I Spent 100 Hours in Capsule Hotels

This is Japan's cheapest capsule hotel, a first-class sleeping pod, and a capsule bed in a library. And I'm gonna travel around Japan to stay at all of them and more for the next 100 hours. Starting with my first hotel, the Sleep Lab. If you didn't know, capsule hotels basically have a bunch of mini bunk bedrooms for travelers who don't need that much space. They're also, like, way cheaper than a normal hotel room. Every capsule comes with your freebies. Slippers, pajamas, towel, toothbrush. Inside, you've got your light knob and, uh, one more thing. What is this? It's a sleep-tracking camera. This hotel is called the Sleep Lab because it's literally designed to analyze everyone's sleep using AI. Like, it was actually taking pictures of me while I slept. It even gives you data on how well you sleep, like, how loud my snoring was. I slept pretty well, but it's because we still have a lot more capsule hotels to visit. And after the 100 hours is up, I'll get to check into this special mystery hotel room. It's day two, and we're in for a weird, weird day today. We're gonna go to one of the most futuristic breakfast cafes I've ever seen. A cafe with a robot staff. This robot is bringing me to my seat. Here we go. This restaurant uses robots to entertain you and bring you your food. They can sing and dance for you, but I think this one only knows Christmas songs. It's the Grinch's worst nightmare. And they can even play YouTube. It's Mr. Beast! Oh, food's here. Hi. I love this cafe, but never expected what I would find in the next restaurant. So the way this restaurant works is all of the robots are actually controlled by real people at home. This gives jobs to people with physical disabilities that might not allow them to go to work easily. They use microphones to talk to you and this webcam to see you. They can even talk to each other. Is this your dog? We got steak, rice, and salad. Can you bring me more water? No, just water is okay. Thank you. Wow, thank you. Yes, thank you. Thank you. Do you want this back? Thank you. Bye. Bye, Psy. That rhymed. Psy checked out, so that means it was time for us to check in to the next capsule. Sorry. Tonight's capsule is called the Book and Bed Cafe. It's a capsule hotel where you sleep inside a bookshelf. It's $50 a night and basically heaven for people who love books. Here, it's just really easy, honestly, to put your phone down, grab a coffee, and get lost in a book. Of course, most of the books here are in Japanese. But luckily, there is a small English section. Like, they've really put so many random interesting books here for you to grab. There's also showers and a disco ball. So you can party with your books, I guess? One thing that might surprise you is that Tokyo has insane 7-Elevens. They're, like, actually known for having really, really great food. But this store, it's extra special. First, I'm gonna grab a green tea. Looks good. This one has a hologram register to let you check out without talking to anyone or physically touching anything. You kind of just hover your finger through a button to press it. You do look a little strange. Gain your credit card, and we're done. That's it. Here's my plan for tonight. Tokyo has these world record-breaking arcades with hundreds of claw games in one building. So I need to win something. Anything. Let's start with Ditto. Wow. It wasn't going well, but something amazing caught my eye. Charmander was literally my favorite Pokémon when I was a kid. It was actually my first Pokémon ever. Also, look at me. Why am I so sad? But my sights were set on Charmander. What? What is happening? It really started to seem impossible when the unthinkable happened. Literally just after I moved off the machine, this guy won Charmander. Good job. On his first try. I don't know how to feel. Good job. I cannot believe that just happened. Well, time to move my tears to tonight's capsule. This capsule hotel is all about luxury. They have capsules and entire first-class cabins for $57 a night. My cabin is basically a hotel room. You get a whole bed, a side table, and of course, your own TV. I wonder what Japanese TV is like. Well, good night. I definitely have an interesting cafe for us to check out today. It's called the 2D Cafe because it makes you feel like you're walking into a cartoon. Or like a coloring book. Every object in the entire store is black and white. One colorful object would probably ruin the illusion. This is so trippy being in here. Really feels like you're in a cartoon. Japan really has so many businesses I didn't even know could exist. Like this co-working office that requires zero active employees to run. You just scan a code at the entrance, walk in, and work on your laptop in one of these capsule pods. There's even free coffee and vending machines for you to grab a lunch. I also found this hotel that uses robot hosts. They're kind of creepy and look way too human. Yo, it's a noodle robot! Found these security bots very hard at work. And even a snack robot. Just tap on its iPad and choose what you want. I got these, like, strawberry rice snacks. Tonight's capsule is all about quiet relaxation. It's dark and peaceful in here and you do get a lot of amenities. TV, side table, uh, nice pillow. Guests even get their own lounge area with free food, uh, manga, and massage chairs. It took me a second to figure it out. I mean, come on, look at me. Let's grab our pajamas and goodnight! Did you know Japan has over 2 million vending machines? Here's one that gives you ramen. I tried this one that gives you Yu-Gi-Oh cards. But the ones in this building right here, they might be the weirdest. It's old, dirty, and dark. Here you can buy a random bell for $5. These strange beetles. A super old popcorn machine. Carrots. Trains. Cars. Balls. Canned spaghetti. And I think these are news articles in a box. I don't know. Everything was sold out, so I just bought a Hello Kitty water. Tastes like water. So this, this is possibly the cheapest capsule hotel in Tokyo. It costs just $21 a night, but the reviews aren't great. Robert says he would give zero stars if he could. Wow, okay, Robert. And Mike says disgusting. Literally impossible to sleep. So obviously I had to check it out for myself. But I'm not spending the night. First impressions, it's definitely a little outdated. But you do still get a TV, and it's kind of amazing you can stay in the heart of Tokyo for just $20. So maybe it's not that bad. Come on, Robert. So we've got about 14 hours left in the challenge, and that also means just one sleep capsule left. The last one's actually the one I've been most excited about. I'll show you what I mean. But first, snacks. They sell these strange Pokemon banana snacks in the train station. Why are we in the train station, you ask? Well, this is my capsule for tonight. It's obviously on a train. I think this one's mine. Right now it is 10 p.m., and we'll be on this train all night getting off at about 5 a.m., where I'll finally be able to check into a real hotel. It's time. Snack time. They're little Pikachu banana snacks. There's real banana inside. The rocking of the train is actually super relaxing. Makes it really easy to, you know... The clock was ticking as we got ready for our big surprise tomorrow. The challenge is over, which means we can finally check into a real hotel, one that I had my editor Cory pick, and I just got a message from him about where to go. Let's watch. Hey, dude, so I just sent you the address for that hotel that I booked you. I hope you enjoyed visiting all those capsules, but I feel like the place that I got you is gonna be your best experience yet. Enjoy. What? My best experience yet? What does that even mean? I'm a little concerned now. Made it to the hotel. This is my room. It looks... A little sketchy, actually. It's a huge Pokemon-themed hotel room. This Snorlax is bigger than I am. There's like a dining room area. Okay, this was a good idea. I cannot believe this place actually exists. It's Charmander. I'm gonna catch up on sleep. If you had fun, subscribe. Subscribe.