The first capsule hotel(胶囊旅馆) which will be opened in Shanghai has attracted many travelers with a little money because of its prices.
The hotel has 68 "capsules", each 1.1-meters high, 1.1-meters wide and 2.2-meters long. The basic price is 28 Yuan ($4.22) per person, plus an additional 4 Yuan an hour. The hotel also offers a package of 88 Yuan for 24 hours.
All of the capsules are from Japan where capsule hotels started, and each is with independent clocks, lights, TV and wireless Internet service. The hotel also has a public lavatory(洗手间)，shower room, smoking room and shared guest room.
"This is a huge bargain compared with other hotels in Shanghai," said Ta Zan, the owner of the hotel. Ta used to stay at capsule hotels in Tokyo during his college years and worked at a capsule hotel while he was doing his MBA in Germany in 2005, so he knows how they work and how to make guests feel comfortable.
He learned experience about capsule hotels from Japan but he has made some special changes based on Chinese guestsˈ habits. "In Japan capsule hotels are usually with bathtubs(浴缸), but in China people are more willing to take a shower, so we have the shower room," he said. He has also separated(分隔开) the capsules into three snoring (打鼾的) zones so that guests who often snore wonˈt disturb others. Like most of capsule hotels in Japan, the one in Shanghai is for men only.
But the idea of staying in such a compact space is not attractive to everyone. "I feel the idea is like putting a person in a coffin(棺材), and the price is also not that attractive. A bed at a youth hostel in Shanghai costs about 60 Yuan per night," said Wang Lei, a student from Beijing.