Sleep cafés have been popping up in various neighborhoods in Seoul and they’re helping students and salarymen catch up on sleep before returning to their hectic lives.
With the growing presence of smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices, work has become accessible 24 hours a day, and sleep has become a rare and difficult commodity for everyone from students to businessmen.
Fortunately, sleep businesses called sleep cafés have been popping up in Gangnam and Yeouido, Seoul, in order to give hard-working Koreans some well-deserved shut-eye, if only for a few hours.
Sleeping cafés have provided a much-needed safe, quiet, comfortable, and affordable space for people to catch some Zs before resuming their work day. Some cinemas have even decided to transform their rooms into sleeping rooms during lunch time.
Like PC rooms, customers pay an hourly rate of approximately ₩5,500 KRW ($4.84 USD) and are provided with a reclining chair, privacy, and complete silence. The “Siesta” service at CGV cinemas is priced at ₩10,000 KRW ($8.80 USD) as drinks, blankets, and slippers are included.
According to a man who frequents these sleeping cafés, taking a nap during lunch time has helped him immensely. It has helped him forget about his duties and responsibilities for a short time.
“I get severely stressed from work and since we have social media, it feels like work never ends. Lunch time is relatively less stressful, so I go to these cafés to rest a little.”
— Sleep café visitor
Source: Dispatch
