No kidding, for P20, you can sleep in a hotel!

Transients, street-sleepers, the homeless, and night workers, can now sleep comfortably in a hotel without spending too much. For an incredible P20 a night (plus P5 for shower), the Gwapotel 2 in Tondo, Manila offers a capsule bed made of hard plastic, so that common people in need of a safe place to doze off need no longer sleep on the sidewalks and can have a smidgen of privacy as well. Sorry for lovers though, as Gwapotel 2 doesn't offer a double-capsule bed--they have to sleep separately (sleeping on top of one another is not allowed!).

The Gwapotel, short for Gwapo Hotel (Handsome Hotel), is Metro Manila Development Authority's (MMDA) latest project touted as "a home away from home." It is being implemented under the MMDA’s Metro Gwapo program, which is also responsible for streetside urinals, waiting sheds, fences, and footbridges. The very first Gwapotel was built along Bonifacio Drive in Port Area, Manila, and had double-deck beds instead of capsule beds.

Gwapotel 2, located along Jose Abad Santos Avenue, is actually the defunct Emmanuel Hospital. By renovating the old building, painting it with the usual pink and blue of MMDA, and adding a few amenities, the MMDA has converted the old building into the newest and cheapest hotel in town. The cost of the renovation was P10.7 million, while the monthly rental being paid to the owners of Emmanuel Hospital is P200,000.

Conceived from an idea nobody thought would succeed, Gwapotel, otherwise known as the PGMA Workers’ Inn, has literally become a haven for low-income workers, students, and out-of-town travelers.

MMDA Architect Alfonso Romero, who spearheaded the project, said that the capsule beds in the Gwapotel 2 were inspired by those found in dormitories and cheap hotels in Japan. The design is space-saving, comfortable, and provides more privacy to clients, compared with regular flat beds.

"Enviable private space for Gwapotel guests" was how Romero described the idea of using capsule beds instead of double-deckers. An MMDA press release compared the hotel service to the on-board amenities of an economy seat on a plane. Priced very affordably, guests can sleep in an air-conditioned room with capsule beds that provide good lumbar support, Romero said.

The Gwapotel 2 was actually an idea of former MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando, who first saw the capsule hotels on a trip to Japan. Each capsule is equipped with soft blankets, piped-in music, a head light for reading, and a TV set. This impressed and inspired Fernando. Upon his return, Fernando personally negotiated with the owners of the closed Emmanuel Hospital and consummated the hotel deal for the government.

What MMDA did was to design a simpler version of the Japanese model. This version has no TV set -- just sleeping capsules with soft mattresses, piped-in music (with volume control), and reading lights (air-conditioning will be installed later, the management says). As good as it sounds, some tenants have complained they felt claustrophobic. It felt like he was "sleeping inside a tomb," one of them said. Still, nobody thought they had the right to complain, with the P20 price tag.

"‘I'm sure that if the TV set was included," said one of the tenants, "the price would have been more than double. And of course, we can’t afford that."

I personally visited the Gwapotel and here are some of my observations:

The capsule beds are in three layers, with a ladder available for climbing the third layer. I observed that most guests were comfortable with the capsule beds, but there were a few who were discomfited by the small space.

I tried sleeping on one bed and found it quite comfortable. It had soft beddings and a reading light. I rather liked the piped-in music, even if I couldn’t change the station. I tried closing my eyes to drift off to sleep, but it was next to impossible. The fellow in the next bed was snoring loudly.

For those who feel uncomfortable sleeping inside the capsule beds, there are flat beds available, but the rooms are not air-conditioned.

The restrooms of the Gwapotel are very clean and well-maintained. The maintenance staff checks around the clock to make sure these are up to sanitation standards. There are no graffiti – or maybe not yet.

A canteen can be found at the lobby. It does not have steaks and wines on the menu -- instead, there are Lucky Me pancit canton which they will cook for you for P12, hard-boiled eggs (P8 each) as well as cup noodles, biscuits, candy, and soft drinks. You can also order a cup of hot coffee (P10) and a piece of bread (with your choice of peanut butter or cheese spread) for another P10. For lunch, the canteen offers hot rice (P8 per cup), with your choice of pritong galunggong (P12 each) or salted eggs (P8 each) for ulam. There is also a cellphone load and charging service. If you wish to call a friend but don’t have a mobile phone, there is a payphone available -- P5 per three minutes.

Looking around, I saw some tenants enjoying themselves in the canteen -- presumably MMDA workers or night-shift workers who work in nearby establishments. Many of them are now regulars of Gwapotel and some have since developed friendships with each other. The management, however, does not allow monthly payments. It sticks to the policy of collecting payments daily.

The Gwapotel is open 24 hours a day. Tenants can check-in at any time of the day, provided they check-out at the same time the next day.

Photos by Dennis Villegas, some rights reserved. Click to enlarge/view descriptions.

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