Pokémon's Exclusive New Hotel Collab Lets Fans Sleep in a Giant Poké Ball

Pokémon is turning one of the most recognizable objects in the entire franchise into a real place to spend the night, with a giant Poké Ball hotel set to appear in the wilderness of Hokkaido, Japan.

Created through a new collaboration between Pokémon Sleep and hospitality company NOT A HOTEL, the unusual accommodation recreates the familiar red and white Poké Ball as a private sleeping space that guests will actually be able to stay inside.

Pokémon Sleep launched in July 2023 as a sleep-tracking game that encourages players to record their sleeping patterns while discovering different sleeping styles of Pokémon gathering around Snorlax.

The game has continued expanding since then with new Pokémon, locations, and support for sleep data recorded through compatible smartwatches, while its focus on rest makes the new hotel collaboration a particularly natural extension of its original concept.

NOT A HOTEL approaches the project from a very different direction, specializing in architect-designed vacation homes that combine unusual buildings with technology and hospitality services across locations around Japan.

For the new collaboration, that approach has resulted in the “Poké Ball-Themed Hotel,” a specially created structure that takes the basic shape and colors of a Poké Ball and turns them into a functional room.

The first announcement video shows the enormous Poké Ball sitting among the trees in Hokkaido, immediately making it look as though someone has dropped an oversized piece of the Pokémon world directly into the Japanese countryside.

A door positioned at the rear provides access to the room, while a large window has been incorporated into the structure so guests can look out across the surrounding landscape from inside.

The footage also confirms that a bed occupies much of the interior, keeping the focus firmly on sleep and relaxation rather than simply creating a Pokémon-themed attraction that visitors briefly walk through.

The basic idea comes directly from the role Poké Balls play within Pokémon itself, with the collaboration imagining the normally comfortable home of a Pokémon as an equally relaxing place for a person to sleep.

Pokémon has experimented extensively with themed accommodation before, although previous projects have generally transformed conventional hotel rooms rather than creating an entire building shaped like an object from the games.

MIMARU has offered dedicated “Pokémon Rooms” in Japan since 2019, with the concept receiving a major redesign in 2025 that expanded it across 10 hotels in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka and filled the rooms with around 100 different Pokémon alongside a giant Snorlax plush and Poké Ball-themed tableware.

Grand Hyatt Tokyo has also previously transformed its rooms into temporary Pokémon experiences, including a 2025 “Pokémon Beach Resort” collaboration that used Lapras, Snorlax, Pikachu and Piplup across tropical-themed rooms and suites.

More recently, Sendai’s OF HOTEL launched its own Lapras collaboration in 2026, creating two dedicated guest rooms inspired by the Water and Ice-type Pokémon alongside exclusive merchandise for people staying there.

The new Pokémon Sleep project takes that idea considerably further, as the accommodation itself becomes the Pokémon reference rather than relying primarily on character decorations inside an otherwise normal hotel room.

Its remote Hokkaido setting also plays into Pokémon Sleep’s calmer atmosphere, surrounding the Poké Ball with forest rather than placing it inside a conventional hotel complex.

For now, Pokémon and NOT A HOTEL are deliberately keeping much of the interior hidden, with the announcement teasing what guests will actually find once they step through the rear entrance.

The accommodation will form part of a limited “Stay in a Poké Ball” campaign rather than operating as a permanently bookable hotel.

Only campaign winners will be able to stay inside the Poké Ball during the promotion, and the accommodation will not be opened to the general public while the campaign is taking place.

Pokémon has not yet revealed exactly where in Hokkaido the hotel is located, how many stays will be available, or how fans will be able to enter for a chance to experience it.

Those details are scheduled to be announced on September 15, when the complete “Stay in a Poké Ball” campaign and application process will be revealed.