Hotel Industry: Airbnb reveals new hotel-like service called Airbnb Plus - by Nick Statt

Airbnb has announced a new hotel-like tier of service on its platform that the company is calling Airbnb Plus. The news went live today on Airbnb’s website in conjunction with a story in The New York Times ahead of a big reveal event in San Francisco this morning. It confirms rumors that Airbnb has been working on a higher-end accommodations offering that would let it more easily compete with hotels. Airbnb Plus is being marketed as a more standardized style of service that is “verified for quality” and includes a set of amenities one might typically find in a hotel.

Read more: Airbnb reveals new hotel-like service called Airbnb Plus - The Verge

Tourism: Capsule Hotel Opens in Moscow

Moscow's first "Sleepbox" hotel has opened on 1st Tverskaya-Yamskaya Ulitsa, conveniently located next to the Belorussky train station, the city's committee on tourism and hospitality announced Thursday.

The hotel, founded by Arch Group Architectural Bureau, is made up of 2-meter by 1.5-meter soundproof capsules — or sleepboxes — made from wood and plastic. One night in a sleepbox with a bunk bed for two costs 2,600 rubles each? ($86), while a single bed will run you 2,900 rubles, Interfax reported.

The sleepboxes differ from ordinary hotel rooms in their minimalism the only things in the "box" apart from a bed is a shelf and a few electrical outlets — the bare necessities for a traveler.

The first hotel of sleepboxes opened in Russia in 2009 at Sheremetyevo Airport, although that hotel offers showers and bathrooms in the capsules. Sleepboxes shot to popularity in Japan, where ordinary hotels are generally very expensive. It remains to be seen whether the innovation will become popular in Moscow as well.

Read more: Capsule Hotel Opens in Moscow | News | The Moscow Times