New York hopes to attract some 55 million annual tourists by 2015, the majority of whom are looking for cheap accommodations – something that’s not easy to find in one of the cities with the highest cost of living in the United States. But a Danish design firm called Pink Cloud hopes to turn vacant buildings into fun, design-friendly hotels by filling empty offices with temporary, made-to-order hotels.
Pink Cloud’s plan starts with a menu of components that would-be hoteliers can tailor to their specific vision. From hotel beds and workstations to art exhibitions and martini bars, everything will be neatly packed and sent to hotel sites in modular shipping containers. A color-coding system would make the pop-up hotels easy to set up, and there’s a potential that the hotels could all be marketed together.
Skift points out there are some problems that could put a snag in Pink Cloud’s plans: zoning is extremely strict in New York, as is getting a property up to code. But since New York tourists are likely to spend more time seeing the sites than holing up in hotels, the new plan could revolutionize tourism in the city if it gets off the ground.