I Slept In An Airport Capsule Hotel: Here’s What It’s Like

More and more airports around the world now have sleeping pods or capsules available for rent by the hour. In theory, these are a practical way for weary travellers to get some proper rest before, after or between flights. An airport lounge membership such as Priority Pass or Dragonpass will even get you access to some of these airport capsule hotels for a few hours at a time.

If you have an overnight layover that isn’t quite long enough to justify leaving the airport, these could be a really convenient place to sleep. Unlike in most airport lounges, you can get a proper bed to lie down on.

But what is it really like to sleep in an airport capsule hotel, and is it worth the money?

I recently had a late-night arrival at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, so I decided to find out. I booked a sleeping capsule for the night at Kepler Club, located just downstairs from the arrivals hall in Terminal 1, and slept there before heading into the city the following morning. Not only was this convenient for me, but I was pleasantly surprised with the facilities.

What you get with your sleeping capsule

There are many different airport sleep pod operators around the world – especially in China, the Middle East, Europe and Brazil. The quality and inclusions will of course vary between different brands and locations. While I can’t vouch for all the different airport capsule hotels out there, I can tell you about my experience at Kepler Club in Malaysia.

After checking in at Kepler Club, I was assigned a bed and locker number. My private sleeping capsule was in a dorm room holding 24 capsules in total.

If you’ve stayed in a Japanese-style capsule hotel before, this concept is similar, with completely separate areas for men and women.

The capsule was slightly more spacious than I expected, and my bed was actually very comfortable. I’ve stayed in a few capsule hotels with thin, uncomfortable mattresses – but this was not one of them. Honestly, this bed would rival most First Class beds in the sky.

Within the capsule, there’s a fold-out table, a TV with Netflix, adjustable lights, charging outlets and a few storage nooks. Sheets, blankets and a memory foam pillow are provided.

Outside the sleeping area, there’s another room with lockers, toilets and showers.

My allocated locker had a towel and slippers inside that I could use.

There’s a small drink station near reception with tea, coffee and water available. High-speed Wi-Fi is also provided and worked well.

What about the noise?

One thing that I thought might be a problem was the noise. Although you have your own space (you can roll down the blind for privacy and to block out the light), you can hear people talking, walking past, coughing, snoring… or even accessing their lockers in the next room.

I did of course bring my own earplugs – and in case you forget, the reception provides these for free. These did help a lot.

Kepler Club does allow guests to set an alarm – which is probably for the better if you need to leave after a few hours or have an early flight to catch. However, if you’ve stayed in a hostel or capsule hotel before, you probably know how annoying it is when you get woken by someone else’s alarm clock. It can get even more annoying if the person who set the alarm doesn’t turn it off… or repeatedly hits the snooze button.

The good news is that there’s a strict “no phone calls” policy inside the sleeping area. In fact, the capsule hotel takes noise very seriously. There’s a notice inside each capsule about this, and you can even alert the reception staff discretely on WhatsApp if another guest is being too loud.

Children under 7 aren’t allowed, either.

In the end, I actually slept very well and didn’t get woken up by noise. Perhaps it helped that the guests staying overnight all seemed to be allocated beds at the far end of the room, away from the door. It probably also helped that less than half of the capsules were actually occupied during my stay.

Too hot or cold?

The temperature could be another issue for some people.

When I first arrived, I found it a bit warm inside my capsule – but during the night it was OK. You do get a small fan beside the bed to help cool you down, and extra blankets are available if you feel too cold.

Is it good value for money?

This particular capsule hotel costs AU$14 per hour. If you stay between 10 and 24 hours, you pay only for 10 hours. Since I was planning to stay at least 10 hours, I just booked for around 15 hours and paid AU$140. (While I didn’t stay in my capsule that whole time, I did find it handy to have a locker to leave my luggage the next morning while I went to get breakfast in the airport terminal.)

If you just want to sleep for a few hours and have a shower between flights, I think this is a very reasonable price. It’s comparable to purchasing access to an airport lounge for several hours.

For an overnight stay, though, it’s not that much cheaper than just booking a hotel – and all you really get is a bed in a capsule, Wi-Fi and access to shared bathrooms. If that’s all you want, and you value the convenience of sleeping right in the airport terminal, it’s not terrible value.

Have you tried out an airport sleep pod or capsule hotel? Do you think it’s worth it? Let us know on the AFF forum!