This hotel is planned to be one of Canada's skinniest — and its rooms are set to be even tighter.
Vancouver is reviewing a proposal to build a 22-storey hotel that would be 30 feet wide that, instead of standard rooms, would have what's called "nano pods," spaces just larger than a single bed.
The city plans to take public comments from May 6 to May 19 on a rezoning proposal by Unison Architecture to demolish a vacant, 30-foot-wide storefront built in the 1950s at 948 Howe St., just south of Robson Square, and build what would be called the Nano Hotel. The project with 408 sleeping spaces would be Vancouver's first pod hotel.
The proposal shows how hotels with pods, or capsules, instead of full-sized rooms have been spreading since they were developed in Japan in the 1970s. The concept has since popped up in China, South Korea, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Europe and North America to compete with affordable dormitory-style hostels that have been popular for decades with backpackers, students and solo travelers.
In recent years, companies opening properties with pod-sized rooms include New York-based Pod Hotels and Arlo Hotels; Yotel of London and CityHub, headquartered in the Netherlands.
Global chains like Marriott and Hilton are getting into the act, too. Hilton recently announced a franchise agreement at Yotel's 23 properties across 10 countries, with a goal of more than tripling the portfolio in the coming years. Canada's first such property, the Pangea Pod Hotel, opened near British Columbia's Whistler skiing resort in 2018, while the Panda Pod Hotel in Richmond, south of Vancouver, opened the following year with 64 single-occupancy spaces.
Common washrooms
For more claustrophobic travelers, the accommodations may take some adjustment. The 56,000-square-foot building is designed with 361 “nano pod" sleeping capsules measuring 33 square feet with luggage storage underneath. Nano pod guests would share a common washroom with sink, shower and toilet on each floor.
In return for the small room and shared facilities, the nightly room rates are planned to start at $125, lower than the $170 average for single rooms elsewhere in Vancouver, according to CoStar data.
There are also 47 nano rooms, more spacious than the pods at 105 square feet, with double beds and private toilets and showers. They would cost roughly $135 a night.
The proposed project, located a few minutes walk from the City Centre SkyTrain station and the Granville Street Entertainment District, looks to attract "young nomads, digital workers and budget-conscious guests," according to the application.
Hospitality trade groups, the British Columbia Hotel Association and Destination Vancouver, wrote letters supporting the application by Vancouver-based Unison Architecture.
Unison, the buyer of the two-floor building that will be demolished, designed and plans to develop the hotel project.
The firm is building the slender hotel to fit the available space. The company did not comment beyond the application.
The thin tower with a sky lobby, bar and public rooftop terrace would be wedged between mid-rise office buildings on the parcel that Unison bought from the British Columbia Hotel Association for $4 million in January of last year.
Vancouver's tourist and hospitality association, which has called for more projects to meet the region's rising demand for hotel rooms, endorses the idea.
"We fully support the development of pod hotels to meet the demand for affordable, high-quality and well-managed overnight accommodation," said Royce Chwin, CEO of hospitality trade association Destination Vancouver. "Furthermore, we support the need for a streamlined planning process to ensure development can take place quickly and cost-efficiently."