Peace House Abeno - Hostel

For the price, it was cleaner and safer than I expected. I stayed in a twin room with a friend, and the staff were very polite. We had a pleasant chat. I plan to stay again in the future, tbh.

The kitchen was mainly clean, the location was great, and it was cheap. Those are the positives. I wouldn’t recommend staying here, though, and there are better options nearby. The whole place smelled terrible, the photos looked quite old and didn’t match what it really looked like, and there was black mould growing in one of the showers. We paid extra for a private room, expecting it to be better, but it seemed worse. The aircon didn’t work, and on our last night we found bed bugs under the futons. The sheets didn’t smell clean, so it felt like they hadn’t been cleaned before we arrived. One of the worst hostels I’ve stayed in.

The guesthouse is pretty tight, and the stairs are so narrow you might need to butter yourself up to climb them. Unsalted works best as lubricant. There’s a guy named Kenji who presides over the place, though I’m not sure if he’s the manager or what. He’s an interesting fellow. He told me one hell of a story over a cigarette one morning. I’m sad life moved me along, but I’m sure I’ll return sometime. It’s not a bad guesthouse.

If you’re traveling Japan on your own, Peace House might help with the lonely feeling, especially if you’re more extroverted. It feels like a family place, the kind of atmosphere a hotel should have. You can’t tell who’s a guest and who’s an employee, which is a nice touch. Staff don’t feel robotic here. I stayed almost two weeks and barely talked to people because I was traveling around Osaka, but from watching them, it felt like everyone was having fun and were a little family. I actually miss the place as I write this. Guess I’ll have to visit again sometime.