Shrinking Rooms in New York
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
No April Fools joking around this time, but, one way to shrink the cost of rising prices in the travel industry is to shrink the size of the rooms available for accommodations. It is a concept that has been embraced in recent years around Europe and now the idea is making its way into the United States. High priced markets where real estate is at a premium (like New York) are looking for more options to meet the needs of budget travelers.
The idea that many experts in the travel industry are working on is that travelers are willing to trade in a little luxury for a great low price. The end result is a micro-hotel. Basically a visitor gets a room the size of a sleeper car on a train or a bathroom in a luxury hotel. The price could be as low as $100 a night - even in the heart of New York. http://www.thejanenyc.com/#/home
Developers are attempting to make the tiny rooms seem quaint and charming instead of just cramped. The average room is around seven feet wide and eight feet long. The only furniture is a small single bed. Guests will store items above the bed and below the bed in specially designed storage compartments. Additions of mirrors and small windows will hopefully help increase the feeling of a larger room and decrease the feeling of claustrophobia that some might get in small spaces.
Micro-hotels do not typically have private bathrooms and instead guests share public restrooms on each floor. Some developers create larger suites that come at a higher price that do include private bathrooms. These rooms are closer to the traditional accommodations that most U.S. travelers have come to expect.
The travel industry is looking for more incentives to get consumers to make vacations and travel a part of their ever tightening budgets. Micro-hotels are just one way to provide a little luxury at a big discount for visitors.