Kyoto Cheapest Inn

A really good location. One shower for the entire dorm is a bit weird, but if you are willing to wait (or shower at random hours), it's not so bad. Shower is pretty clean and comes with lots of free amenities. The garage serves as the common room/bathroom/kitchen. Pretty cramped, can only fit about ten people in there, but it works out as everyone is generally just waiting for the shower. The roof is cool, has a decent view and makes for a much better chill area. We stayed in the dorm on the reception floor -- one big room and each bed had curtains that pulled all around it for privacy. We had much more privacy than the normal dorm room with eight people and open beds. Each bed has a light, so the lights out at eleven p.m. is not an issue at all. Only one computer for the internet, which can't be used at night. Kitchen facilities weren't state of the art, but looked ok (could be a bit cleaner, never actually used them). I'd stay there again happily -- if it had more showers, would give it four stars.

It's not really the cheapest inn and it's not worth the money. My friends and I arrived there very late after traveling all day. We were tired and wanted to sleep. We had previously booked the room. Upon arriving, they couldn't find our information (which was scary because I gave my credit card over the phone), and they also informed us that we were going to have to sleep in the annex building, which was a twelve-minute walk. We're tired, hungry, and have to walk some more. Not a good combo. We arrive at the very hard to find annex building to discover that the elevator (which doesn't seem so stable) will only fit two people --barely (and we're all thin, mind you). Someone greeted us at the door and led us to the bunk beds, which we expected, but didn't show us anything else. We found the moldy showers and dirty toilets on our own. Everything was co-ed, which was to be expected. The sinks were very clean, though, and there was a more counterspace than I'd seen in Japanese hostels. Lights were supposed to be out at eleven p.m., but people did not abide by those rules and many people were loud, making it hard to sleep. I do not recommend this hostel.