Guest House Takenoya

The wall was so thin, more like a partition, that I could hear someone breathing. I booked a mixed dorm room. It was fairly cheap, but the pillow was hard and filled with beans. The public bathroom was okay, but there were no towels. Luggage transfer service to Toyama is available. This was the rudest hotel I’ve ever stayed in in Japan.

The room was clean and cozy, and the price was fair. JR Shinanomachi station is easy to reach from here.

The bath was spacious, and there was a refrigerator. We were also allowed to bring our own food. Just keep in mind that the sink and toilet are shared. There’s a large supermarket nearby and the station is close, though the arcade in front of it seemed a little deserted. I also wondered if the nearby train tracks might make it noisy. We were here on a family trip, with an early morning tour of Kurobe Dam the next day. It was a relatively inexpensive inn for the area, and adequate if all you need is a place to sleep.

The room had its own toilet, but the hand-washing tap on top of the tank was broken, so no water came out. I had to go to the shared sink in the hallway to wash my hands, and ended up keeping an empty plastic bottle filled with water. There was hair all over, the bathroom floor was slimy even though it wasn’t a hot spring, and the shower had mold. The room was close to the station and the supermarket was within walking distance, and I could have overlooked the facilities on their own. But the main female employee was so unpleasant that I’ll never stay there again. She seemed clearly foreign, spoke Japanese informally, and was full of sarcasm. Her being foreign wasn’t the issue, but I felt someone working in customer service should use appropriate language. When I brought dinner from a nearby supermarket to eat in the common area, she said, “You bought a lot, didn’t you?” It was a lot, but still. The next day my plans were in the afternoon, so I stayed in my room until checkout around 9:50 AM. She told me, “I thought you were staying multiple nights. If you don’t leave soon, we can’t clean your room.” Her way of speaking irritated me at every turn. There was also a sign saying that for multiple-night stays, the lights and air conditioning would be turned off from 10 AM to 4 PM. Next time I’ll book a Route Inn or look for a hotel in Matsumoto.