Grandouce Otorii I - Hostel, Caters to Men

Not good. You can get somewhere better for the same money. The dorm has no curtains, so light comes in and makes it hard to sleep. They don’t provide anything to cover your eyes either. I’d give it less than one star if I could.

It’s clean and simple, and seems good for the price. The check-in process is a bit fiddly, which is especially annoying in the rain. The room, or capsule, was standard spacious at 3 ft high and private. There’s a little desk and chair, plus space for a suitcase or two if you don’t mind losing use of them. Each of the two floors had eight rooms, three toilets, a shower, microwave, kettle and sink. The toilets are in an unbelievably tiny space, so be warned, and the entrance is tight too, so a group needs to be quick taking off shoes. Extras include coat hangers, a personal chiller, a security box and a chain lock for luggage. There are two plugs in the room.

I spent 12 hours here and was glad to leave. I even thought about walking to the airport at midnight, a 40-minute walk, while the person below me slurped, chewed and burped. One night is fine, but that’s my limit. The booking site didn’t mention the notice saying the property reserves the right to kick guests out without a refund. If that and the poor soundproofing had been disclosed, people would think twice before booking. There are eight cubicles, three toilets, two sinks and two shared showers. It’s a house cut up into mini rooms. By capsule hotel standards the capsules are fairly large, like small rooms, and the cubicle was pretty clean. But it’s basically a double bunk bed with fake wall partitions, and only wooden boards between you and the person above or below. Whether that’s a problem depends entirely on how considerate your bunk mate is. Mine was awful: eating noodles at midnight, burping, loud bumping, and I could hear the chewing and smell the food. You’re breathing the same air, so if the person is sick, you might catch it. There’s no soundproofing. You can hear everything: people coming in, curtains opening and closing, footsteps, coughing and sink use. When a door opens, the lock’s little tune comes through loud and clear. The shared shower has no hooks, just a small shelf for clean clothes and a towel, and the shelf was disgusting and covered in trash (refer to picture). The floor is carpeted, and they don’t provide slippers, so wear something or you might catch a fungus. There isn’t even a shoe rack by the doorway, so footwear is scattered around the entrance (refer to picture).

Tiny, affordable and just right for solo travelers. It’s close to the train and restaurants, within walking distance of some really cool sites, and really near haneda airport.