These Quirky, Futuristic Hotels Are Taking on Airbnb

On a recent trip to Manhattan, I couldn't make up one's mind where to stay. I was in town for a week, which is besides long to impose on friends. Having lived in that location for seven years, I knew the city was phenomenally expensive. But afterward all the legal scuffles between the city and Airbnb, paying to crash at a stranger'due south pad only didn't experience as cool or safe an choice as it once did. I looked through the listings, but everything in my price range was either miles outside the city or looked super scary.

Then I remembered I'd had a like upshot when booking a trip to Silicon Valley, and establish a very reasonably priced bazaar hotel chain called aloft. It'south a younger adjunct of the Starwood group and is part of a growing trend of hotels fighting back against Airbnb with a tech-centric stay: work/sleep mini lofts with basic kitchen facilities, pervasive Wi-Fi, lounge areas with communal seating setups, and a NASDAQ ticker tape feed above the elevator bays, so you can bank check your startup's valuation earlier heading to a meeting on Sand Hill Road. (We tried out its "emoji room service" back in 2022.)

For my New York stay, I establish two similarly tech-savvy hotels—CitizenM (above) and Yotel—and decided to split up my time between them.

CitizenM

CitizenM is conveniently located on E 50th Street about Times Square. But my first thought was, is this a hotel or a buffet? Considering there'due south no check-in desk, just a pocket-sized set of screens to the left of a communal dining table situated well-nigh comfortable squishy sofas, bookcases with color-coded Penguin paperbacks, contemporary graphic art on the walls, and chic baristas.

There are friendly people to help, but only if you need them. Otherwise, it's pretty much self service; tap, swipe, and select a room, and your room key is discharged.

CitizenM started in The Netherlands and, as you might expect, is serious about smart pattern, free energy efficiency, its global carbon footprint, forward-thinking engineering science, and a futuristic feel. The make is aimed at "the type who crosses continents the way others cross streets" to quote their press kit; in other words, the aforementioned global nomad Airbnb wants to attract.

Then what are the rooms like? In a word: clever. Tiny but brilliantly put together, the bed is big and stretches horizontally from one wall to the other, but it's not claustrophobic. The bath is encased within an ergonomic plastic pod, which also acts as a light source. The room is dominated by a flat screen entirely controlled from an iPad with several fun pre-sets, including film night (lights power downwardly, blackout blind slides into place, multiple motion-picture show choices announced; two free per day), and a rosier glow and subtle background ambient audio in instance yous're not traveling solitary (ahem).

What'south not included? No snacks, no mini bar, no java machine, no room service, no turn-down or shoe shine. Merely if you need to fe your shirts, there'due south a communal ironing room, which is a nice touch for the weary route warrior.

The best part? The wake-up pre-ready. I set an warning for 6 a.grand. and when that time arrived, the blinds cranked upward, revealing the Manhattan skyline, while sunny light settings came on via an automatic dimmer control (which helped, every bit it was nighttime, cold, and snowing exterior), and a soft female vocalization gently counted downward via the multi-room hidden speakers; a delightful audio/visual warning clock.

Yotel

Like, CitizenM, Yotel aims to meet the needs of the new international traveler, but it'southward imaginatively inspired by Tokyo Pop airport design.

Created by Simon Woodroffe (who brought sushi carousel restaurant chain YO! to London in 1997) and Gerard Greene, it'southward the airline cabin lifestyle writ large. In fact, Woodroffe'southward latest venture is Yo! Abode, bringing Japanese style dwellings to highly populated urban areas.

At Yotel, the airline motif is carried throughout from Ground Control (lobby) cocky-service check-in terminals to Mission Control (concierge flooring and communal areas on the fourth floor) and right into the cabins themselves. If y'all're a fan of napping within aught-gravity pods in Asian airports, or envied Bruce Willis' suspended animation setup in The Fifth Chemical element, you'll enjoy Yotel. It does the Hotel of the Future concept very well, correct downwardly to the robot called YOBOT, which deftly tackles baggage storage and retrieval.

The rooms are super efficient: beds retract into sofas with trays subconscious in the flexible frame. A built-in, well-appointed writing surface with a 60s-era plastic chair is all you need. Pivot-prick reading lights on moveable arms provide enough illumination, and there are power outlets everywhere, nearly notably in Yotel'southward signature "techno wall" centered around a apartment-screen Telly.

The hallways are designed similar a spaceship with purple lettering on glowing white LED room signs. Vending machines on each floor offer necessities like chocolate, condoms, and chargers.

Again, like CitizenM, the rooms are purely functional sleep and shower spaces, so guests are encouraged to head to the main flooring for communal eating, lounging, and business interconnectedness activities.

In the morning, PCMag had java with Claes Landberg, Full general Manager New York, who came to the Yotel brand 4 years ago. Originally from Sweden, Landberg has spent 20 years in the hotel concern, with prior feel in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and New York, at MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment, and Hilton group.

"Today'southward society is very different and time is a big article," he told PCMag. "Yotel is about the time to come, putting the guest kickoff, giving them a little more than freedom and more command, for example, with the cocky-service check-in, that takes ninety seconds, and so they don't have to stand in line."

Landberg pointed out that Yotel'southward efficient design is not retro-fitting. "At that place are a lot of hotels in this city with small rooms, merely they try to fit all the traditional hotel furniture into them. We've specifically designed the cabins for the footprint, drawing on our inspiration from the airline world. Luxury travel with design for smart use.

"Nosotros like to be tech-forward hither, starting with our super-speed Wi-Fi, to enhance the guest feel," said Landberg. "We desire to make it possible for you lot to utilize your ain device, and non have to employ ours. There will be even more than power outlets in the new cabins, likewise as more USB, for international travelers. And, soon, you'll exist able to use HDMI transmitters, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi to direct stream movies from your own device to the newer, smarter, TVs in our cabins."

For the geek traveler, Yotel is definitely a reasonably priced hotel, mainly considering it automated much of its services, but also because it's quite far west on 10th Avenue. However, Yotel has street cred, due to the number of people who stay there during Comic Con.

As I posted shots of my Yotel stay on Instagram, the artist known as Dub Williams commented with a story virtually his brush with a geek icon on his last visit: "It'southward close to Javits, and so I stayed there a few nights for NY Comic Con with a buddy who had gotten a room. Anyway, in the anteroom I was on my way into the elevator and Stan Lee was coming out. I looked down at him and my jaw dropped, he looked upwards at me, chuckled and smiled, shook my hand and went on his mode before I could stammer out a word."

With affordable rooms (for Manhattan, anyway; about $200-$300 per night), a tech focus, and the possibility of a Stan Lee sighting, hotels like CitizenM and Yotel are encroaching on Airbnb's territory in 2022. Not many Airbnb hosts have robots, subsequently all.

Disclosure: My room at Yotel was upgraded and comped past management afterward I told them I was a journalist and writing this piece.

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/news/14314/these-quirky-futuristic-hotels-are-taking-on-airbnb

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