I have always been fascinated by the concept of pod hotels. Had heard about them for the first time when reading about Japan. I had tried booking one of them, but unfortunately the work trip got cancelled due to some fake emergency created by one of my managers at work, so parked it for next time
I later realized that even Mumbai has pod hotels now and I was excited to try out. Pod hotel experience can be mixed and so was mine
Entry of pods in India
I am used to staying in hostel dorms. The concept of privacy and closed space at similar costs, lesser noise seemed like a good advantage, especially in large cities where real estate costs are going through the roof
Shark Tank Season 5 in India had two pod hotel companies face off, something that made me reinforce the growth prospects of the concept. I had heard of pod hotels coming up in railway stations in India, with surprisingly good reviews
After I vacated my home in Mumbai, I had to travel for work and decided to choose one of these pod hotels- DG pods
Features of the pod
- 4-6 pods in each room. Key card to open the room and pod
- Luggage storage section beside the pod which can only be opened using key card
- Footwear space near entry and reception to avoid dirtying the inner space
- Common bathrooms, separated by gender. There were 4-5 bathrooms with toilets inside. Atleast a couple of them would be try
- No towels provided. bathrooms had liquid soap
- There were controls for AC, lights, color of lights. TV had only Youtube working. Most charging points inside didn’t work
- Small kitchen + common area for hangout, charging laptops outside the pods
I saw many advantages of pod hotel experience
- Location: In railway stations where I could just step in and out before or after train departure
- Flexible check in times: This is only if booked directly on the website. Booking through aggregator sites limits to 12 PM check in
- Privacy: The closed space meant I could do work calls from inside the pod
- Costs: One of the most reasonable option considering location and proximity to central Mumbai
- Food options: My favorite Steamy mugs was a 10 min walk away. They also had a railway canteen next door (although cleanliness there was a big question)
- Charging point and TV option although they didn’t work fully
- Customizable AC, and lights-A pain point for me otherwise making it too cold for my liking. No random light switching on at nights by other residents!
I made 2 bookings, one from their website directly and one through Make my trip since the first option kept failing after payment. They were proactive to reach out to me regarding refunds and aligned that they would adjust one of the payments for the booking, refunding the rest.
Once I stayed there, I also realized there are many other things to be cognizant of
What is not so good
- Noise: I had anticipated noise from trains but that was never the problem, it was people. Many travelers came in at midnight and spent entire night talking through till their train next morning. Civic sense is hard to ingrain in people unless you give up sleep in educating them!
- Mosquitoes: They somehow managed to keep coming in through the vents, despite killing all of them before sleeping. No amount of repellents helped when they just sat on your body although not all of them were the biting kind. The humming noise was enough to drive away my sleep
- Strict check out times: Despite late check in post 8 PM, they were not flexible to allow late checkout for aggregator bookings. The hourly option does not work if not booked through website. They didn’t allow sitting in the common space too. I just moved to AC waiting room which was INR 10 per hour and didn’t burn a hole in my pocket
- Cleanliness: Was a mixed bag. The shared washrooms were sometimes wet, but there were multiple washrooms and it was easy to find a dry alternative. The corners had stains and the bed linen too, with all the mosquito killing by residents. The place where I left luggage outside the pod was also dirty
- The TV worked only with Youtube and few other DIY options. Mobile phone charging point worked on one day only and only in one angle
Few other elements to be aware of
- You leave footwear outside in a locker room
- Climbing the upper pod is a hassle when you want to go in and come out multiple times for charging, food, washrooms. The occupancy is typically low enough to get lower pods most of the time
- You can get cup maggi, tea coffee on payment on site. I didn’t have the courage to ask if they could allow my own food in their microwave oven
Final take on the pod hotel experience
It was a good enough stay option for the price, if you set expectations on cleanliness and partial sleep. A private hotel room is better if you can afford it. Not a good option beyond couple of days as frustrations and sleep deprivation increase. A little more civic sense among residents, cleanliness and enforcing guest rules by the property can tilt the decision to must stay
My sense is pod hotels are much cleaner and well maintained in Japan. Civic sense of travelers are also better in Japan with a culture of cleanliness, so definitely recommend a pod hotel experience in Japan when you are there