interesting part? A room stands at 12 square-meters (that's not a lot of space).

If you've come with family or friends, the top floor has a 28 square meter premium room with tatami mats (straw mats) on a raised floor where guests can lay out futons ( padded unsprung mattress) for four, costing about 5,000 yen per person.

According to Yukari Sasaki, senior managing officer for Sankei Building Co, a property developer for Grids who spoke on the company's decision to build the hotel,

"Converting an office building into a hotel is an ideal way to respond to the immediate needs for hotel rooms, building a hotel from scratch costs too much money now because of high construction costs,"

There are also more of such converted hotels charging about 5,500 yen for a "business class cabin" with a single bed and no additional space. This is run by First Cabin.

For an 1,000 yen (about N1,600), you can get a "first class cabin" with space to open up a suitcase and change.

Also, First Cabin in Tsukiji, near Tokyo's famous fish market, is a converted office building with a cafe on the ground floor that becomes a wine bar at night.

Another interesting side to this?

Guests bathe in communal bathrooms large enough for about 10 people.

There are also "nine hours" hotels, based on the notion that people sleep for seven hours and need one hour at either end, at Narita International Airport and in Kyoto.

These feature "sleep pods" which look similar to capsule hotels but are more stylish and claim to have better mattresses.

So would you pay N5,000 to sleep in a cubicle? Share your thoughts with us.

onnaedo