It's not exactly a room with a view, but one of the UK's leading entrepreneurs believes Britain is ready for the capsule hotel -- a stack of cramped, windowless pods which can be booked for the night or for a matter of hours.
Simon Woodroffe, the man behind the Yo! Sushi chain of japanese conveyor belt restaurants, has brought the concept from Japan and is planning to build the "Yotels" throughout Britain.
A full-scale model of a Yotel room will be shown at a design fair at Earls Court in London later this month, and sites are currently being looked at.
For ?10 an hour or ?75 a night, guests will be able to sleep in rooms measuring 10m2 and without any proper windows.
The only light will come from "internal windows" on to "naturally lit" corridors.
The absence of external windows means the hotels can be built anywhere, including city centers, airports and underground.
Woodroffe insists that while they may have cut down on the size they have not skimped on the luxury. All the rooms, which have been described by their designer as "luxury liner meets The Fifth Element," will contain a flat screen TV, a rotating bed (to save space) and will be connected to broadband, and the lighting will be aeroplane style.
They will be made from kits which will be put together in a studio and then assembled into units.
Space-saving hotels have been hugely popular in Japan, where they are often located near railway stations and cater for business people or commuters who have missed the last train home.
One in central Tokyo has more than 600 pods.
Gerard Greene, managing director of Yotel, said the concept was radical for the UK but made sense for an industry crying out for superior quality but reasonably priced hotel accommodation.
"We are trying to offer people a luxury product at a value for money price, so we used the look of an airplane, and used an airplane designer," he said.
"The rooms are very comfortable, highly fitted with things like the leather you would get in an Aston Martin. It is the look of a four or five-star hotel."
When asked if couples were likely to abuse the opportunity of booking by the hour, Greene said: "We will not be renting rooms by the hour.
"We may, when we build near airports and train stations, rent in blocks of hours, and couples may abuse that.
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