Little did he know he'd made his Booking.com reservation at a nondescript residential apartment complex in Allapattah.
"Located in Miami, Miami Capsule has a garden, shared lounge, terrace, and free WiFi throughout the property," the listing states.
"The property is around 2.9 miles from Marlins Park, 4.6 miles from Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, and 4.8 miles from American Airlines Arena. Cocowalk Shopping Center is 5.3 miles away and Bayside Market Place is 5.3 miles from the capsule hotel. The reception at the Capsule Hotel can provide tips on the area."
A three-minute TikTok video commences just after Rayson is dropped off without a clue as to where the "Miami Capsule" hotel is. He narrates his confusion as he walks around asking bystanders where to find the hotel, to no avail.
Eventually, his phone leads him to a white two-story apartment building.
"It literally says it's here, but it can't be here, surely," Rayson says incredulously. "There's no signage here for anything."
He surveys the property — struck, as so many outsiders are, by the sight of numerous chickens chilling and clucking here and there — until he receives a text message informing him that the "hotel" is a self-check-in affair.
"I'm apparently in apartment number three, so I'm going to give this a go anyway," he shares as he steps through the front gate and climbs the stairs, where he's greeted by a young kid who leads him back down and into unit 1 on the first floor.
As Rayson walks through the door, his cellphone video captures a living room populated by a couch, a flat-screen TV, and an unidentified fellow (seated on the aforementioned couch).@ellis_rayson Do you think this capsule hotel was good value? #capsulehotel #hostel #budgettravel ♬ original sound - Ellis Rayson
The kid who ushered him in leads him down a hallway into a room furnished with four futuristic-looking sleep pods.
Rayson hands the boy a $50 bill and tells the kid to keep an extra $10 for himself when the boy makes change. (Booking.com pegs the rate for a night's stay at $35.)
He takes off his shoes, climbs into his capsule, and closes its sliding door. "Am I going to fit?" he muses as he reclines. "Six-foot-four, by the way. Ooh, lovely!"
The right side of the capsule boasts a mirror and a panel with USB and USB-C ports, a clock, a button for the mirror's light, and another that operates the capsule lights. The space is air-conditioned and equipped with a hotel-style keycard to open and close the door.
All told, the apartment contains eight pods — the four in Rayson's room, two in the living room, and another room with two pods. There's also a communal bathroom.
"The only reason I am staying here is because Miami International Airport is literally one mile away," Rayson shares. "I've got a flight at five in the morning."
Overall, he rated his stay a nine out of ten. The three dozen reviews on Booking.com are more of a mixed bag.
"Cool, comfortable capsules, but ongoing renovations, and check-in process needs improvement," wrote a Canadian traveler who stayed four nights in late May.
"Bad!" countered a guest who spent two nights in early October. "Dirty! No hot water! Very hostile neighborhood."
Another reviewer noted that three people live in the apartment — the host, his wife, and their young son, who account for three of the pods.
"The capsules are awesome, good temperature, quiet, perfect for what I needed in a solo travel. It was definitely a good experience; unbeatable cost-benefit," a traveler from Brazil enthused after a three-night stay in August. "It is a family hosting. They are good people. They make you feel at home. Bear with them, they speak little English. That was no problem at all for me."
