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WhyHotel opens in Seattle, offering pop-up concept that's expanding across the country

By Patranya Bhoolsuwan
By Patranya Bhoolsuwan

SEATTLE — Seattle is home to tens of thousands of hotel rooms. but some of the newest ones are popping up inside buildings you may not expect.

WhyHotel is a pop up concept that opened at the Avalon Towers in Belltown about 2 weeks ago.

The pop-up hotel takes up the fourth and fifth floors, occupying 50 units in the 24-story high rise.

The idea is to help fill vacant units of newly developed buildings by turning it into a short term accommodations.

The hotel offers fully furnished rooms with 24/7 service for guests staying anywhere from one night up to several months.

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Guest also have full access to the apartments amenities, like the gym and the club room.

"It's win-win for everyone on site," said Jason Kamen, WhyHotel Vice President of Operations. "I think there's a growing movement around the world about how we can optimize space better."

WhyHotel said it normally prices its rooms about 10 to 15 percent  below the market rate.

KIRO 7 talked to one guest visiting from the Netherlands who said he's never heard the concept of a pop up hotel but chose this place for the location.

"It's a great location, close to city center, close to downtown, close to waterfront. I think it's perfectly located," said Sven Kotowski.

A resident at the Avalon said he likes the idea of having a hotel right in his apartment building for its convenience factor.

"It's awesome that we can have family come and stay that residents get free discounts and we got coffee in the morning. It's pretty great," said Brandon Eickmeier

WhyHotel, which currently has properties in Washington, D.C. and one in Houston that is set to open early next year, said the life span for each location is about 1 to 2 years before buildings fill up with tenants - then they move on to the next place.

They're also planning for 6 new locations to open in the next 6 months, and 15 by this time next year.

WhyHotel is expected to stay open at the Avalon for about another year, but plans are already in the works to open another pop up in Seattle by next spring.

Cox Media Group

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