Staying at an airport pod
We made our way up the stairs and around the corner. We walked up to the desk. “Hi, we’d like to check in.” My dream was finally coming true. Airport pod number 210 would be our tiny abode for the night.
I’d been longing to stay in an airport pod for years. It started during a seven hour layover in London at Heathrow. My flight arrived at 5am and I’d barely slept on the plane. I spent the next few hours curled up on various chairs trying to doze off. Somewhere around hour three in a fit of tears I had the idea of a hotel with small little spaces to sleep in between flights. In the intervening years I romanticized what it would be like to sleep in a pod. I thought how wonderful it would be to find quiet in a busy place like an airport. I loved the simplicity of it all.
Our trip to Asia finally presented the opportunity. My husband was planning the flight itinerary. He worked on flight plans for several nights struggling to find an itinerary that worked. One night when he came to me with a sheepish look on his face.
“I have a strange idea. The cheapest flight between Laos and Vietnam means we’ll have a 10 hour layover overnight. What do you think about staying in a pod at Hanoi airport before we fly to Hoi an at 6am the next morning?”
"Are you kidding me? Yes! It’s going to be the best place we stay!”
I shrieked in delight at my dream finally coming true. He looked confused. He thought I was joking. Then I told him how I’d dreamt about this ever since I’d strewn myself uncomfortably across a row of seats years before. After a few assurances that this really was something I wanted, we booked the overnight flight and our room. Despite more luxurious accommodations, this humble $27 a night room was the one I was most excited about.
That’s how we found ourselves at the door of our airport pod at Hanoi Airport in Vietnam. Flying from Laos to Hanoi is a quick hop. In Asia we traveled only with carry-on bags so it was a quick walk to the entrance of the pods. Really it was just a simple desk in the middle of a corridor on the third floor of the airport. When the receptionist offered a 4:45am wake-up call I readily accepted. I had two alarms set but it was always good to have back-up for early morning flights.
I shook with excitement as we took key cards and wheeled our luggage to pod number 210. First we had to figure out the door. The sleek design was beautiful but without a handle. After several minutes of fiddling without success, we went back to the front desk sheepishly. The receptionist came over and flipped it open in seconds. It turns out it’s pretty easy once you understand the mechanism. The door finally opened revealing our little abode for the night.
It was tiny but well laid out. There was a space for everything. Directly in front of us was a narrow bunk bed, a ladder built into the wall for the top bunk. There was even a TV in the pod though we couldn’t figure out how to use it. The only thing the pod didn’t have was a bathroom. Given my prolific bathroom use, I got the bottom bunk and my husband the top. (In the end, I didn’t use the bathroom in the middle of the night as it was down a long deserted hallway.)
We stowed our luggage under the bed and went for food. We’d left on the only flight of the day. By the time we got settled the suitcases under the bed, it was 8pm and we were hungry.
It was a small domestic terminal with not many options for food. Mostly the choices were very cheap food the equivalent of fast food in America. There weren't even any stores open so when I found a choco-pie in our pod that became dinner. I heard a chuckle and looked over to see my husband snap a photo just as I took a bite. He wanted to commemorate this rare moment. With my health issues, I’d never normally eat packaged sweets like this but I was pretty hungry. I figured I’d balance it out by eating a good breakfast at our hotel in Hoi An the next morning. Still, I was living my dream, nothing was going to stop me from enjoying it.
The romance of the pod wore off in the middle of the night when the air conditioner started blowing hot air. The stifling heat and nerves about our 5am wake-up time meant I barely slept. Above me I heard my husband lightly snoring. I was grateful one of us would get some sleep. I figured it would stave off the disagreements that come when you’re sleep deprived in a foreign country.
The wake up call from receptionist never came. Luckily I was wide awake at 5am. We quickly dressed in the dark, biding adieu to our cozy little pod. We tiptoed past the desk on the way to our flight, the receptionist sound asleep on the ground behind the desk. We made it to the gate well before 6 a.m. with zero rush or hassle. Our flight was smooth and easy. Our hotel had our room waiting for us when we arrived at just before 8am. I slipped under the covers in our air conditioned room waking just before the free breakfast ended at 11am.
Staying at an airport pod is definitely the kind of accommodation you only want to do for one night. Travel is for doing new things so it was worth it. I’d stay at one again if my travel plans lined up.
Next month we’re staying in a shipping container in the desert. I can’t wait.