Maru House - Hostel

For a hostel, the shared room has space for about 5-6 people at the main table to eat or have a drink. The shared areas and rooms were clean, though my room had enough dust to make my nose run, feel stuffy, and sneeze unless I opened a window. From the third floor window I got a great view of the tower. Each bedroom has its own AC. You'll share the common room and bathroom, and the common area opens to the outside, so a passerby could come in. Keep your room locked. I would've preferred separate keys for the shared entrance and my room. That lack of security was the biggest drawback for me. The house is right outside Shinsekai, where roaming drunks nearby are possible and add to the noise. It was good value, especially since there wasn't much available during the world expo. I had no issues with the owner, despite what some reviews say. He was neither especially kind nor rude, just a man doing business. It took

The hostel is clean, has air conditioning, and sits right in the heart of Shinsekai. Its location is great, and the owner took me to restaurants and karaoke bars I wouldn't have known about otherwise.

I came to Maru House with both excitement and some worry, since one low rating among so many positive ones had caught my attention. After talking with the owner and trading stories about life, I found him unusually kind-hearted. This is the sort of guesthouse I'd recommend to anyone hoping for warmth, respect, compassion, and shared travel memories. The four-person dorm has memory foam mattresses, which you don't often find. I've worked part-time at Korean guesthouses in the UK six times, so I'm familiar with how they run. My praise isn't meant to flatter the owner. It's a sincere recommendation to visit. People travel for different reasons, maybe for a new challenge or a change from their current lives. Perhaps we want a break from fixed roles and a chance to refresh. If you've worked in service, you may understand how rare this kind of attentive care is at an affordable price. It's also unusual for a guesthouse to be maintained with this much attention for 16 years. Fewer than 1 in 100 businesses last even three years, and this is in Japan. If travel makes you anxious, I'd especially recommend Maru House. And if you're hoping for something beyond a place to sleep, a bit more happiness, what I found here was sincerity as well as service. Maybe that's part of a happy life. No need to look far and wide. Thank you, Maru House, for the stay :)

This was my worst hostel stay. The room we were given was dirty and dusty, and the Korean owner wasn't very polite. We tried to check out around 10 am, before the 11 am deadline, but couldn't find him and found the entrance locked. Everyone ended up waiting outside. I wouldn't trust the five-star reviews here.