We get to try all sorts of things as travel writers. Before I snuggled into my capsule hotel in Shinjuko Tokyo, Japan, I thought that it would be an experience far from anything that I had done before and something that I should have done in my younger backpacking days; wrong on both counts.
I was more than a little disorientated when I arrived at the place as it was still early morning and I was coming straight off the night bus from Kyoto. A very comfortable night bus, though you never get the same quality of sleep as you would get in a bed, so groggily I made my way through the Tokyo streets, dragging my bag, while balancing an umbrella over my head to protect myself from the persistent rain.
Capsule Hotel Shinjuko Tokyo
Choosing the Kuyakusho-mae Capsule Hotel had seemed logical at the time as it is in the middle of Shinjuku in Tokyo’s city centre. It was both near the night bus terminal and a short walk to Shinjuku Station from where I would later take the Narita Express to the airport.
The Shinjuku capsule hotel was on the third floor, above a British pub on the second. When you enter reception, you are given the key to a small locker where you put your shoes, so you walk around in socks or slippers. I was far too early to check in but the receptionists were friendly and spoke English. They said I was free to leave my bag until I could come back after 3pm.
After spending a full day exploring the city, I returned in the evening. You give the key to your shoe locker to reception and then they give you a key to a medium-sized locker in the changing rooms, also on the third floor. In that locker were my towels and blue grey pyjamas. On the fourth floor, there was a common room with long tables, some reading chairs and a large screen television, within which there was a luggage area for bigger suitcases, a kitchen/drink and food dispenser area, and a laundry space with washers and driers.
Wide Spread of Ages
Up until this point, it had all been about me trying to work out what to do and where to do it, but in the common room, as I connected to the Internet (with a good signal everywhere I tried it), I started to link to my previous long-buried experiences and something clicked; it was like a big youth hostel, where, in the words of the Village People, you could hang out with all the boys…
…and girls. About 20% of the guests were female. We all shared the common area, floors four to seven were capsules for men and floor eight was for women. There was a real spread of ages from people in their twenties to sixties. Capsule spaces were exclusively for one gender. I never saw any children there.
Onsen at the Capsule Hotel Shinjuko
Next came the most memorable part of the whole experience—the men’s onsen, or communal baths. On Floor Three, beside the locker room were three pools: one cold; one warm; and the largest, warm with jacuzzi. Two mock stone Greek-Roman statues of beautiful women added to the ambience.
I entered, still in unsure-what-to-do mode. So, I watched what the other men were doing in an observing, but trying to not look like I was observing type of way—because, you know, guys don’t just stare at naked guys.
And it was great. Just what you need after being rained on for several hours in the streets.
After lolling around in the pools, there were showers generously supplied with liquid soap, shampoo and face and hand gel. After, you retrieve your pyjamas and towel from the shelves immediately outside the onsen and make yourself presentable, again, generously supplied with accessories: disposable toothbrushes, after shave, hair tonic, hair gel and body lotion. There was a sauna room too.
Squeezing into my Capsule
Feeling rejuvenated and well-groomed, you take the lift to your capsule floor. In the Kuyakusho-mae Capsule Hotel there are two tiers of capsules, though mercifully, I had a bottom one.
I am six feet tall and at a stretch, I could touch the top and bottom of my capsule with my feet and head. It was wide enough for me to have a few things in there with me. There is a shelf, a light and a socket/charging point. A television hangs from the ceiling with a few Japanese channels (no Netflix). The futon-style mattress came with a duvet and I slept well.
I had heard that capsule hotels were designed for revellers who missed the last train home and so thought I would be disturbed by inebriated men arriving loudly through the night, but that never happened—and that’s not because I am a deep sleeper. Nevertheless, I only had a blind to pull down at the foot of my capsule, so if you are unlucky enough to have loud neighbours, you will hear them.
Shinjuku Kuyakusho mae Capsule Hotel Tokyo Japan : Verdict
Lots of fun; like a youth hotel, as I mentioned, with a Roman bath added on.
Choosing Your Capsule Hotel
I stayed at the Shinjuku Kuyakusho mae Capsule Hotel, and would recommend it to male travellers. I would suggest capsule hotels to everyone, if there is an onsen included, which I used at every opportunity.
However, to female travellers, I would caution that that women did not have access to the onsen here, so I would choose a different capsule hotel as it is definitely the best part of the experience.