Many airport services and amenities are not back at full power yet. And some may never be. And we have been wondering what’s up with Minute Suites, the company that rents out private rooms in some airports where travelers can sleep, rest, or get some work done during layovers.
The suites include a daybed sofa that turns into a bed, sound masking, a thermostat, a workstation, Wi-Fi, Netflix, and DIRECTV. Travelers can book a suite on the app or in person. And travel essentials are sold at the front desk.
The company did shut down temporarily during spring/early summer 2020. But it has now reopened in all its previous airport locations, including Atlanta, Charlotte Douglas, Dallas-Fort Worth, LaGuardia, and Philadelphia. Since October 2020, the company has even added new locations in the Baltimore and Nashville airports. And they have also signed ten more leases for additional airport locations.
“We were fortunate that American Airlines chose to consolidate much of their traffic through DFW and Charlotte and we re-opened our facilities there during the summer,” said Minute Suites co-founder and director of development Daniel Solomon. “Travelers valued our service for natural social distancing and as a safe place to relax and unmask.”
Are the suites santized?
Cleaning the rooms between guests was important before the pandemic, of course, but now the sanitation protocols are, of course, even more important. “[We] have employed a medical-grade cleaning protocol after each guest for over a decade,” says Solomon, “It features a disinfectant agent that is EPA-certified to kill COVID-19.” (More about the cleaning systems here.)
Now that more people are traveling, Minute Suites is reporting healthy recovery numbers in part because passengers are realizing that inside the suites is one of the few places in the airport where they can safely take off their masks, eat a take-out meal, work, rest, or nap.
What is the cost?
Minute Suites rent for $45 for the first hour (the minimum). After that, rates are charged in 15-minute increments. Right now, though, you are likely to be offered a 25% discount. As a nice gesture, Minute Suites has always offered nursing and pumping mothers a 30-minute free stay.
Travelers who have Priority Pass memberships (or credit cards with that beneift) get the first hour at Minute Suites sites free and a discounted per hour rate after that. A Minute Suites spokesperson says they are seeing a lot of Priority Pass usage right now.
