Today
we are going to write reviews of the hostels and hotels that we went to during
our trip in Japan. Please remember that we only make these reviews based
on our opinions and don’t have any purposes to ruin certain hostel’s or hotel’s
reputation. Just sharing what we felt
and exprerienced. Enjoy!
1.
Osaka Hana Hostel, Osaka
1-8-4, Nishi-shinsaibashi, Chuo-ku, Namba, Osaka,
Jepang 542-0086
Osaka Hana Hostel was the hostel that we s on our first
night in Japan. The location was great because it is really close to Amemura
and you could find convenience stores and souvenir and also snack shops easily.
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| Kitchen credit : agoda.com |
We arrived at about 9PM after we went to Dotonbori. Soon after
we entered the hostel, Megumi (staff here) greeted and explained us rules inside
the hostel (in English with cute Japanese accent). She was a kind of so (or
over?) friendly. Wkwkwk..... We took private room for 2 people that night
(costs 3.500/person). Everything is good. The room, toilet, shower, kitchen.
All are clean. Staff is friendly and good in service.
Note : When your first staying in Hana Hostel or J-Hoppers
Hostel, you will be given a discount sheet. One night stay, one stamp. You would
get 300 yen discount every three stamps and that this has no expired date.
2.
J-Hoppers Osaka Guesthouse,
Osaka
Fukushima-Ku Fukushima 7-4-22, Umeda, Osaka,
Jepang 553-0003
Our second hostel was J-Hoppers Osaka Guesthouse (same group
with Osaka Hana Hostel). J-Hoppers’s interior design was pretty similar to
Osaka Hana Hostel. So familiar. The staffs were also nice as well but the
building was a little bit smaller.
We slept in 6 Beds Dorm room and had no unpleasant experience
there. They made us having a good rest after all the tiredness of walking
through Tenjinbashisuji (7 blocks of shopping street) . Can you feel it?
3.
Kobe Sannomiya R2 Hostel,
Kobe
2-4-6 Kumoidori, Chuo-ku, Bay Area, Kobe, Jepang 651-0096
Being great adventurers,
we always arrived late at all hostels that we would stay. We came here right after
a short exploring of Mountain Rokko to see the
one-million-dollar-view from above. Mountain Rokko has been popular
site nowadays that you must visit in Kobe.
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| credit : agoda.com |
The design of this hostel was simple. All
facilities are good, clean and tidy. The staff was a foreigner and
of course, fluent in English without any Japanese
accent. No complain!
4.
Guesthouse Nara
Backpackers, Nara
Yurugi-Cho 31, Pusat Kota Nara, Nara, Jepang
630-8283
So here it is, Footy’s favorites hostel. Guesthouse Nara
Backpackers. Actually, this is a nearly 100 years Japanese house that has been
modified with modern utensils (such as shower and modern kitchen set). One
thing we love much was kotatsu (炬燵) in living room.
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| Living Room credit : booking.com |
It is
a low, wooden table frame, covered by a futon (or heavy blanket) upon which a table top
sits. Underneath is a heat source, generally built into the table itself. It was perfect since we
got cold weather there so we could stay warm. The small garden was beautiful
and you could also enjoy reading books here. Definitely will come back, no
doubt!
Note : Don’t make noisy sound or run inside the hostel.
Chiharu-san was super friendly (Footy has long chat with her and the other
international tourists). Her English was really good and if you find and
problem, don’t hesitate to ask!
5.
Kyoto Utano Youth Hostel,
Kyoto
29 Nakayama-cho Uzumasa Ukyou-ku, Arashiyama,
Kyoto, Jepang 616-8191
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| credit : agoda.com |
“This isn’t a hostel, this must be a hotel”. That is our
thought once we reached this hostel. We re-read the name and yes, it was hostel,
not hotel. The building was extremely huge. They had laundry room (they even
provided iron there), tennis court and live music inside.
Dining room was
spacious with self-kitchen. It is okay if you don’t want to cook yourself. They
provided chef to cook for breakfast and supper. The hostel was exactly like how
they won “Best Hostel Award: Most Comfortable
Hostel 2009”. It costs 3.500 yen/person for 6 beds dorm room. It’s
highly recommended.
6.
Nine Hours Capsule Hotel,
Kyoto
588 Teianmaeno-cho Shijokudaru Teramachidori
Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto Pusat, Kyoto, Jepang 600-8031
Visiting Japan will never be complete without trying the
capsule hotel. Unfortunately, there are so many capsule hotels that only allow
male guests. But after searching many times, we came across Nine Hours Capsule
Hotel. It was featured in a traveling website that talked about recommended
capsule hotels in Japan and we chose it instantly.
The design will attract you to the end. Dominated by black,
white and gray color. We could feel modern atmosphere, especially the capsule
itself. Super modern and not as small as we imagine before. One you check in,
they will give you shoe locker key, baggage key (contains slippers) and a amenity bag (contains
lounge wear, towels, tooth brush, tooth paste and slippers).
But Footy wasn’t really fond of staying here for two reasons.
First, the staff had kind of bad attitude and no smile at all. Second, despite
of its amazing design, the atmosphere was too stiff and tensed. It felt like we
live in a “prison”. Moreover with the gray lounge wear or you could say the “uniform”. Monotone. If
you want to try capsule hotel at least once, it’s ok to stay here one night. But
for regular stay, we prefer to look for regular hostels.
Note : Don’t lose your key! Because they will charge the
replacement fee and it’s not cheap (5.000 yen and 2.000 yen).
7.
Tsukiji First Cabin, Tokyo
2-11-10 Tsukiji, Chuo-ku, Ginza, Tokyo, Jepang
104-0045
Tuskiji First Cabin have almost similar with Nine Hours Capsule Hotel.
Everyone is provided a capsule room that is big enough, has Flat
TV inside (even though Footy don’t understand Japanese language). The staffs were
also nicer than Nine Hours. The same thing was provided lounge ware, tooth
brush and tooth paste are provided.
Foody was definitely stay long hours here
peacefully inside her capsule room after got fever. We had a better time here
and the location is really near to Tsukiji Fish Market which would be our first
destination on the next morning.
Note : The check-in time is 5PM but you could entrust your
baggage to recepsionist if you come here before the check-in time. Check-out
time is 10AM.
8.
Bakpak Tokyo Hostel, Tokyo
110 0012 Tokyo Prefecture, Taito-ku Ryusen 3-12-5 , Japan
This was probably the hostel that we liked the least in this
journey. We booked this hostel so sudden, 2 days before. All is because we didn’t want to spend another night
at the park (thank you very much). When we booked it, we saw at the web that
this hostel won some kind of awards before. This was probably the best one at
that time since we didn’t have many options left due to the sudden booking. By
the time we came inside, we were pretty shocked. It was far from our
expectation. The building and elevator seems untreated. The rooms felt kinda
dirty as well but we could handle it for a night. But no more for the second
time.
To
sum it up, we prefer to stay in hostels due to its less formality. Since they
have living room and kitchen room, you can interact with the staffs and some
other guests. Please make sure to follow the hostel’s and hotel’s rules because
it isn’t our house. Peace =)
We eat, we walk, we talk
-FoodyFooty2-
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