Is a night at Singapore’s first shipping container hotel worth S$188?

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CNA Lifestyle

Is a dark at Singapore's first shipping container hotel worth Due south$188?

Yes, if you're a party of four, travelling on a budget or looking for an off-the-browbeaten-rails staycation. No, if yous're a claustrophobe. CNA Lifestyle's Genevieve Loh tries ane for size.

Is a night at Singapore's first shipping container hotel worth S$188? — CNA Lifestyle's Genevieve Loh checks in at the Shipping Container Hotel in one-north. (Photo: Effort Sutrisno Foo)

Sleeping in a shipping container is unlikely to be at the superlative of every Singapore visitor's listing, but when I woke upwardly after my dark at the Shipping Container Hotel at JTC Launchpad in 1-northward, I reckon I got a glimpse of the future of international budget travel.

It'south a 280 sq ft air-conditioned rectangular steel box.

Singapore'southward outset aircraft container hotel (Photo: Genevieve Loh)

Sure, information technology may not immediately sound like the most comfortable place to lay ane's head for the night, merely steel shipping containers have been the latest hotel tendency around the globe for some time now. Information technology has sprung up in cities such equally Amsterdam and Dubai, and countries such as Malaysia, United states, Czech Republic and Chile in the by few years.

CNA Lifestyle checks into the new Shipping Container Hotel at JTC Launchpad in one-n and finds out what it's like to stay in a 280 sqft air-conditioned rectangular steel box – with excellent views of … the road. Spotter the video for our verdict.

So why not Singapore? Especially since shipping containers are very much woven into the cloth of the country's identity as one of the world's busiest ports.

A popular-up shipping container hotel on a grassy knoll in the middle of an industrial park does seem novel, fun and literally off-the-beaten track correct? It depends.

FACILITY AND SECURITY CHECK

I was absolutely a little apprehensive about spending a lonesome overnight at Singapore'due south very beginning shipping container hotel. My slight tendency towards claustrophobia aside, the CNA newsroom was simply up the route – who fancies a staycation where one can see and walk to one'southward office?

Though called a hotel, the container is more like a trailer or cabin because in that location are no facilities such as pond pools, room service or daily housekeeping. Which actually won't affect you if you're planning to exist out exploring the metropolis the entire elapsing of your travels.

You lot're greeted by the owners themselves upon check-in, as they patiently explain all the necessary things ane needs to know about living in a souped-upwardly shipping container.

The number one concern for me was security. Simply it's got a camera on the porch (although non inside the container) to record the comings and goings of people, and I felt reassured that guests are given a 24-hour hotline number to telephone call should we need anything.

READ: Singapore's offset aircraft container hotel springs up in one-northward

The digital central lock arrangement as well self-locks when it's firmly shut, so hearing that resounding "click" instantly makes one feel only that picayune scrap safer. Pulling the defunction to keep abroad prying eyes and curious passersby also added to the cocoon result.

YOUR VERY OWN TINY HOUSE NATION

At 280 sq ft, young man claustrophobes might want to know that'southward slightly smaller than two ample carpark spaces. But once inside the container, the service flat layout and minimalist design makes 1 feel less boxed-in than initially imagined.

It'south most like beingness in an episode of Tiny Business firm Nation, and I appreciated that the container had been fitted out completely, with smart modular furniture and imaginatively used infinite that can sleep upwardly to, await for information technology, four people.

A preview of the Shipping Container Hotel at JTC Launchpad in I-N on Jan 17, 2020. (Photo: Jeremy Long)

The kitchenette came surprisingly well-equipped with an induction stove, pots and pans, utensils, crockery, cutlery, and even spices and cooking oil. There were fifty-fifty added luxuries like a full-sized refrigerator and freezer, a souped-up washer/dryer (corking for weary travellers) and a microwave, which makes late night takeaway suppers user-friendly.

A minor dining table and the porch with lounge chairs certainly make communal living for four seem a little more spread out. Merely it'south the fact that the couch and study desk areas tin can transform into 2 queen size beds that really makes all the difference.

My commonly achy back was pleasantly surprised that the mattresses were comfortable, given that they were potato beds (wall beds). The strategic placement of wall sockets (there were many throughout the container) was also a well idea out and welcome feature for travellers reliant on their gadgets.

And it was a proper en suite bathroom – complete with hot rain shower and toilet – that was tucked away at the end of the container. A far weep from the portaloo situation I was expecting, it was a nice and fancy revelation, especially since information technology came with ample bathing and sink space.

And if y'all're wondering well-nigh heat and stuffiness – it is a shipping container right smack in sunny Singapore, after all – there are three air-conditioners placed strategically to cool the entire box. Information technology might not seem the most eco-friendly of ways, but I was assured past the owners of future plans towards solar panels and overall sustainability.

THINKING Within THE BOX

Indeed, it's all almost thinking "within" the box when information technology comes to container hotel designs. And to pay anywhere from S$140++ (from Sunday to Thursday) to $160++ (from Friday to Sat) plus taxes for all this, including free Wi-Fi and Netflix, is considerably a steal.

It's also competitively comparable to what 1 would pay for four people at a three-star hotel anywhere in Singapore. Especially when the MRT station is correct across the road, along with a Cold Storage supermarket, a food courtroom, a 7-11 convenience store and a Starbucks.

And let's not forget, local hipster bell-ringer food court Timbre Plus is besides just a stone's throw away. Though the gratuitous local live music that comes with that tin be a boon or a bane – you tin can savour it while sitting on your porch or it's a noisy nuisance if you desire peace and quiet.

Overall, the Shipping Container Hotel and its surrounding "facilities" is correct in the vein of a new brood of budget hotels that aim to make life easier for the cash-strapped 21st century traveller.

As we're being asked to spend more on air taxes, checking in our luggage and even being charged for the privilege of using a credit carte du jour to pay for it all, pop-upwards container hotels like this are looking to exist more popular than ever.

A VIEW OF… THE ROAD

Of class there are downsides. These hotels aren't going to suit everybody. If you like concierge service, bellboys to help with your baggage and costless branded toiletries, this certainly isn't the experience for you.

You need to be happy being self-sufficient, watching television up close and expert in modest spaces. You also need to be okay living aslope the odd creepy-awesome, given that your container is on elevation of a grassy patch of land. More than anything, you need to be sure y'all're very comfortable with the person(southward) you're sharing the room with. Here, your trip the light fantastic toe space is their trip the light fantastic toe space.

But my main gripe has to be the current location, what with my container porch opening upwardly to the glorious view of… the primary route. My side door opens upwardly to provide an alternative vista of the carpark. As novel as it might seem living among start-up offices, I felt myself longing for the container to be somewhere more private, surrounded by unbounded nature or the gentle seaside.

I felt amend after hearing from owner (and self-taught container hotel designer) Seah Liang Chiang that the long-term plan – afterward its two-yr lease at JTC Launchpad – is to motion his two container hotels closer to beaches or more view-friendly locales such as Sentosa and Coney Island.

The aim, I'grand told, is for it to be a pop-up hotel that will shift to a different location every two to 3 years, allowing guests to explore various parts of Singapore.

So is information technology worth the money spending a nighttime inside a big steel crate that is normally loaded onto ships and trains? The answer is yes, especially when they are this innovative and artistic that for nearly parts of the stay, y'all simply forget that y'all're in a shipping container.

Sustainable and mobile, these containers are perfect for those who travel lite and don't listen forgoing a bit of space and privacy in substitution for affordable comfort in the 1 of the world'due south most expensive cities.

Guests tin brand reservations at www.shippingcontainerhotel.com