Mash Café & Bed NAGANO - Hostel

The rooms were okay for the price, but I’d look for a better deal if traveling alone. I stayed with friends and never received the online check-in instructions through Agoda. Since the desk was unattended after check-in hours, I was locked out in the freezing cold and felt stuck for about 20 minutes. My friends had received their room access details, but I hadn’t been told the hours or how to get in. There was no phone number at the desk, the hotel didn’t answer my first call, and my email went unanswered too. On a second call someone finally picked up and gave me access. I had to write down the check-in information myself. They didn’t apologize or reply to my email with the details.

The staff were very kind, and the hostel was fairly quiet with a comfortable sleeping temperature. It’s also handy for the station. The rooms are large, with several beds and enough room for everyone’s luggage, though I wish the lockers were bigger.

The setup here felt unfriendly and poorly suited to hostel guests. Café and bar staff also manage the hostel, with only two or three people handling 35 dorm beds per floor as well as private rooms. They seemed stressed and stuck with rigid rules that didn’t make much sense. At check-in, I was handed laminated instructions to photograph and read myself, with only a rushed explanation. There are signs everywhere about what you can’t do. Dorm toilets can’t be used for that purpose. Eating is restricted to an eight-seat lounge with two tables, no windows, and irregular cleaning. Free water isn’t available, and the drinks bar costs 500 yen. Towels aren’t provided either. The atmosphere felt very dry. The beds were the most claustrophobic I’ve seen in Japan, and the lockers only fit backpacks, despite many Nagano visitors arriving with packs of 45 litres or more for hiking. People ended up unpacking across the dorm floor. Two lockers in the room are larger, but only beds 1 and 2 get them. When I asked where to find a bigger one, I was told to go to Nagano station. Should I sleep there too? There are no mosquito nets on the windows, so it’s a choice between bugs and street noise or no fresh air in a 35-person dorm with two small windows. The lights stay on all night. Nobody is in the building from 10pm to 10am, which left me wondering what happens in a fire or accident. It felt like cost cutting at the expense of guests’ safety. They say checkout isn’t needed because the room and building entry codes aren’t changed often. Guests also have to strip their own bedding and take it to the laundry baskets. Luggage storage is in an open area beside the café entrance, and again I was told to use Nagano station for a locker. I left at 8:30 the next morning and was very glad to go. Unless saving money is essential, I wouldn’t stay here. I didn’t feel welcome or rested. Bring earplugs and a sleep mask if you do.

A handy stop right by the station. The rooms and bathrooms were clean, the bunks were wide, and the lobby felt cozy. Even with Nagano’s February cold, the room was warm and ventilated. A great place to rest.