Ikea will open low budget hotels

Ikea is going beyond furniture production and breaking into the accommodation industry.

Ikea to open low cost design hotels

Furniture retailer Ikea is looking to open a budget 'design' hotel chain across Europe.

The hotels - believed to be at least 100 - will not use the Ikea name and will not be run by the Swedish company but by an established hotel operator, reports the Financial Times.

In 2007 Ikea opened their own pseudo-hostel inside one of their Olso, Norway stores so that customers could sleep over and continue shopping the next day. Now they’re moving forward.

I wonder if their hotels will use the same beds and furniture that they currently sell, or if they will develop a new line of “hotel quality” equipment. If they do develop a more sturdy collection for their hotels, do you think it will be available for general purchase? Depending on the price, this could be a very good thing for hostels too. Of course, that assumes that they don’t become our newest competition in the process.