A recent article in the New York Times about sleeping in airports caught my attention. While the article mentions the brilliant Guide to Sleeping in Airports (that's so last year, NYT), it also introduces a new shut-eye solution—the Mini Motel.
Looking very similar to a cozy backpacking tent (translation: small), the Mini Motel aims to provide a solution to the growing problem of travelers getting stuck in an airport overnight due to canceled or delayed flights. It was such an incident that inspired traveler and president of Fiber Instrument Sales in New York, Frank Giotto, to invent (so to speak) the Mini Motel. (I use "invent" lightly because this product is not an entirely new phenomenon... it is, after all, a tent.)
The difference between the Mini Motel and a conventional tent are that the Motel is 1) used inside an airport and 2) comes with alarm clock, air mattress, pillow, reading light, alarm clock, and toothbrush and toothpaste. The Motel is also "carry-on friendly." It folds down to 17" x 12" x 3" (when extended it is 80" x 25" x 35") and can, the website claims, fit right into one's laptop bag.
That's fine. When it comes down to it, of course I'd prefer to sleep on an air mattress and in the privacy of nylon walls rather than curling up in some dingy corner of LAX. But I don't particularly want to stuff my carry-on with any unnecessary items that I just might need. With baggage fees rising, I can't afford to pack convenient extras. Now, if these Motels were available for rent in an airport (they are currently available for individual purchase for about $50), then it might prove a cheap alternative to schlepping to a hotel for the night. What do you think?
Photo: courtesy of Mini Motel, Inc.
It seems like a pretty good idea to have a simple and somewhat private place to sleep. However, I wonder how friendly airport security will be to something like this.
In the past they haven't responded with kindness when I lay down to sleep before a morning flight (I was out of the way).
Posted by: Falling-horizontally | August 04, 2008 at 02:22 PM
I have to agree, Falling, I think the security would have to get on board and agree to allow these tents before we could build little tent cities outside of our gates. As an aside, I would have killed for one of these in the Denver airport one fateful night when I was stuck in a winter storm.
Posted by: Janelle | August 04, 2008 at 03:05 PM
Have you ever used a rental sleeping bag or tent? They can be pretty smelly -- depending on who the previous travelers were.
Posted by: Maggie | August 05, 2008 at 10:12 AM
A fabulous idea if it is your fault that you have to sleep at an airport. However, most of the time it's the airline company who should finally accept its responisibilty and provide accomodations for an overnight and unvoluntary stay at the airport. Maybe they could "invent" disposable tents and distribute them amongst stranded passengers.
Posted by: Not-so-frequent-flyer | August 07, 2008 at 09:54 AM
Why using it for the airport? It will be also fine for the office, just for the case that your work ended up at 2 a.m. in the morning and your next meeting starts at 8 a.m.
You can make your coffee in the morning, eat some cookies ... just for the start.
Isn´t it a great idea for workaholics?
Posted by: Canpichurri | August 07, 2008 at 10:32 AM
I would like to receive more info about your products
Posted by: Roxana Flores | August 07, 2008 at 04:09 PM
this would be great for homeless people
Posted by: mickymanatiso | August 09, 2008 at 07:43 PM