Nui. Hostel & Bar Lounge

I didn't stay at the hostel, but my friend did and she had a good experience. We met there one morning before heading out around Tokyo. The soy latte was great, and the atmosphere made it easy to strike up a conversation. While waiting for my friend, I got talking with another person who had stopped in for coffee, and we all hung out together afterward.

It's on a quiet side street, which made it nice to return to a calmer part of town each night. The staff were all kind and friendly, and the AC worked really well. For a classic hostel, it's a solid option. The mixed dorm for eight was clean, and privacy curtains around each bed helped cut out light and noise.

The rigatoni was cooked well and the ingredients were good quality, which is why I'm giving two stars. I picked it because it was the only menu item that caught my eye without a spicy symbol. With my stomach issues, I thought it would be a safe choice. Unfortunately, it was spicy. When I mentioned that to the waiter, he insisted it wasn't instead of checking or trying to help. That wasn't an appropriate way to respond to a customer pointing out a menu mistake, especially when it concerns something as important as spice.

The dorms had curtains, and both the room and bathroom were really clean. I liked the location too: a quiet neighborhood, about ten minutes on foot to Asakusa and around twenty minutes by train to Ginza or Shibuya. Everything Nui could control was beyond what I expected, so I still highly recommend it. I did wish it were more social. Most people seemed to ignore me when I tried to chat, with one exception. I've never had that happen before, and I was being respectful, so I don't think it was just me. Maybe that's normal here, I'm not sure.