Shikoku Central Hotel

The walls are so thin that I could hear everything from next door, adults talking and children’s voices alike. Kids were jumping around loudly without their parents supervising them, and I couldn’t sleep. It was awful. I’d rather guests who don’t mind their manners didn’t stay here.

The rooms start on the third floor, above a video rental shop along the national highway. Reception is on the second floor, reached by elevator, and there’s no staff at the desk. You tap a tablet to get into your room, which locks automatically with a PIN. Make sure to write down the code shown on the tablet. There’s a Lawson across the road, and a supermarket a few minutes away by car. The covered parking is on the first floor, but arriving after sunset, I found it dark and awkward to unload my motorcycle. You can hear some truck noise from the highway, though I could sleep once I was tired. For the price, I think it’s a decent hotel.

The thin walls let through both the neighbors’ conversation and even the sound of their toilet flushing. Around 2 am, someone who’d probably just come back from drinking started talking and woke me up. I ended up slamming against the wall because I had no other choice.

I stayed here in August 2024. The receptionist was kind, and the room had been cleaned, but that was about all I could say in its favor. There were no pajamas or razors, so I slept naked. It smelled awful, like a former smoking room, and still does. I couldn’t sleep. Had they done no deodorizing or cleaning when they made it non-smoking? The stink was terrible. Then I went to use the bathtub and found a mysterious towel lying in it. That was scary and bizarre. I timidly picked up three towels, but there was nothing there. What was going on? I stay in hotels for work both in Japan and abroad, and this was comparable to the awful ones in China. For me, it’s in my top three worst hotels. The area around the hotel smelled bad too, so Shikoku really is a stinky place.