CHINA: Hong Kong company is bringing wifi-enabled capsule rooms to travellers and university students in the world's most expensive property market.

Record ID: 858843

  • Title: CHINA: Hong Kong company is bringing wifi-enabled capsule rooms to travellers and university students in the world's most expensive property market.
  • Date: 14th January 2012
  • Summary: HONG KONG, CHINA (FILE) (REUTERS) BUILDINGS IN HONG KONG/ SKYLINE
  • Embargoed: 29th January 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China, China
  • City:
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Quirky,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVAEAQK7L6K8E9SNYO2AP2PV2W9D
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: A Hong Kong company is bringing wifi-enabled capsule rooms to travellers and university students in a space-starved city paying high rents and even higher hotel rates.
    Styled after low-cost Japanese capsule guesthouses, the enclosed pods with areas slightly larger than a twin bed are stacked in cupboard formation, complete with air conditioning, light switches, computer tables, and power outlets.
    "Because the Hong Kong environment is like Japan. It's so crowded with many tourists. So I want to bring this product to Hong Kong tourists as a cheap hotel to relieve Hong Kong's hotel shortage," said Eric Wong, managing director of capsule bed manufacturer Galaxy Stars HK, explaining in their glowing space-themed showroom that the units can be pieced together in a matter of a few days.
    Wong said he designed the pods himself to fit Hong Kong specifications and expects his main customers to be guest houses and tourists visiting the city short term, which had an average hotel room rate of HK$1165 ($150 U.S. dollars) a night in 2010, according to the city's Tourism Commission.
    He said about a dozen local students had expressed interest in a capsule college dormitory near campus, offering pods for HK$3,500 ($450 U.S. dollars) a month.
    Hong Kong's university students are affected by a severe lack of space in university housing, but some students say the "coffin-like" feel of the capsules may not be practical as long-term homes for students.
    "You know, even in my dormitory there are only two people and when one of us sleeps very not late and the other cannot bear the noise or something else. So especially when there are so many people in the same room, I don't think it might be a good choice to live in such a small room, especially if the rent is very high," said Zhao Liu, a masters student living in a campus dormitory, which are nearly unobtainable in Hong Kong due to long waiting lists and tough entrance requirements.
    "Besides, the most important thing is that the rent is not too high because we only need to pay about HK$1,300 ($167 U.S. dollars) approximately per month. But you know then the accommodation for applications into this hall is very competitive. So you really have to work hard, just like the application to the Hong Kong University. Even more competitive than the U. (university)" said Liu.
    Liu said some of his peers could share more spacious apartments off campus with room mates for HK$3,000 (USD386) a month.
    Hong Kong's average living space per person for residents in 2011 was 12.8 square metres at an average monthly rate of HK$46 per square metre for Hong Kong Island, according to Hong Kong housing authority figures.
    Prices for Hong Kong apartments, the most expensive in the world, have risen more than 12 percent in 2011.
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