The Air Hotel Auckland - Luxury of first class, at rock-bottom prices
 

A friend of mine has finally given me the go-ahead to post concept pictures of his capsule-hotel inspired creation. Due for completion in time for the Rugby World Cup 2011, The Air Hotel will be just a few minutes walk away from the Auckland, New Zealand CBD. Each guest will essentially have their own first-class suite, as seen on the A380, etc. :D

From the temporary website:

• Modern clean facilities
• Comfortable memory foam mattress (the same mattress used in airline first class)
• Fresh blankets, duvets, pillows & linen supplied
• Your own flat screen LCD TV
• Your own power point
• Your own reading light and table lamp
• Your own arm chair / chaise lounge that converts into a bed
• Your own fold down tray table for laptop etc
• Your own coffee table and cup holder
• Your own mirror/dressing table
• Your own coat hanger
• Your own lockable under bed luggage storage
• Other short & long term storage available – bikes, bags, surfboard..
• Clean separate self-contained showers
• Unlimited gas hot water
• Coin operated laundry
• Towels, iron, hair dryer, adaptor, laptop etc available for hire.
• Internet/WiFi available
• Pay phone
• 24 hour card access
• Next to bus stop
• Airport transport arranged

And, of course, some of the photos:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...6_822561_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-...8_583672_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._2495142_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._7054153_n.jpg


More photos here.

Please post your thoughts, questions, and feedback - and I'll ensure to get James to sign up so he can personally respond to any questions or comments.
^

Personally, I don't want to stay at a "hotel" where someone can climb (or just look) over the wall into my "room." It's different on a plane where there's no expectation of privacy, but not in a hotel. Another issue, is your friend going to enforce a curfew or "quiet time?" If not, it's just going to be one big slumber party or loud bunk house.

Thanks BLI-Flyer for your valuable feedback, your feedback is important to us and have contributed to our FAQs. I have since done a FAQ section for the website (see below).

Would you be able to tell me a little bit more about what type of accommodation that you would normally stay in while traveling, this will help us understand what type of traveler would stay in our accommodation and what type of traveler wouldn't.

I can totally see your point, I guess we are not completing with hotels that have totally separate rooms, our main market would be people who normally sleeps in bunk beds in a dorm room, who is used to the noise and the lack of privacy, I guess we are a bit better than a bunk bed in the dorm room but not as good as a proper hotel room.

FAQ:

Q: Can you hear the TVs in the other suites?
A: No, the TV can only be heard through a head phone just like you would on an aircraft.

Q: What about privacy? Can people look over the partition wall?
A: The partition walls and doors are 1.6m in height, which is above the eye level of most people, plus you will be either sitting down or laying on the bed, so there will be no direct line of sight from that height. This is a big improvement from the open-bunks-in-dorm-rooms type accommodation where this hotel concept is based on. We will also have separate cabins for male and female guest.

Q: What about the lights?
A: At night the only common lighting are the corridor lights, which is mounted low on the ground, this will have minimum effect on the suites. Inside each suite there is a small down light for reading and writing just like on an aircraft, this will have little effect on the other suites as it is below the partition height. If you would like a total black out, sleeping mask is available on request.

Q: Are you going to enforce a curfew or "quiet time"?
A: It is like visiting a library, the same library rule will apply in the cabin, to ensure guest can read, write, surf the internet, watch TV or sleep in peace and quiet. There is an area downstair for socialising.

I'm not your market, so you'll be better off asking people for feedback who normally sleep in bunk beds in a dorm room. I would never consider the kind of product you are developing as an alternative to a regular hotel room.

thanks for the info. yes you are right we are not an alternative to hotel rooms, we are just an alternative to hostel beds.

Interesting concept.

Personally I think it would be far better if the walls went all the way to the ceiling. However you would then have to consider ventilation, and related building regulations.

Also the rooms could a bit larger, they look to be exactly the same size as on a plane, but you are not facing the same constraints with size/weight.

