Sydney could soon be home to Australia’s first new-generation capsule hotel with Kinn Hospitality Concepts’ founder Chayadi Karim in Sydney scouting locations – and franchise partners – for the Singapore brand’s first overseas property.
And Kinn isn’t the cliched capsule accommodation you are probably thinking of. Far from the salaryman ‘crashpod’ of Tokyo in the 1970s or the handful of pod hotels currently in Australia that are essentially budget hostel alternatives, Kinn has reframed the format entirely.
The three Singapore oferings include Kinn Capsule and their modern capsule living options, Kinn Studios and its 23 compact private rooms and the flagship Kinn Habitat of 120 beds, which offers both capsules and eight private rooms. They exist within a range of buildings, from a refurbished hotel to a restored heritage shophouse in Chinatown.
While Sydney is a target for Karim’s real estate arm, having partnered with Hilton in bringing the Motto by Hilton concept to the city through his Invictus Developments, he says the timing is also right for an expansion of Kinn into Australia.
“Sydney is the most cosmopolitan city in Australia as well as its busiest commercial hub,” he says. “We see and feel that there is an opportunity here.”
While there are plenty of affordable options on the Sydney city fringes, Karim says what is missing is affordable accommodation options within the CBD. His plan, once a suitable site is found, is to replicate the Kinn Habitat concept with pricing, depending on the season to range from AU$50-70 per night for a capsule to AU$150 for a room, compared to Singapore offerings in both new builds and conversions which range from $65-75 and rooms from $150-200.
All feature communal event spaces in a boutique hotel with audience skewed heavily towards women travelling solo or in groups, not businessmen, he says. Around 75 per cent of its Singapore offerings are aged 40 or below and in ton for leisure travel, he says.
“The majority of our guests are women because of the way we have designed our capsules,” which offer both safety and security, he says.
Its three Singapore venues operate both as an affordable urban wellness experience, blending the programming of restorative retreats, the cosiness of boutique hotels and what it calls the communal spirit of hostels in compact city spaces.
“To us wellness is an individual state of mind,” he says and relies on “affordable” wellness in a city environment including offering “Wellness Wednesdays” which include essential oil blending classes among a range of activities.
“We encourage guests to come together to try these activities and make friends in doing so,” he says.
While capsule hotels rooms elsewhere in the world can offer as many 1000 beds, such as the new London Pavilion in the West End, the scale of the Sydney venue is likely to be a more conservative 150-200 beds created from a hotel or office conversion.
“It is something we are very comfortable and familiar with operating,” he says.
While a franchise partner is high on the list on wants, Katim says the operator will not be flying solo.
“We want to be able to provide as much support in Australia as possible.”
