citizenM Chicago
Chicago, United States
citizenM works from a straightforward premise: shrink the room, spend the savings on everything around it. The Chicago property follows that formula closely, with a compact fixed-layout room built around a wall-to-wall bed.
A tablet by the bed handles lights, blinds, temperature and television. Check-in is done at a self-service kiosk. Staff are present, but they are there to help rather than to process anyone.
The ground floor carries the weight — a long lounge stocked with design furniture, a bar that runs all day and workspace that guests use freely. The building sits in the Loop, close to the river and within walking distance of the theatre district.
Hotel MyCUBE Hiroshima
Hiroshima, Japan
MyCUBE occupies a narrow building in central Hiroshima and offers enclosed private cabins rather than the open-fronted bunks of an older capsule hotel. Each has a door, which changes the experience considerably.
The cabins are small and efficiently fitted — bed, light, power, a place for a bag. Bathing and washing are communal, arranged on a separate floor and kept scrupulously clean.
For travellers passing through on the way to Miyajima or spending a night near the Peace Memorial Park, it is a practical, quiet and inexpensive option in a district well served by the tram network.
First Cabin Sapporo
Sapporo, Japan
First Cabin borrows its vocabulary from aviation. Rooms are sold as cabin classes, and the larger grades give a standing-height space with a proper bed rather than a pod you slide into.
Walls stop short of the ceiling, so the hotel asks for quiet and generally gets it. Luggage storage, robes and slippers are provided, and guests move between cabin and bath in the latter.
The Sapporo branch is in Susukino, which puts food and late transport within a few minutes' walk. A large communal bath is the real draw after a cold day, particularly in winter.