Photograph Courtesy of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
The woman has three hours between flights, and no one knows she’s curled up with a fresh pillow in a private nook at Hartsfield-Jackson. A working mom far from home, she is swaddled in stillness and silence. No gate announcements, no crying babies. Just the comforting hum of a sound machine.
Outside? A family races toward Gate B16. Inside? The traveler remains cocooned in a bubble of calm. Sure, it may be temporary, but for her, it’s bliss. And, no, this isn’t a dream.
She’s not the only one to find this Atlanta oasis. Every day, travelers disappear into Minute Suites—soundproof, self-contained rooms tucked into Concourses B (two locations), T, and F, available for rent by the hour or overnight. The entrance to the one at B16, located next to a Popeyes and a beauty-product vending machine by Kylie Jenner, is so discreet that it’s easy to overlook (unless you’re already in the know). The lone giveaway is a modest sign on the wall: “Quiet Please Travelers Napping.” And, it turns out, many are.
Described as a “traveler’s retreat,” Minute Suites are run by a 17-year-old company with an origin story that reads like a wellness case study. A group of healthcare professionals partnered with Dr. Sara Mednick, a sleep researcher and the author of Take a Nap! Change Your Life, to bring legitimate rest to the least restful place imaginable: an airport terminal. In 2007, they created a prototype. In 2009, the group officially launched Minute Suites at Hartsfield-Jackson and has since expanded to more than 40 airports.
“Our guests love it,” the employee at the B16 location says, barely looking up from his desk. “I’m booked out and I stay booked,” he adds, explaining that while many use the suites for naps, others treat them as makeshift offices.
“A lot of people rent rooms for Zoom calls,” he says.
Author and professional speaker Liz Murray, who travels through Hartsfield upwards of 30 times a year for work, says she understands the appeal. “The most maddening thing about traveling is the inability to just have a contained space for a brief period of time,” she says. “You’re constantly dealing with the unpredictability of announcements, interruptions, and even the spaces you take. Having a quiet autonomous space like this? It lets me completely recalibrate, even if just for an hour.”
Each private space is compact and outfitted with a trundle-style daybed, pillows, sheets, a blanket, a desk, a chair, a white-noise machine, a TV, and free Wi-Fi. For about $65 an hour (prices vary), travelers buy themselves one thing few airports offer: serenity. That, and a full hour of uninterrupted privacy. There’s more. For an additional fee, about $20, guests have the option to access the nearby bathroom and shower, a feature that surely feels like salvation after a red-eye flight. Online booking is available (with options to select specific times and amenities), but walk-ins are welcome too.
At the front desk, a guest is checking in while another appears from a narrow hallway with the blissed-out calm of someone who’s just woken from a nap. (Because he likely has.)
“Everyone leaves happy,” says the front-desk attendant, seated behind a sign bearing Minute Suites’ tagline: “Nap. Relax. Work.” It’s a lofty promise, especially in an airport. But it’s one these hidden rentable spaces somehow keep.
This article appears in our October 2025 issue.
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