Snoozecube set to spread into China

Larry Swann of Snoozecube.

New Zealand airport micro hotel business Snoozecube is on the verge of expanding into China after its successful launch in Dubai.

Former Rotorua-based tour guide Larry Swann launched the business in 2011 and the 2.4m by 1.75m cubicle with a single bed inside has proved so popular he is now rationing spots.

The rooms have a touch-screen TV offering a selection of entertainment and music, high speed internet access and are connected to the airport's flight information system to ensure passengers do not miss their flights.

Guests pay US$18 ($20.80) an hour to nap in the Hamilton-made cube overnight and Swann said his next move would be into China.

He was in the final stages of negotiating a licence with Chinese authorities to install the sleeping cubes in Beijing and then expand to other Chinese airports.

"We're waiting for a licence to be cleared in China then I should be under way in the next six months."

Micro rooms are being installed by other companies at airports throughout the United States and Europe, but Swann said he believed he had the size just right.

He dreamed up Snoozecubes after watching actor Tom Hanks struggling for a comfortable place to sleep in the movie Terminal and talking to tourists who had had to sleep on airport floors en route to New Zealand.

"This is what is needed in the international market - there was nothing for the average traveller," said Swann.

A Snoozecube.

Snoozecubes were appealing to a broad market. "We're getting first-class people and business-class people through the cubes. They go to the lounges, eat, shower and clean up and then come and get horizontal in my establishment."

The company was also keen to expand at Dubai Airport, one of the world's busiest, but was struggling to find extra space there.

Swann said high demand at nights meant he was comfortable about a looming price rise to US$20 an hour.

"Because of how busy we get we've had to put in a policy of women and children getting the first option."