Nagothane hotel: Hip new London-based budget hotel chain to open, rates will start at $2 a night

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Nagothane hotel: Hip new London-based budget hotel chain to open, rates will start at $2 a night

By Soo Kim
Updated
The building itself will be constructed with 'cheaper, quicker and greener' steel framing technology.

The building itself will be constructed with 'cheaper, quicker and greener' steel framing technology.Credit: CHOTOTEL

Chototel, a London-based hotel company, aims to offer "clean, safe and affordable" accommodation in "innovative" high-tech rooms priced from $US2 ($A2.63; and rising to no more than $5) per night.

The first of the new budget hotel chain will be opened next month in Nagothane, India, located about 70 kilometres from Mumbai, where the company is looking to open its next branch, in addition to ones in Bristol, Dubai and Lagos, Nigeria's largest city.

The 60-room Nagothane hotel will offer rooms with LED lighting, a 100 sq-ft study/dining area, two sofa beds, a 30 sq-ft pantry, a small kitchen setup with a sink, hot plate and counter, a 30 sq-ft bathroom with a shower and toilet as well free cable television access. Guests will have pay-per-use internet access and the rooms will be Wi-Fi-enabled.

Built with a 'smart' pay-per-use housing design scheme, each of the 280 sq-ft rooms will be equipped with “Microbots” that measure the utilities used.

Built with a 'smart' pay-per-use housing design scheme, each of the 280 sq-ft rooms will be equipped with “Microbots” that measure the utilities used.Credit: CHOTOTEL

Other facilities will include a communal kitchen, an on-site infirmary (while a 100-bed hospital is 500 metres from the hotel), a children's crèche and play area, and bicycle hire from $0.18 per day ($4.45 per month).

Built with a "smart" pay-per-use housing design scheme, each of the 280 sq-ft rooms will be equipped with "Microbots" that measure the utilities used in the rooms, billing guests for only the amount they've used. Guests will be able to monitor their utility usage using a smartphone app and be able to turn off any utility remotely via the app.

The hotel's efficient energy system is projected to reduce guests' average utility bill to just $0.50 per night. Incorporating the latest advancements in renewable energy technology, the hotel operate on a "closed loop utility system", fitted with solar panels relying on renewable energy sources, such as the sun, to power the building. Solar energy will be stored in large battery banks that can hold more than 50 per cent of the hotel's peak energy load to provide electricity during non-sunlight hours.

A room at the Chototel will include a small kitchen setup, two sofa beds and a bathroom.

A room at the Chototel will include a small kitchen setup, two sofa beds and a bathroom.Credit: CHOTOTEL

The building itself will be constructed using "cheaper, quicker and greener" steel framing technology, eliminating the need for the use of bricks and wood, while the walls will be insulated, reducing the need for additional healing and cooling devices in the room.

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Spread across 1.5 acres along the National Highway 17, the motorway between Mumbai and Goa, the hotel will be set 50km from the international airport in Mumbai and be well-connected on the national railway line, providing links to India's major cities.

Dubbed as the "people's hotel", Chototel was born from a need to offer affordable housing to "those at the bottom of the pyramid" and hopes to provides guests with the feeling and comfort of staying at a hotel rather than a project, according to Rhea Silva, the 24-year-old founder of Chototel, and be "a catalyst in ending homelessness, by building the world's largest affordable hotel business", the company said.

Three more Chototel hotels will be opened in Nagothane over the next four months and the company is hoping to host up to 10,000 people in its Mumbai location.

The Telegraph, London

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