Asian Games 2026 accommodation: What does an athlete's room look like?

For the first time in the history of the Games, there is no single, centralised athletes’ village

The Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya are turning out to be different from every edition before them, and not just because of who wins what.

For the first time in the Games’ history, there is no single, centralised athletes’ village. Instead, organisers have split the competitors across hotels, a docked cruise ship, and rows of temporary wooden cabins built to look like shipping containers.

The unusual setup has naturally sparked curiosity around a simple question, one that Indian badminton stars Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty answered without even trying.

An Instagram story of Chirag Shetty shared by the fan account Just Badminton on X gives fans an actual look inside their room.

So what does an Athlete’s room actually look like?

The clip, captioned “Mandatory room tour by Chirag,” starts with Chirag panning his phone around a fairly ordinary-looking hotel room.

There are suitcases stacked near the door, a couple of travel bags leaning against a wall, a work desk covered with folders and papers, a couple of neatly made beds pushed close together, and another bed in the distance.

The Instagram story also has Srikanth Kidambi in the frame. Satwik sits on one of the beds in his India tracksuit, relaxed and smiling, before he playfully points at the camera as the video wraps up.

Chirag also flashes a peace sign while the room comes into view behind him. It is not a fancy suite by any stretch, just a clean, functional hotel room with enough space for three athletes and their gear.

Given the accommodation arrangements for these Games, it remains unclear whether Satwik and Chirag are staying at one of the regular hotels or in the newer facilities set up specifically for the event. Based on the video, it looks like a standard hotel room rather than the cruise ship or the container cabins.

Here is how the overall accommodation is split up for the Aichi-Nagoya Games. The Costa Serena, an Italian cruise liner, is docked at Kinjo Pier in the Port of Nagoya and is expected to house somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 athletes and officials during the event.

Separately, at Garden Pier, organisers have put up temporary wooden villas styled like shipping containers, with capacity for around 2,000 athletes.

Everyone else, which includes a large chunk of the participating nations, is being put up in regular hotels spread across Nagoya city and other parts of Aichi prefecture, close to the various competition venues.

Why was a mixed model used?

This mixed model was used to cut construction costs and avoid building a massive permanent village that would sit unused after the Games end, something host cities have struggled with in the past.

For Satwik and Chirag, the room tour comes at a good time. The pair recently won the China Masters Super 750 title, just weeks before they head into Aichi-Nagoya as defending Asian Games champions, having created history at Hangzhou in 2023 with India’s first-ever badminton gold at the Games.

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