Japanese hotel opens room with flight simulator for aviation geeks

Flights sold separately

Haneda Excel Hotel Tokyu's superior cockpit room (Haneda Excel Hotel Tokyu)

A hotel in Japan is opening a room with a flight simulator to appeal to aviation enthusiasts.

The Haneda Excel Hotel Tokyu, inspired by its location near Tokyo Haneda Airport’s terminal 2, is launching the Superior Cockpit Room from 18 July.

However, #avgeeks have to book the experience separately as it is not included with the room price.

The simulator experience, which must be taken with an instructor, lasts 90 minutes and costs 30,000 yen (£221).

Meanwhile, if guests book the Superior Cockpit Room – 25,300 (£186) a night for the twin room – they are not allowed to “sit in the pilot’s seat in the simulator or touch the instruments”, according to the hotel website.

The experience must be done with an instructor (Haneda Excel Hotel Tokyu)

Those who do book in for a flight will be able to simulate the experience of manoeuvring a Boeing 737-800 aircraft and “flying” from Haneda to Osaka’s Itami Airport.

The room’s refit cost about 10 million yen (£75,000), a hotel spokesperson told CNN.

It’s not the first time brands have used flight simulation as a USP.

First Airlines restaurant opened in Tokyo last year, offering guests a unique “in-flight” Virtual Reality (VR) dining experience, with virtual tours of cities including Hawaii, Rome, Paris and New York.

Diners “check in” to the flight, sit in a comfortable first-class seat and are treated to a realistic pre-flight safety demonstration, before enjoying an array of dishes similar to those served on flights.

After “take-off”, guests are treated to a four-course meal themed around the cuisine of their VR destination. The New York experience, for example, includes chopped salad, Manhattan clam chowder, Angus beef steak with bacon and balsamic truffle sauce and cheese cake, while those “travelling” to Italy can enjoy dishes such as salmon carpaccio and tiramisu.