Capsule Hotels

This is a capsule hotel with only what you need overnight. Each cabin sleeps one person, with a mattress, a reading light, a power outlet and a screen for privacy. Baths, lockers and the lounge are shared.

Miyagi Prefecture lies on the Pacific side of the Tohoku region, and Sendai is its capital. For travellers crossing northern Japan by rail, a cabin like this is a simple place to break the journey. You can arrive late, sleep well and leave early.

The name is the schedule: one hour to wash, seven to sleep, one to get ready. The 9 Hours brand built its capsule format around that nine-hour cycle, and the design follows it closely. Surfaces are pale, the signage is graphic, and nothing is there without a purpose.

The pods are moulded and all alike, with lighting meant to help you wind down at night and wake up in the morning. The shower and locker areas are shared and kept orderly. Ishikawa sits on the Sea of Japan coast. Kanazawa, its capital, is known for the Kenroku-en garden and gold-leaf craft.

citizenM offers a smaller room done very well. Here that means a compact room with a wall-to-wall bed beside a large window, a rain shower, and a tablet that controls the lights, blinds and temperature. It is not a pod, but it takes the same approach.

Downstairs works like a shared living room, with design books, art, long tables and a canteen that is open around the clock. Guests check in themselves at kiosks. The hotel stands by the Tiber, a short walk from Tiber Island and the lanes of Trastevere.