Next-level accommodation: Beijing hotel squeezes bed into stairwell and offers it as room

Ever go to sleep and dream about flying?

Well, this hotel's offering a different kind of 'flight' along with some shuteye — a flight of stairs, that is.

A hotel in Beijing, China, remodelled their stairwell to fit a bed, offering that as a room for guests to stay in, Beijing News reported on Monday (Sept 25).

The 'rooms' were located on the second, third and fourth floors of the hotel, and were reportedly six square metres with a single-size bed squeezed in, closed windows and as well as a shared toilet.

To get to their bed, guests would have to walk down a flight of stairs.

"These are unutilised closed spaces," the hotel's manager told Chinese media, describing their 'staircase rooms'. "Our hotel started using these spaces as guests rooms in mid-July this year."

According to the manager, there was demand for simple rooms in the area, so they offered these 'staircase rooms' to guests.

The 'rooms' usually went for around 100 to 200 yuan (S$19 to S$36) per night but could fluctuate up to 650 yuan during peak travel periods such as China's National Day, Chinese publication The Paper reported on Tuesday.

"There are safety issues in these rooms but we are already rectifying them," the manager also admitted.

Chinese media reported that the local fire department had received reports of these 'staircase rooms' and inspected the area on Sunday.

The next day, they returned to the scene to cordon off these 'rooms' due to the safety hazards they posed.

"Smoke alarms were not set up in accordance with the law, and rooms did not adopt fire-proofing that complied with fire-resistance levels stipulated by the state," the fire department said. 

Electricity to the 'staircase rooms' was cut off and seals were affixed to the rooms with instructions to not break them without permission.

While the 'rooms' were situated in stairwells, the fire department noted that they did not obstruct emergency evacuation routes for the hotel. Instead, the hotel has external staircases that serve as emergency exits.

A reporter from Beijing News confirmed on Monday that all three 'rooms' were emptied — only the air conditioner remained, with no beds present in them.

khooyihang@asiaone.com