London's smallest hotel room is half the size of a UK parking space

A small single room is just 5 square metres big

Cathy Adams
Thursday 15 November 2018 10:55
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This London hotel room measures just three square metres

Over the past few years, the trend of the “micro hotel” has taken off – with brands such as Z Hotel, Yotel and even Premier Inn launching compact rooms for travellers.

But none are as small as this: The Corbigoe Hotel in London, which sells a room that’s half the size of the standard UK parking space.

Its small single room is advertised as 53 square feet (5 square metres), which is also smaller than a standard prison cell, according to an undercover Which? report.

A UK parking space is around 11.5 square metres, while the recommended minimum prison cell size is around 7 square metres.

According to Which?, the bedroom of the "small single room" at The Corbigoe hotel measured just 3 square metres, which is almost entirely taken up by a narrow single bed. The bathroom is so minuscule that you can wash your hands while sat on the toilet; and the only window opens not to the outside but to a landing area. There’s a small ledge with a kettle and a mug balanced on it.

At least it’s cheap: to book the room for the night of 15 January costs just £33.99 on Booking.com, although for that price you’ll still have to pay £3.50 for breakfast.

According to Booking.com, the Corbigoe is “less than a mile from many of central London’s iconic attractions, including Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, the Tate Britain Gallery and Big Ben. The rooms each have a TV, telephone and tea/coffee making facilities.”

Reviews are poor. Posting on Booking.com, Jonathan from Spain said: “Do not book room 19. The room is no wider than a narrow bed. There is no external window. You can either put your suitcase on the floor or on the bed. If your suitcase in on the floor you cannot get to the so-called “bathroom”’”.

Andrew from the UK added: “Every movement has to be planned out in advance.”

The Corbigoe has just 1.5 stars on TripAdvisor. One user even commented that the property should be renamed from Corbigoe to "Corbi-no".

Not all small rooms are made equal, though. Last month Premier Inn debuted its Zip concept, which has 8.5 square metre rooms for just £19 a night.

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