A Moscow airport eager to cater to tired travelers has installed the "Sleepbox," a modular dorm room, in a terminal so travelers can get a little shut eye while waiting for the final boarding call.
The box, a brainchild of the design firm Arch Group, is essentially a tiny cabin with bunk beds and mood lighting. The BBC reports that the Russian design team is hoping that its boxes will be installed in terminals where travelers will be able to rent them for short periods of time.
By-the-hour hotel rooms may not have the best reputation, but the BBC reports that the "Sleepbox" is proving popular with Russian travelers. Though the current model being used in the airport is actually built for hostels (thus the bunk bed), Arch Group has designed a one-person model specifically intended for airport use.
The single person pods will have Wifi connections, a tv screen and easily adjustable lighting.
UPDATE, 9/16/11: Sleepbox architects Arch Group suggest a nightly rate for the capsule of $15 an hour or $50 per night, but there's no word yet from Moscow's Aeroexpress, the operator of this mini hotel, on how much they're charging for the experimental unit. (Also unclear is who's to clean the Sleepbox between guests.)
Other capsule hotels have caught on in Tokyo and Shanghai, where rates are a very reasonable $1 an hour. And one company is hoping to take the concept into orbit.