As a young entrepreneur who often works late into the night, sometimes past midnight, Willy Samudra feels his daily commute takes a toll on his energy.

One day, he decided to spend the night at a capsule hotel and ended up making a home out of it. 

When The Jakarta Post met Willy on Tuesday, he had been staying at the Bobobox capsule hotel in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, for a month. 

“At first, I was here for only a night. I finished work at 10 p.m. and didn’t know where to go, so I chose to rest here first. It turned out the place was cozy, so I stayed,” the 24-year-old said, adding it was the cheaper than investing in an apartment or renting a room at an executive boarding house. 

The four-story capsule hotel, which opened just three months ago, hosts 84 individual sleeping capsules – often called “pods”.

First introduced in Japan in 1979, capsule hotels have begun mushrooming around Jakarta and other cities, providing affordable accommodation for busy professionals and solo travelers – as long as they are not claustrophobic.  

In a capsule hotel, guests can maintain their privacy in their own pods and can opt for a single-size or king-size bed. However, they have to share a bathroom, pantry and dining area with other guests. 

The living arrangement doesn’t bother university student Mahendra Dwi Syaifullah, who enjoyed a short staycation at the Bobobox hotel in Kebayoran Baru.

“The concept is unique. It is cheap and hassle-free,” said Mahendra, adding that he only paid about Rp 300,000 (US$21.50) for a two-night stay. 

A single pod costs Rp 154,000 a night while the double-sized pod is Rp 220,000, but guests can get lower prices thanks to the various discount deals offered on the Bobobox application, said hotel staff member Irvan Junizar. 

“Everything is integrated within the application. Guests don’t need to worry. You can order from the app, pay with internet banking and [go] cashless,” said Irvan.

Rahmi Yulisa, a 26-year-old solo traveler, was looking for a new experience and practicality when she chose to stay at the Jakpod Hotel in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.

She had a flight that evening. By staying at the hotel, she only needed to walk 170 meters to BNI City Station to take a train to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten.

“My first consideration was curiosity. I wanted to know what it was like [to stay in a capsule hotel]. It was a fun experience for a solo traveler like myself,” she said.  

Jakpod Hotel front desk staff member Dini Apriliani said that aside from travelers, the Jakpod Hotel also catered to office workers who finished work late or needed to attend an early meeting the next day.  

The hotel’s 77 pods are often fully booked on weekdays.

Curiosity and affordability have seen the popularity of capsule hotels surge in Jakarta.  

Both Bobobox and the Jakpod Hotel say they have high occupancy rates and plan to expand to more locations next year. Jakpod Hotel operations manager Muhamad Rizal said the Tanah Abang branch had welcomed 15,600 guests since opening its doors in January this year, with an average occupancy rate of 85 percent each week. 

The hotel chain plans to set up a new branch at Terminal 2 of Soekarno-Hatta airport after the success of its Digital Airport Hotel at Terminal 3. 

Bobobox is also expanding exponentially, opening hotels in Kebayoran and Pancoran in South Jakarta this year with plans to launch another one in Kota Tua in West Jakarta soon.

Bobobox cofounder, Ahmad Qois, told the Post that his hotels enjoyed an occupancy rate of up to 80 percent.

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