Hostels and Hotels : Our Trip in Japan

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.

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.

 

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. 

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

 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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