Travelling to Japan doesn’t have to be expensive, even if you plan to stay for a few days in Tokyo, the most expensive city in Asia. Apart from transportations to and within Japan, your next big expense would be on accommodation.
Now, I don’t know about you, but when I travel to a foreign country – especially one like Japan where there are literally thousands of things to do and see – I don’t plan to stay in the hotel that much. For me, the hotel is a place to return at night, freshen up and recharge my batteries. Basically, all I need is a bed to sleep in.
So, for my trip to Japan I chose to stay only in hostels and share a dorm with other like-minded travelers. Though, location was a very important factor in choosing the hostels, as I didn’t want to stay in a bleak area and too far out from the city center.
Finally, after thoroughly researching the offers on Agoda.com, I chose to book my stay in Tokyo at Anne Hostel. Frequented mostly by backpackers and budget travellers, Anne Hostel is located within walking distance from Asakusabashi Station on the Toei Asakusa metro line, in Asakusa district.
Travellers can choose to stay in shared dormitories, private rooms, and traditional Japanese tatami rooms. I opted for a 12-bed dormitory, which meant I would spend my nights with up to eleven other people I didn’t know. But, after all, meeting people and making new friends is part of a traveller’s journey.
Anne Hostel also offers an all-you-can-eat breakfast of toast, jam, boiled eggs, tea and coffee, which is served in a common room equipped with a TV screen, DVD player, and wifi internet connection.
5 good things about the hostel
- Its great location in the vicinity of several metro and JR stations is the hostels greatest asset. Their website has a detailed map and concise directions of how to get to the hostel from Narita and Haneda Airport as well as from Asakusabashi Station.
- The staff is really friendly and accommodating. The people working there are all young and most of them have travelled extensively within Japan and even abroad. They all have a good grasp of the English language and, if you ask, they are more than willing to help you with directions.
- A fully equipped kitchen can be used by anyone to cook their own food (except during breakfast) and, if needed, store it in a huge fridge. A water heater is constantly plugged in in the living room – the common area where breakfast is served – and coffee and tea is free 24/7.
- They have a whole library of brochures, maps of Toyo and Japan, and short descriptions of one-day trips in and out of Tokyo. A few books and travel guides left behind at the hostel by other travellers can also be consulted.
- It is safe… though this is Japan and you’re not expecting anyone to steal from your backpack. Still, they do give you a free locker to store your valuables in if you want to go out and don’t feel like carrying them around with you. (You have to bring your own padlock or, alternatively, you can rent one from the reception – which is located on 4th floor!)
4 things you should be aware of
- This is Tokyo – where propriety prices are outrageous – and you’re in a hostel for budget travellers, so everything is crowded. There’s just about one meter between the rows of bunk beds in the dormitories and the storage area for your bags is on your bed. You can easily bang your head on the bed above if you sit up abruptly and it takes some time to get used to the small shower cubicles and the narrow corridors on the reception floor.
- One of the biggest annoyances I encountered at this hostel was the smell of feet and old socks. All the floors are covered in wall-to-wall carpets which haven’t been changed in years and, as it’s impossible to take them out for cleaning, the smell is quite overpowering. This is the same in every room and dormitory. People have to take off their shoes on the staircase before they step of the carpet so everyone is barefoot…
- If you’re going to share the rooms with someone you’ve never met before, then it’s safe to assume that there are very high chances they’re going to annoy you (and you them) in some way or another. Snoring, talking loudly in the middle of the night, coming back to the hostel drunk, and the know-it-all chap who feels the need to let everyone know what an expert traveller he or she is are common problems you’ll have to deal with. Better bring along some earplugs.
- The idea of a common area / living room is nice and gives you a chance to meet new people. But the faux Japanese-style room is quite ridiculous, with a hole under the low tables for the gaijin to rest his feet, but at the same time, give the impression that he or she sits crossed-legged on a pillow. It comes without saying that the smell of dirty socks is quite prevalent.
Overall, if you’re only looking for a place to sleep at night, don’t mind the smell, and don’t mind using earplugs at night, Anne Hostel provides rooms and dormitories at a very affordable price. The cheapest option is 2600 yen/night for a bed in a 12-bedroom dormitory or 6800 yen/night for a twin private room. Its strategic location near the metro and many tourist attractions was basically the reason why I chose to spend my four nights in Tokyo at Anne Hostel.
A small shrine, flanked by two ceremonial arrows, was put together in an alcove on the reception floor.
The toilet sign for “Gentlemen” sports a neat image of Otani Oniji in the role of the Servant Edohei, a reproduction of the famous Edo-period ukiyo-e woodblock print by Sharaku Toshusai.
There’s a huge wending machine in the kitchen where, for a few hundred yen, you can get a cold can of Asaji beer. Just be careful when you open it, as the can comes tumbling down and out of the wending machine…
One of the narrow streets leading to Anne Hostel.
Browse a few other photographs from the hostel and the streets around it:
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