Pronounced ‘do-shi,’ the °C
Sauna + Sleep Ebisu capsule hotel in Tokyo might be light
on sleeping space, but it’s heavy on steam, offering intimate
enclosed sauna rooms shared with other guests or single sauna
stalls with customized temperatures. Inspired by Finnish sauna
culture – where access to these sweat-inducing facilities is
considered a necessity rather than a luxury – the hotel
literally allows you to immerse yourself in the relaxing
ritual.
The facility is open 24 hours a day, and there are 162 capsules
total (102 for men and 60 for women, with separate saunas.) You
don’t even have to stay overnight if you don’t want to – the
hotel charges by the hour for both the sauna and the sleeping
pods, with a full stay costing just ¥4,500 (about $45.) Once
checked in, you head to the sauna and choose your preferred
temperature: 20º, 25º or 30º Celsius.
Would you stay at a hotel like this just for the sauna
experience, or choose it over a different capsule hotel because
of the amenities? It seems like it would be easy to overdo it;
20 minutes at a time is usually considered a reasonable amount
of time for most people. But you could always let off some
steam, take a cool shower, hang out in your capsule and repeat.
The °C Sauna + Sleep hotel has been open for about a month, and
another location will open in the Gotanda area of Tokyo
sometime in early 2018.
