Pangea Pod Hotel, in Whistler B.C., required a full gut renovation of a former mixed-use building. The concept of pod, or capsule, hotels is becoming increasingly popular in North America, especially in cities with expensive land values.In Vancouver, where there are too many office buildings and not enough hotels, city council believes it has come up with a “creative” solution.in some North American cities, pod hotels are sometimes described as hotel-hostel hybrids.
“At the same time,” says Ms. Kirby-Yung, “we’re hearing alarm bells about the surplus of office space. Downtown vacancy rates have soared from a prepandemic rate of 2 per cent to 14 per cent. And we still have another million square feet of new office space coming in.” The structural upgrade exemption is good news for a couple of Vancouver-based developers, who see the economic viability of leasing office space in surplus conditions to accommodate more overnight guests in less space than a traditional hotel.Some of the 88 pods at Pangea Pod Hotel, where rates range between $50 to $250, depending on the time of year.“When you have those conditions, it is especially exciting,” says Stanley Dee, founder of Deecorp Properties Ltd.
“We’re anticipating very favourable lease structures” and “higher financial returns” compared with typical small hotel, ground-up builds, she says. Mr. Dee and Ms. Allen have vetted pod hotels around the world. Yet both cite a rare Canadian pod hotel – just three exist in the country – as inspiration for their pod hotel concepts. The upscale Pangea Pod Hotel, in the centre of Whistler, B.C., “is probably the No. 1 pod hotel in North America,” says Mr. Dee.
With its double-occupancy pods, two bars and strong focus on interior design, Pangea feels like a chic boutique hotel – at least until the visitor crawls into their couch-size capsule, draws their blackout curtain and determines whether the noise of other guests necessitates use of the free ear plugs.