I agree. The walls should go up to the ceiling. I just assumed they did. There are other "hotels" similar in concept to this where each room is indeed a room no matter how small. Even in a coffin hotel, the capsule is contained. It would seem that the coffin hotel is the most similar in concept. I've stayed before in hostels that had small rooms similar barely bigger than a bed which is also similiar to what you're describing.

thanks enzedflyer for your feedback, your observation is bang on, these are two of the issues that we have considered, we thought about going full height with the partitions but was afraid that it would be too claustrophobic, so have settled on a 1.6m wall which is above the eye level of most people. singapore airlines first class suite have a near full height wall (about 1.8m) while emirates' about 1.6m, i personally prefer emirates', but we are also building a 1.8m prototype at the moment.

yes we are currently trying to make the bed a bit bigger, currently it is 700mm x 1900mm, a standard single matress is 900mm x 1900mm, it may end up being 800mm x 2000mm. the overall "room" size is constrained by the width of the cabin, we try to build a fuselage/cabin similar size to the a380 complete with curve wall and aircraft windows, it is an aircraft theme hotel after all :)

thanks travfar, yes we are trying to avoid being closed-in/claustrophobic, how do you find the small hostel room you stayed in?

It's an interesting concept, but one I struggle to see working.

On your website you make comparisons with hostel single rooms and hostel dorms. As far as comparison with private rooms goes you simply can't - your product isn't private.ture - it's not private. As far a comparison with dorms goes your product:

* lacks space - backpackers have a habit of having a repack now and again and stuff gets sread across the floor.
* has a small bed that's a funny shape - backpackers do not have a problem with decent bunks with proper mattresses.
* is overpriced

Taking your own comparison the advantages you list of your product over a bog standard backpackers:

* Own TV - nice but sitting in a communal lounge with other people and a few beers isn't such a bad thing (and seemingly you won't have the communal TV).
* Privacy Screen/Wall Partition - sort of - but it's still not private.
* Secure Lockable Under Bed Luggage Storage - any decent backpackers has this already, and with far more space than I suspect you will be able to manage with your design.
* Own Fold Down Tray Table for Laptop etc - kind of scraping the barrel here as if the bed were full size you wouldn't need the table, or alternatively you would just sit on the floor (which there isn't space to do).
* OwnCoffee Table / Cup Holder - this is scraping the barrel as backpackers drink coffee in the kitchen not in their dorms.
* Own Arm Chair / Chaise Lounge / Bed - well the bed is small and most dorms have a couple of chairs in them.
* Own Mirror/Dressing Table - available above every washbasin in every backpackers.
* Own Coat Hanger - wow!
* Own Reading Light and Table Lamp - again something that is common in any decent backpackers.
* Own Power Point - dorms have plenty.

New Zealand has a huge number of backpackers with many of them being excellent - if you want to targetthe backpacker market get yourself down to the YHA in Wellington and see how they do tings. If you want to look to the commercial sector for inspiration get yourself to Nomads on Fort Street (the one that was base).

Three other points - I see no evidence of windows in your pictures (dorms need a blast of fresh air as they get smelly), wonder how many beds you will have per dorm, and suggest that Pitt Street is simply the wrong location.

And please appreciate that I've very much been there, done that when it comes to backpacking generally and in NZ in particular.

Thanks philipas. Thank you very much for taking time to go into such detail. I really do appreciate your honesty.

I will go check out these places that you recommended. Thank you.

In your opinion, if we do a direct comparison with dorm rooms and charge a similar rate to the dorm room (say between $25 to $30) it would become more attractive? Or would that not make a difference.

We are going to increase the bed width to 800mm (standard single bed is 900mm wide) and bed length 2000mm to compensate for the taper shape at the end (standard single bed length is 1900mm) Do you think that helps? the reason why we can't make the bed width 900mm is because 900mm is too deep to be use as an arm chair seat - legs will be hanging.

To answer your question there are windows but not shown in the images, the
place is ventilated and airconditioned as well. There will be a cafe and bar down stairs for socializing with other guest.

doubled up post deleted

Had to think long and hard on this one, as it's bordering on violating TOS of FlyerTalk. Alas, it seems like this could be a good alternative for the budget traveler, and if AirHotel folks use advise posted here to improve on the product, then it would be a Win - Win situation ^

<mod hat>Moderator hat off </mod hat>

Now as a budget traveler my own self, I was pretty excited to see this concept. Price is a tad high for my tastes, but I tend to be cheap, and have sacrificed quality for price. OTOH, I have also payed a bit extra to gain a little privacy, so would not mind staying at this place if it were quiet after 10 p.m. And of course, the common room with an option to hang out with fellow travelers is a plus.

EmailKid

As a token of my appreciation for any feedback, please pm me your email address if you would like an invite to the preview in march 2011 and a free voucher for a one night stay.

thanks very much emailkid for not banning me posting here. It is great getting the feedback to help us improve our design.

Thanks for your feedback, which echo on the importance of noise and socialising aspects. We will also review our prices to be more comparable to hostels.

Thanks once again, pm me if you would like an invite to the preview and a free night stay.