Ever felt you’ve overstayed your welcome in a cafe, by reading, working or surfing the web while hugging the latte you bought two hours ago?
A café in London is addressing the issue of people camping out and doing their work for hours while only springing for a measly coffee. It costs £1.80 an hour—$2.75 an hour in Australian terms—to hang out in Ziferblat, a Russian café chain that recently opened its first London locale. In fact, the time you spend there is the only thing that costs money.
The Guardian explains the concept:
“The idea is guests take an alarm clock from the cupboard on arrival and note the time, then keep it with them, before, quite literally, clocking out at the end. There’s no minimum time. Guests can also get stuck into the complimentary snacks (biscuits, fruit, vegetables), or prepare their own food in the kitchen; they can help themselves to coffee from the professional machine, or have it made for them. There’s even a piano – an idea that could seem brilliant or terrible, depending on who takes the seat.”
Eight days into 2014, Time Out already declared Ziferblat ‘a contender for best opening of the year’. But what do you think? Does the idea appeal to you? Would you feel more relaxed, or more under pressure with a clock by your side? Only time will tell…