HOTEL R9 The Yard Usa

R8.5 The room shook and rattled whenever the wind picked up, even in the middle of the night or early in the morning. Several days of strong winds made the stay unbearable. The noise was loud, like being inside during a typhoon, and left me stressed and unable to sleep. The wind made the room vibrate noticeably. I thought maybe I was imagining it, so I checked with four colleagues. They all said it was noisy and shaking, so it wasn't just me. The outside awning creaked and banged under the wind, and the sound carried through the room. Since it's a container, the noise resonates easily. I've stayed at other 9YARD locations in different areas and none were this loud. This was the worst hotel noise problem I've experienced. Since it's caused by nature, it can't be stopped, which makes it even more frustrating. My colleagues had the same experience, so it seems like every room may be affected. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone sensitive to noise. At most other 9YARD locations you can enter your room with a PIN code, but at Usa you have to carry a card key and scan it. That's a bit inconvenient. There's no ice machine. I was told to buy ice at the Lawson next door, but going there in the rain was very disappointing. I ended up buying an ice tray at a 100-yen store and making my own. It was 30°C during the day, so I really needed ice. During my three-night stay I barely slept and developed very dark, wide circles under my eyes. The day after I checked out, perhaps from fatigue, the area above my left eye swelled to three times its normal size. I couldn't see well and had to take the day off work to visit an ophthalmologist. My left eye's field of vision was so limited I couldn't drive, and my right eyelid was slightly swollen too. The effects on my health were significant. A disappointing hotel, and the one I'd least want to stay at again.

There's a supermarket about a five-minute drive away, which is handy. My first stay in a container hotel was a decent value, with a small but clean room and one frozen food item to choose from. Walking around inside made the container shake. It rained the next morning, and I had trouble finding somewhere to put my umbrella.

I stayed here while driving around Oita. It felt like a new, clean garage-style lodging, with a spacious parking lot and a reasonable price. The location by a highway interchange isn't ideal, but that's fine if you don't need to go out at night. It's useful having a convenience store and gas station nearby. I'd stay here again if I get the chance, and bring pajamas next time.

The rooms are much like a standard business hotel, and the unit bathrooms were clean. The place is unusual, built from reused shipping containers, with each room able to move on wheels. It seems like that could be useful during a disaster. There were free frozen snacks at the front desk, and parking was free right in front of my room. The air conditioning struggled with the weather and temperature, which is the downside of a container. I stayed during Golden Week in May and set it to full cooling at 18 degrees, but it stopped working. I had to ask staff to reset it several times. It somehow kept going when I set it to 22 degrees. There's a convenience store nearby, but you'll need a car to get anywhere else.