japanese hotel features a lifesize flight simulator in one of its rooms

the haneda excel hotel tokyu in japan has installed a full flight simulator inside one of its rooms. opening for booking starting july 18th, the ‘superior cockpit room’ features a machine that simulates the experience of piloting a boeing 737-800 flying from haneda to osaka’s itami airport.

images courtesy of haneda excel hotel tokyu

guests in that particular hotel room can book 90-minute flying sessions for a costly price of 30,000 yen ($277), on top of the 25,300 yen ($234) it costs to book the room. an instructor will be on hand to help as guests aren’t allowed to operate the simulator themselves.

it might seem like a random feature but the hotel itself is actually connected to tokyo’s haneda international airport. it has direct links to tokyo haneda airport terminal 2 with most of its rooms featuring views of the runways.

it cost approximately 10 million yen ($92,000) to outfit the room with the flight simulator, according to a report by cnn travel, which spoke to aki hagiwara, a public relations manager at the hotel.

‘the company was looking for a way to differentiate itself from the thousands of other hotels in tokyo,’ the report says. ‘hagiwara said the company decided to embrace the airport theme in order to attract aviation enthusiasts as well as transit passengers, the typical clientele for hotels near airports.’

project info

hotel: haneda excel hotel tokyu

address: 3 chome-4-2 hanedakuko, ota city, tokyo 144-0041, japan

open from: july 18