Airport Sleep By the Hour Concept Expands
No more trying to get comfortable on a chair outside your airport gate.
May 7, 2013— -- No more trying to get comfortable on a chair outside your airport gate when you're traveling through Abu Dhabi. The airport announced this week the arrival of GoSleep pods, claiming to be the world's first airport to debut the chairs that converts to a private, lie-flat beds.
Ten sleeping pods are available in Terminal 3 and in the Al Dhabi Lounge in Terminal, with an additional 35 expected later this year.
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After an initial launch phase, the chairs will be upgraded to include Internet access, will include secure storage for luggage and other valuables, and will allow customers to charge their laptops, mobile telephones, and other electronic devices.
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The cost of using the sleep pods is about $12 per hour.
Abu Dhabi might be the first airport to install GoSleep pods, but other airports have before been creative about giving travelers a place to sleep. Munich Airport has Napcabs in Terminal 2. The Napcabs have iPhone or MP3 connection and a USB port plus flight information, a wake-up function, and a place to securely store carry-on luggage.
6:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. €15/hr10:00 p.m. – 6:00 a.m.: €10/hr
Minute Suites are available at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (Concourse B at Gate B15), Philadelphia International (Terminal A-B Link) and Dallas Fort-Worth International Airport (Terminal D at D22). Each suite comes equipped with a daybed sofa, pillows and blankets. There's also a T.V. and workstation. The suites have a one-hour minimum and charge $34 for the first hour and $8.50 for each 15 minutes thereafter.
At London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports and at Amsterdam's Schiphol, Yotel rents rooms by the hour inside terminal gates. Each have showers, flat-screen TVs, showers, free wi-fi and work stations. Prices vary.
And in Dehli's International Airport, $10 an hour will get you a snooze in a SAMS SNOOZE AT MY SPACE sleep pod, found opposite Gate 17 in International Departures.