Attention, tourists: If you're drunk, low on funds, and want to crash in London, you don't have to sleep onthe street. The Japanese capsule-hotel concept has spread to England. For-5 (roughly $9) a night, you can rent a room at the easyHotel in Kensington, near Hyde Park. EasyHotel's main concession to luxury is that guests can stand upright in their 90-square-foot cubicles. The units come with a bed, a shower, a toilet, a sink - and that's it. There's no phone or TV, and windows are optional. The roomlets were designed by New York architect Joel Sanders, but they're the brainchild of Stelios Haji-Ioannou, a tycoon whose easyGroup is a European favorite for budget flights (easyJet), rental cars (easyCar), and credit cards (easyMoney). "You can fly to the Continent for $150, but rooms start at $100," explains easyGroup's James Rothnie, who plans to expand to Paris and Amsterdam, as well as the US. "We're working on the business model so we can offer it to franchises worldwide. Once we're happy with the cookie cutter, we can start cutting cookies."
- Alice Fisher
credit easyGroup
credit easyGroup
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So Long, Suburbia: the Sims Go Boho
London on $9 a Night
