New 'pod' hotel near NDLS Metro station offers bunk beds for ₹400

Lucknow resident Nitin Srivastav, 44, frequently travels to Delhi for work. Each time, he books a hostel-style room in south Delhi's Greater Kailash.

- Jasjeev Gandhiok

NEW DELHI: But last week, with less than 24 hours in the city—arriving late on April 7, attending a conference the next morning, and returning the same evening—Srivastav looked for a place closer to New Delhi Railway Station.

A quick internet search revealed a number of hotels around the station, but there was one that caught his eyes in particular—The Metrostay.

This "pod" hotel, which opened in February, is located on the first floor of the Airport Express Line's New Delhi Metro station. The concept was exactly what he needed—short-term stays in bunk-style beds for ₹400 (1-6 hours) or ₹600 for the night.

Opened in February and operated by a private company in collaboration with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DRMC), Metrostay offers more than 200 "pods" spread across 20 rooms. Each "pod" comes with personal lockers, charging ports, Wi-Fi access, and curtains for privacy.

While they are called pods, the setup resembles second-tier AC train berths more than the capsule hotels found in Japan or China—those establishments provide a small, narrow capsule as a room, which essentially has a bed, charging points and a glass screen door.