Like Ikea's affordable furniture and cheap breakfasts? Then you'll love the Swedish chain's latest plans: A foray into the hotel business.
Ikea is set to open 100 hotels featuring stylish but inexpensive rooms across Europe. It's the company's biggest real estate development to date, according to Reuters.
But if you're hoping to stay in a room decorated with Billy bookcases and Hemnes beds, don't hold your breath. The planned hotels won't feature any of Ikea's infamous furniture or even share its name, according to reports.
The aggressive move into the hotel business is driven by growing demand for stylish rooms that cater to customers feeling the pinch from the economic downturn and austerity programs, Harald Muller, senior executive of the property unit at Inter Ikea, told Reuters.
"'Budget designer hotels' is today the fastest developing hotel segment." he said.
The first hotel is expected to open in Germany in 2014, with others to follow in countries such as Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Would you stay in an Ikea hotel?
Carly Weeks