THE CAPSULE Myeongdong

It felt more like a warehouse than somewhere to stay. The room was dirty when I checked in and still had someone else’s belongings in it. The shower room was covered in mold.

The bed was comfortable, the floor was mostly quiet, and the location made it easy to reach most sightseeing areas. I wouldn’t recommend this for women travellers. An all-female floor doesn’t mean much if anyone can enter it, and there’s only one floor with showers, which are mixed. If you’re a woman who doesn’t want to share facilities with men, avoid this place. I also noticed Muslim women staying here. Please be aware the showers are mixed, which I’m sure isn’t acceptable in Islam, so this capsule hotel isn’t Muslim friendly. The free shampoo and body wash smell like men’s products. Cleanliness was poor too: the same shower mats stayed wet for days, and the mirror area had used brushes and a used hair iron. The reception area was cluttered with boxes and random bottles, and sometimes the lift was full of things the owner seemed to have forgotten. This is personal, but I found insects on the wall of my capsule and in the towel they gave me. They do clean, but not well enough. Even at a capsule hotel, basic hygiene matters. They should ask themselves if they’d be comfortable living this way at home. If they think this cleaning is good enough, I suggest staying somewhere else.

The beds were fine, and there were lockers, but I still had doubts about how secure the place was. Nobody seemed to be at the front desk, and random supplies were left in the elevator. The toilets also weren't very clean. Of the 15-20 capsule hotels I've stayed in across Asia, this was the second worst. It wasn't awful, but it never felt completely safe.

The bed was the best part: a nice mattress and blanket, a working fan, and a door that shut and locked fully. The lockers were roomy enough for two carry-on bags with space left over. The room AC was set to 21 degrees. The showers could have been cleaner, and staff weren't often at the front desk.