Suite dreams | Sleeping arrangements at Pangea

If the notion of a pod hotel makes you think of endless rows of soulless capsules in some extensive warehouse-like facility, we suggest you think again. In fact, we politely ask that you to drop any preconceived ideas you may have about staying in a pod hotel entirely – because while it’s true that there are some hotels out there where things are done in the way you might be thinking (most of them in downtown Tokyo), that’s certainly not us. At the Pangea Pod Hotel, we do things very differently indeed. How are we different? Read on…

THE SUITES.

First of all, our pods are arranged into private suites that are only accessible to guests who are staying in them (via an encoded wristband you’ll receive during check-in). We have 8 of these suites with between 6 and 18 pods in each. Some of our suites are “duplexes” with pods spread over two levels, and more than half of our suites boast private balconies.

If you’ve stayed in a typical Tokyo capsule hotel you’ll know that this is a completely different set-up: instead of seemingly unending aisles of pods that leave you feeling overawed and even a little intimidated by the sheer scale and highly impersonal nature of the operation, the sleeping arrangements at Pangea are designed to make you feel comfortable and at home with your surroundings from the moment you walk in.

So while you’ll still be sharing a space with other people (again, only those in your private suite), you certainly won’t be sharing a whole hallway with them. And if you’re traveling with friends and want to make things even more personal, you can reserve an entire suite for your group (assuming, of course, all the pods within it are available).

THE BATHROOMS.

You might be wondering where the bathrooms fit into these arrangements. Well, the answer is that they fit into the suites themselves – unlike pretty much every hostel or capsule hotel we’ve ever stayed in, where the bathrooms are virtually always at the end of some corridor (and occasionally even accessed via an open-plan communal area). Having bathrooms situated within the suites themselves isn’t just convenient, it’s also a great deal more private – at Pangea, you’ll never have to walk sheepishly to the bathroom in plain sight of everybody.

Best of all, we’ve broken down each of our bathrooms into four separately accessed components: a toilet (with its own little vanity), a shower (with an adjoining drying-and-changing area), a larger stand-alone vanity (with a beautiful back-lit mirror), and a separate changing room. And at a ratio of 1 bathroom component for every 1.5 guests at the very most (your suite might even have a 1:1 ratio), it’s unlikely you’ll ever have to wait to use them.

THE DESIGN.

A few years back we stayed in one of the original capsule hotels in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Needless to say, we didn’t get any design ideas. In fact, about the only inspiration we took from that experience was to ensure that our hotel would be as different as possible – and to show that it is possible to create something that’s stylish as well as functional.

So we’ve put a lot of time and resources into ensuring the design of our hotel leaves you feeling inspired, not intimidated. From the private balconies on our upper-floor suites to the unique artwork throughout the property (and in our pods), Pangea has the kind of luxury finishes you’d associate with a boutique hotel.

THINKING DIFFERENTLY YET?

Having individual sleeping compartments that aren’t strictly speaking “bedrooms” is really where the comparisons with a typical capsule hotel end. As you’ve seen, our sleeping arrangements are far more friendly and personal (not to mention more private), our bathrooms are more convenient (and more private too), and the design of our pods and suites is more along the lines of a boutique hotel.

Inspired? Book your stay.

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