In a new series, Rooms Without Views, our travel experts spend the night in windowless hotel rooms to see if they’re worth sacrificing natural light .

Clambering on tiptoe up a narrow flight of steps, I crawl into the tiny wooden box, hauling my backpack behind me. My head is inches from the ceiling, and I am sitting down.

Besides my contorted body, there is nothing in here but a mirror, a ledge with a plug socket and charging ports, and a single mattress, which takes up the entire floor space.

As I pull down the shutters and wriggle under the duvet, an intrusive thought flashes across my mind: ‘This is what lying in a coffin feels like.’

Welcome to the world of Zedwell’s Japanese-style sleeping capsules: stackable pods with a light, a bed, and not much else.

Not so much a hote

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