_________________________________________________
One of the joys I enjoy in travelling is to experience many different types of accommodations.
Not those boring standardised 3-star, 4-star, 5 star hotels...
but different arrangements such as student hostels, serviced apartments, couch surfing or airbnb (for those sole travellers)...
and I jumped at the chance to try out the famous capsule hotel in Osaka, Japan.
Great about this experience is that it is pretty cheap. I paid only a fraction of the usual hotel costs to stay 1 night in this capsule hotel.
At the entrance, you get to keep your shoes in a shoe locker.
You can also rent larger lockers for your other belongings for safekeeping, or after you check out. It costs only about 100 or 200 yens, depending on size. Actually lockers are quite commonly available throughout Osaka's train stations. I see many Japanese use them to often.
Once you registered and paid for your capsule, they will issue you your keys. You can take the elevator to your level. The levels are segregated by gender, 2 levels are for males and 1 level is for females. I supposed this is for a safer environment.
You can leave your luggage and belongings before you enter the capsule area, but for safekeeping, each guest has his own locker, with a towel and hangers inside.
Here is the view of the corridor of capsule.
When I first enter the hotel, there were not many guests. But when I returned at night for my sleep, it was actually quite crowded with many residents, many of them businessmen, judging from their attire and luggages.
There are shower cubicles at a corner. Very clean, pocket sized, with shower foam and shampoo. It comes in cubicle, looks like those ready-made-lego-type shower units that can be fastened. There are 2 areas inside: you first enter a dry area where you can hang your clothes and tower, and then you enter another panel where you take your shower. Very considerable design to ensure you would not get your clothes wet.
I forgot to take a photo, so here is the photo of the entrance
Here is what you would see when you peer into the capsule.
The capsule is not 100% sound proof too, and this is when you really understand how polite and considerate the Japanese are. All of them tuned down the volume, and there were almost no TV/radio switched on by the time I was about to sleep. Only a few businessmen were whispering to one another at a corner
There is control panel for the TV / radio at the side. There is even a power outlet for you to plug in your electronic device. It was a godsend for me to charge my mobile phone.
And you can pull down the curtain for some privacy.
The whole hotel is clean and decent. In the 1st floor main area, there are a few tables with internet access, for you to use their PC, and even to print out documents. There are tables for you to do some work or plug in your laptop, as well as vending machines for your refreshment.
There are always 2 staff at the reception, and they are really polite. They always stand upright when you are in the reception area, even though you do not need their help, I was just at the area arranging my luggage and wearing my shoes properly, and they waited till I walked off before they sit down and rest.
The japanese are really wonderful in their service.
I just realised (thanks to a reader) that this capsule hotel has a website
http://eco-cube.jp/en/
You can also see it in booking.com
http://www.booking.com/hotel/jp/b-amp-s-eco-cube-shinsaibashi.html
It costs us abt 1000 - 1500 yen per pax, I think. Cant remember the exact figure but it is definitely cheap.
Will blog again soon for the Love Hotel experience. :D
No comments:
Post a Comment