· Global trend of shared-living & co-living spaces catching up in a big-way with the Indian travellers.
· A large number of 30 to 45 year olds, opting for this innovative concept!
· More than 10,000 guests from over 40-countires across the globe have visited Urbanpod.
· Plans to expand its footprint to other cities.
Mumbai, April 17, 2018: Since its inception in 2017, Urbanpod, India’s first-of-its-kind Pod Hotel has been strengthening its presence in the Indian Hospitality Industry. With the launch of Urbanpod last year, India witnessed the launch of a ‘new category’ in the hospitality segment.
In the past 1-year, Urbanpod has seen a healthy mix of travellers from both Indian and International markets and have served more than 10,000 guests. With a ‘diverse’ clientele, it has served visitors from over 40-countires across the globe.
Urbanpod has benchmarked itself with the best in the world and is minimalistic yet sleek& sophisticated with high-tech, self-contained Pods (which are often compared to a space-ship!) and is a modern, upgraded-version to match the comfort of the global audience.
Mr. Hiren Gandhi, Co-founder, Urbanpod Pvt. Ltd. said, “Pod Hotels which are popular with global travellers, has slowly but steadily begun to pick up steam with the Indian travellers too. The highlight would be, we have witnessed a large number of 30 to 45 year olds, opting for this innovative concept! In addition, a sizeable number of single-women travellers and business-women preferred the safety, hygiene & comfort of the exclusive Ladies Pods section.” Mr. Gandhi also added “Our Pod Hotel has won the accolades from the Industry for being the top-rated and the best boutique hotel of the year.Consolidating our current position, we plan to expand to other cities soon”.
Urbanpod that promises a smart-stay option for travellers, have created value for the customers by offering pocket-friendly luxury & services like any top-notch Hotel and done away with the extravagant-frills while focusing on the things that really matter to a modern-day traveller on the lookout for a stopover. The new-age travellers (both business& leisure), single travellers, group travellers (study-related group, researchers and sports), backpackers and so on, typically in the age-group of 20 to 50 have stayed at Urbanpod, thus far.
The ones that have been initially sceptical, have experienced the concept first-hand and have accepted it and absolutely loving it, especially, the new-age travellers! This indicates that Indians have definitely become more open to newer formats, ideas, trends & experiences.
This unique-concept of accommodation (the way the Pods are set-up), facilitates opportunities to network & socialize with other guests staying at the hotel and encourages the whole aspect of community-building & shared-living, a lifestyle that is catching up in a big-way, across the world. This unique-concept has also grown to be aspirational and a must-try option during travel!In a sense, Urbanpod has helped redefine the concept of ‘shared-living’.
About Urbanpod and its evolution:
Urbanpod is the brainchild of young business professionals who share common passion & values - that of doing things differently, creating something new& innovative that ‘adds value’ to the customers and the society at large.
During a business trip to Singapore, Mr. Shalabh Mittal & Mr. Hiren Gandhi chanced upon this idea, during their stay at one of the most elegant Pod Hotel and absolutely loved the experience! They felt that the Product & service quality were exemplary while keeping the prices affordable and not compromising on the core-benefits of quality, hygiene & safety, hence, even a great option for single women travelers, apart from the business & leisure travelers. Hence they decided to bring the concept to India along with their Singapore-partner, Mr. Berlin Lee who brings in experience in terms of running Pods in Singapore, Interiors & design and International best practices and standards.
With the changing global dynamics, the Promoters also envisaged the fact that Pod Hotels are not just a global-trend and a credible business-model but also that there is a growing necessity for such spaces in India. Inbound & outbound tourism has grown manifold. With the growing per capita income and the changing lifestyle, the Urban Indian is ready to travel more than ever and the domestic travel too, is at an all-time high. To add to this, the sub-segments within the leisure category i.e. Single-travelers, backpackers, group travelers, spiritual-groups, explorers, researchers, study-tour, cultural-exchange groups etc., are only growing!
The Promoters through Urbanpod aims to fill the gap in the hospitality industry by offering a unique Product that provides an alternate, practical & SMART-accommodation (good value-for-money) without compromising on quality, safety, comfort & style and thereby assist the travelers in optimizing their spends, rather judiciously.
The promoters envision taking the concept and brand pan-India and have other offshoot formats in mind too. They are open to business-partnerships including franchising, to expand their presence.