Hostel in Hokkaido - Sapporo/Asahikawa

I finally get to go to Hokkaido for a bit more than a week. If you haven't seen my post yet click here.

During these 8 days I spent the nights in Sapporo and Asahikawa. In both cities I decided to stay in a Hostel. My friend suggested me to download this app called: Hostelworld. This app suggests you a bunch of hostels from the city your staying in and you can directly book everything through this app.


Hostel in Sapporo

For my stay in Sapporo I had several options. I booked my stay in the "International Hostel Khaosan Sapporo".

entrance to Khaosan

Location

The location of the hostel is right in the center of Sapporo in Susukino. It's 10 minutes away from the Metro Station and easily accessible.

Place description

The hostel is quite big. They offer a big kitchen and the living room is big too. For each floor there is a bathroom with 2 shower rooms. The bathrooms are mixed, girls and boys use it, even if you are in an only girl room.

room in Khaosan

Rooms

You have the choice between mixed room and only girls room. It's sometimes hard to get an only girls room if you ask for it last minute.
The first few days I had an only girl room and shared it with 2 other girls. I even went with one to Otaru. For the last few days I ended up in a mixed room. I felt kind of uneasy because there was a weird guy in my room. There is a curtain in front of your bed but it only covers up your face, so there is not much privacy.
The beds are in japanese style futons. For each bed there is a locker.

room in Khaosan

japanese style bed

Rate 3/5

All-in-one I thought it was ok. I didn't meet many people because most of them already knew each other and where just ignoring all the rest. I was not really a fan of the shared room and I also didn't like that the bathrooms were shared too. The location was really nice and everything was clean too.


Hostel in Asahikawa

Guesthouse

There is only one Hostel in Asahikawa and it's called "Guesthouse". Be aware that it might always be full, since many tourists pass by frequently. I got lucky and still found some space last minute.

entrance

Location

The access to the hostel is so easy. It's 10 minutes away from the station. All straight ahead.

Place description

Random decoration

If every hostel was like this one, I would travel around the world all my life. The decoration was awesome!! It's a small place, maybe around 20 beds. The bathrooms were separated, but there was only one shower that was shared. The kitchen was really small. The owner is from Okinawa and I got the feeling he decorated the place in Okinawa style, there is just someting soo cozy about that place. In that hostel I met many new friends and it was really easy to talk to others. Most of them were hikers and only stopping by for a night before climbing up a mountain.

Kitchen

"Hallway"

Rooms

Also in this hostel they offered mixed or only girls room. I ended up in the mixed room, but it was a whole new level compared to the hostel in Sapporo. My bed was completely covered up and no one could see inside my bed. The only disadvantage is that if somebody near my bed would turn on the lights it was quite disturbing. The beds where also in japanese style.

The only girls room

Mixed room

Rate 5/5

No joke, I wished I could go back there! That hostel was so much fun. The owners were all so friendly and helpful. It felt kind of like home. =)

Ps. Ask the owner about the secret base ;)

My home - Sharehouse Hippo House

How I booked it 

Before I came to Japan, I booked through an travel agency the place where I would live. At first I planned to stay in a guesthouse. The travel agency proposed me different possibilities and I saw that staying in a sharehouse would be less expensive.

I couldn't really imagine how it looked like.

I thought maybe a lot of foreigners would live there. At the agency they told me, that not only students would live there, but also other people.

First Impression

The day I arrived at the sharehouse, the housekeeper showed me around. It actually is an entire house with about 50 rooms divided in 4 floors. At the ground there is a big kitchen and dining room. The laudry and washing room are also down there.
My room is in the 3. floor. This floor is only for women. The 4. floor is only for men. The other floors are mixed. I don't really know why they separate some floors.
On each floor there is a bathroom.

My room

I was really surprised about my room. Since Japan is known for their really small rooms, I thought I would receive a small room too. Actually it was pretty big. There was a single bed, a desk, a chair, a mirror and plenty of space for clothes. I even got a small balcony. It was really nice.
There is also internet available in the rooms, but only with cable.
I was a bit disappointed about the wall color. It's brown and it makes my room soo dark at daytime. Also the curtains aren't really darkening, so the light penetrates really easily. (Really annoying since in Japan the sun rises really early in the morning)

House situation

My sharehouse is situated in Kita-Toda,Saitama. It's outside from Tokyo. It's accessible by train with the JR Seikyo-line. It's about 30 minutes away from Shinjuku.
The last train in the evening is running around 23:30 everyday. If you don't want to stay out the whole night or pay for an expensive taxi, you always have to hurry to the last train.
This train is one of the most used trains. In the mornings and evenings it's always crowded.

My Housemates

The people in my house are all really nice. I'm often in the living room, because it's the only room where WiFi is available.
At the living room they are more or less always the same persons there. Most of them are Japanese. There are more Japanese here then foreigners. There are some people, who come to the same school as me. It's actually pretty funny with those people around.

House surroundings 

We have a lot of Conbini's around our house. My house is only 5 minutes from the train station away.
I can see the station from my balcony.
About 15 minutes from the house, there is a big shopping mall.
There is everything you need near my place.

... it could be better 

I have lived almost 6 months in this sharehouse and there were many moments that I thought about moving out.

• I don't know what's up with those girls on my floor. The bathroom are always a mess. It's disgusting. There is no other word to describe it. There are hair everywhere and other disgusting things. There is personal who cleans the bathrooms, but they don't come everyday.  This is for me the biggest problem.

•  I refuse to cook in the kitchen. It looks not clean at all. There are cockroaches running around. There are people that don't clean their mess. You can see the kitchen from the living room and I don't really like if people watch you while cooking.

• For some reason they always turn the lights on at night on the floor. I can see the light through my door and it's really annoying.

• If somebody walks on the floor you can hear everything.

•  It's sooo far away from Tokyo. Even if it's only 30 minutes to Shinjuku, it still feels like forever. Going home from partying or from a long day and getting stucked in a full train. It is sooo depressing.

• I wish they had Wifi in the rooms too. 

• Because of the washing machine I had to throw away a lot of my clothes. That washing machine didn't wash properly and it also rip my clothes.

You might wonder why I never moved from there... That's because I got sooo affected to the people there. It was hard for me to leave.
Why I never complained?... I really don't know about that. I actually never thought about it before. I always accepted everything.

Soon I'm leaving this place and going back to my home. I'm definitely missing my roo back home. Can't wait to cook in my kitchen and to use my own bathroom again. =)
Still I'll miss this place too.... was definitely a great experiance. =)

Check out my room-tour video on Youtube!!