Japan has a reputation for cool gadgets and efficient interiors, but this is on a whole new level!
Choosing a hotel is often a matter of compromises. For example, the GR Hotel Esaka, located in Osaka Prefecture, is a manageable seven-minute walk from the nearest train station, and rates for its single rooms start at just 3,000 yen (US$28) a night, making it a great travel bargain.
However, those single rooms, as pictured above, aren’t exactly spacious. They’re only 12 square meters (129 square feet), and most of the floor space is taken up by the semi-double bed.
But before you write the GR Hotel Esaka off, take a closer look at that picture. Notice those two posts rising from the corners of the bed? They’re way too big to be part of the bedframe, and in fact, they have a completely different, totally awesome purpose. As shown in this video from Japanese Twitter user @k_me0x0, at the push of a button…
…the bed rises up to the ceiling, giving you more space to move about and relax until you’re ready to go to sleep!
The hotel says almost all of its “Single Type A” rooms are equipped with these beds (which don’t actually move as quickly as in @k_me0x0’s time-lapse photo series). Even in space-efficient Japan, this is an extremely rare amenity, and other Twitter users were left in awe of the clever technology (though one concerned commenter compared it to a booby trap from the Resident Evil video game series).
Unfortunately, the bed likely isn’t designed to support a person’s weight, so riding it probably isn’t a good idea (and since it rises up right to the ceiling, you’d end up banging your head anyway). Still, it’s an awesome feature that’ll have you wanting to invite all your friends to your tiny little hotel room to see it, before heading to the in-hotel hot spring for a relaxing soak.
Between the GR Hotel Esaka and 8,000-yen hotel in Shizuoka with the unlimited crab and alcoholic drinks, we can’t wait for the next three-day weekend so we can stay at both.
Hotel information
GR Hotel Esaka / ジーアールホテル江坂
Address: Osaka-fu, Suita-shi, Esaka-cho, 2-1-63
大阪府吹田市江坂町２−１−６３
Website
Reservations (Jalan)
Sources: Twitter/@k_me0x0 via Hachima Kiko, Jalan
Top image: GR Hotel Esaka
Insert images: Jalan/ GR Hotel Esaka, GR Hotel Esaka