Are Tiny “Pod Hotels” the Hot New Thing in Philly?

Hotel rooms in Philadelphia are popping up everywhere as nonstop demand makes the need for lodging grow more and more every day. Despite that, there’s always visitors clamoring for more. Affordability is another big issue in hospitality when it comes to the City of Brotherly Love. As it stands, it would be tough for a visitor of only average means to stay within the city and enjoy all of its attractions, because the hotel alone would be prohibitively expensive. But an emerging trend in the hotel sphere could mean exciting new things for Philly.

Pod Hotels are tiny hotel rooms that save guests money by saving space. Pictured is a room at Pod Hotels NYC.

In Center City, near the southeast corner of 19th and Ludlow Streets, the newest outpost of the Pod Hotels chain is being built. Pod Hotels are micro hotel rooms that offer visitors clean and inviting, albeit very tiny lodging for a fraction of the price of a standard hotel. Have you ever seen pictures of those capsule hotels in Japan where people rent the equivalent of a roomy coffin overnight just so that they have a place to sleep and lock the door? This is a slightly expanded play on that concept.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer: “When the 11-story Pod Philly property has its opening, anticipated in September 2019, its 252 guest rooms, including bathroom, will average 170 square feet — smaller than two 2018 Toyota Corollas parked side by side. By contrast, guest rooms in an average, full-service city-center hotel average 350 square feet, according to commercial real estate firm JLL.”

The room will have a comfortable bed (or bunk beds, if you need to sleep two people separately), a nice, big TV, and a tiny but functional bathroom with a stand-up shower. Storage will be limited to drawers under the bed and hooks on the wall under the TV. The floors are polyvinyl instead of carpeting so that they are easier to clean.

On the ground floor of the hotel will be a late-night diner, a bar, and a cafe. With everything included, it’s everything an adult visitors needs to visit the city for less than $100 a night. Pod hotels are a phase that is seriously growing in major metro areas all around the United States, and it seems that it is Philly’s time to embrace the trend.