Ever tried to book a reasonably priced hotel room in London?
Failed miserably? Well, look no further. easyJet founder Stelios
Haji-Ioannou has come up with a new idea (although we’d like to know
what happened to easyCruise?) – he has bought a 12-room hotel in
Kensington, London and plans an easyHotel brand which is hoped to be
replicated around the world.

The hotel aims to replicate the success of his budget
airline with bargain prices in return for a genuinely no frills “sleep-and-shower” experience. The room is one of 25 in what will
be London’s closest equivalent to Tokyo’s “capsule hotels”, though
there will at least be space to stand up. The hotel’s prefabricated 9ft by
10ft rooms, probably made out of glass fibre or moulded plastic, will be
slotted into the shell of the 19th century building and connected up to water
and electricity.

Guests will be provided with a Japanese-style double
mattress bed with clean sheets and a duvet, a shower, a lavatory, wash basin
with a mirror and a rack for hanging clothes – and a roll of toilet paper. There
will be no breakfast included, no restaurant, not even a reception desk, no
phones, TVs, nor will there be any pictures on the wall or carpet on the
floor. Towels and toiletries will have to be provided by the guests, and
anyone who wants their bed made during the day will be charged extra.

Some of the rooms, which are only nine times bigger than a
phone box, may not even have windows. All bookings will be made on the
internet or over the phone. Those who book early for stays on the less
popular nights will get the £5 bargains. However, the average price is
likely to be just over £30 – the level at which Mr Haji-Ioannou says the
hotel will break even. The top price will be around £50 to £60 for those
taking the last few available rooms. For more info and pictures of the new
hotel in Kensington, London, see: http://www.easyhotel.com/