Sleepbox Hotel Tverskaya, Moscow

Architects Alexey Goryainov and Mikhail Crimea of Moscow-based firm Arch Group, took the industry by surprise a few years back when they built the first Sleepbox Pods, affordable white sleeping quarters for travelers to have a quick rest, at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport. The resting pods helped reshape the traveling experience for people going in and out of Moscow, in a positive way. Because of its success, Arch Group has teamed up with businessman leonid chernikov to open the first SleepBox Hotelnear the Belorussky Railway Station, in Moscow. The Sleepbox Hotel consists of 46 double-unit wooden pods, and 10 single-unit pods constructed from aluminum and plastic. Arch Group designed a spacecraft-like environment for the interiors, with white panels, bending up from the wall to the ceiling and contrasting black accent pieces. The pods sit side-by-side and are spread out over four floors, each of the small rooms has a TV, bed, mirror, and storage space - the necessities. The restrooms and showers are located in a central area where they are to be shared amongst the guests, five on each floor. The hotel also features a community laundry area, and a smoking lounge.

The investor of the hotel, Leonid Chernikov, began to investigate the hostels in central Moscow, but there were not enough and most of them were not pleasant places to stay. Chernikov saw a need for an affordable and clean hotel which led him to Arch-group. The architects explained that it took nearly a year to find the perfect location. "For about a year it has taken to find a suitable space near one of the stations, where people come Aeroexpress. Their proximity is important because capsule hotel is designed mainly for people in the tourist sector of Moscow."

On the ground floor there is the reception area, boxes for visitors and huge information booth - where tourist can find a map of the city subway and schedule Aeroexpresses. The reception also has three iPads, for hotel guests to go online and find interesting information. On the second and third floors are arranged wooden sleepboxes for two. Inside each of them - two beds, a shelf, dresser, mirror and wall outlet. Some of the sleepboxes have windows, but any of them can be closed curtain.