During our four week trip to six countries, we were bound to try some new travel experiences.

One of them was a new food experience, trying a doughnut hotdog!

Two other new experiences included catching some zzz’s. We spent a night on an overnight sleeper train and also stayed in an airport pod hotel with kids.

I’ve always wanted to try out a pod hotel and the perfect scenario arose for this occasion.

While putting together our trip itinerary, I said many times how this was almost like two trips in one. The first half had us visit Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova. The second half (where we spent more time) would take us to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia.

Getting from Moldova to Azerbaijan was a bit of a problem. We could pay a lot of money for a somewhat convenient yet not great flight or use some Delta Skymiles to fly on Aeroflot on a connecting flight at awful times.

We opted to go the route which saved us more money… I booked an award flight which left Chisinau Moldova at 12:50AM, arriving in Moscow (SVO) at 3:45AM.

The bigger issue with this awful flight time was that our flight from Moscow to Baku didn’t leave until 10:10AM. That’s a lot of time to kill, especially when it seemed like every seat in the airport had armrests between them, thus blocking the ability to lay down on a row of seats.

I did some research and saw that there was a pod hotel at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport. It just so happened that we came across GettSleep while walking towards our gate (where we planned look for a floor to camp out on).I started chatting with the receptionist at the small desk area about prices, luckily he spoke perfect English. He said we could get two pods for the four of us. That would definitely help with keeping costs down and it’s not like 6 year- old Lucas would be comfortable in one on his own.

Before committing to our stay, I asked to see what the pods looked like.As you can see in the photo, the pod area is very narrow.

What’s nice is that there is a closet under the pod (with a lock) where you can store a backpack and other items. There was also a small light and two outlets for charging electronics. To get privacy, you pull down the shade at the front.

Kim and I agreed pretty fast that the GettSleep pod hotel was our best option to get 2-3 hours of sleep and not completely waste our day in Baku.The Cost:

For up to four hours, we paid $32 per pod. So for $64 we had a place to rest and feel safe while passing out for a bit.

Was It Comfortable? Look at the two photos above.

I definitely could fill up the pod by myself. For someone the size of almost 2- year old Theo, there’s plenty of room.

I shared my pod with Lucas who’s 6 and weight around 65 pounds. The space in our pod was tight but we made it work. Lucas fell asleep relatively fast and it took me a while to wake him up so yes, you can say he slept very well. I had a much harder time getting comfortable- I was also thinking about the time of our flight! I probably got around two hours of sleep.

Kim shared her pod with Theo. The space issue was much less a problem for them. Kim found the pod to be comfortable. Theo was asleep when we got there and we don’t think that he ever woke up to realize that he had switched from the baby carrier to a bed.

Other Amenities:The bathroom is next door to GettSleep but there are two showers inside this pod hotel.

I really hoped to take advantage of the shower and clean up but I valued extra sleep over this luxury. Due to this, I can’t say how good (or bad) the shower was.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, Kim and I found staying in a pod hotel to be a very good experience. Lucas actually loved it and found it to be a fun little adventure.

Spending $64 for some comfort, security and sleep was well worth the money spent. The only thing I’d say is that next time this scenario comes up, I’m not sure that Lucas and I will fit in a pod together and I might need to switch pod-mates. (Here’s looking at you Theo!)

Have you ever stayed at a pod hotel? If so, did you enjoy the experience?