Snoozebox's Pop-Up Hotels Solve Lodging Shortages

Veteran hotelier Robert Breare was seeking shelter from the rain at the Le Mans 24-hour car race in 2010, huddled in a tent with his children and friends, when an idea came to him: Why not build comfy, portable lodging cabins and transport them—by air, land, or sea—to sports and music events? And so, Snoozebox was born.

This year, Snoozebox Holdings is shipping 40 to 400 stackable containers to house guests at events including Le Mans, the Edinburgh Festivals of plays and concerts, and the G8 Summit. The prebooked rooms are equipped with flat-screen TVs, Wi-Fi, and running hot water. “When I first came across it, I had a ‘duh’ moment,” says Ignis Asset Management fund manager David Clark. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out the numbers of places that hold events but don’t have the accommodations for people to stay in.” Ignis holds an 8.3 percent stake in the London-based pop-up hotelier. Breare also founded Europe’s Great Eastern and Malmaison boutique hotel chains and sold them to Wyndham International in 1998.