Sticker shock is a common phenomenon among those planning a trip to trendy Tel Aviv. Price tags at the Mediterranean city’s growing number of boutique hotels are steep, sometimes prohibitively so. But as of April, travellers will be able to book stylish pod rooms at Spot Hostel, a soon-to-open accommodation option at the entrance to the Tel Aviv Port.
Tent room at the Spot Hostel. Photo courtesy of Spot Hostel
“It’s no secret that accommodations in Tel Aviv are expensive,” Naama Shviki, marketing manager at Spot Hostel, told Lonely Planet Travel News. “We felt that this was unfair and contradicts the desire to bring tourists to Tel Aviv. Tourists spend most of their money on accommodation, instead of using it on the trip itself and everything that there is to do and experience here.”
Spot Hostel joins the pod and capsule hotel trend that has arrived across the globe in locations such as Tokyo, Mexico City, and London, and will offer tiny (albeit affordably priced and well designed) accommodations for single travellers, couples, small groups and even young families. Prices will range from US$25 for a bed in a dorm style room to US$45 for a single pod and tops out at US$120 for a private duplex that can sleep four.
Single pod. Photo courtesy of Spot Hostel
“We wanted to figure out a way to offer tourists a clean, good, fun place to stay at a price point that doesn’t break the bank,” Shviki said. Beyond its miniature chambers, Spot Hostel will also have a bar, kitchens and an arcade. All accommodation levels will include breakfast.
Hostels are not a new concept in Tel Aviv, but most of them are currently in south Tel Aviv. This new option will open up more affordable accommodation in the slower-paced northern part of Tel Aviv, allowing visitors to be closer to the port and the city’s largest green space, Park HaYarkon.
Dining room. Image courtesy of Spot Hostel
“I have no idea why no one has opened a [pod hotel] in Israel before,” Shviki said. Spot Hostel opens in April and is already accepting reservations.
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