Narita Sando Guesthouse — Hotel in Narita

I can see why this place has 5 stars now! I am very skeptical when it comes to shared/dormitory style Airbnbs or stays, but this place was super cozy. I was only here for one night, but I instantly felt right at home.

This is a combination of dorm x private room where everything BUT the sleeping area is shared. There's no issue with that tho, because you can tell that they put in a lot of effort to clean every single day. They are very accommodating, and it is easy to follow the house rules if you are considerate person. As a girl, I was here traveling alone, but I felt very safe since there is a lock for each sleeping room, and there is a security camera on 24/7 around the common areas.

DOWNSTAIRS: When you first step inside the inn, you are hit with a very refreshing, sweet, and calm aroma from the humidifier. There is a light, calming music that makes you feel right at home and it fits the theme of the traditional style. You take off your shoes and put on indoor shoes for the upstairs and common areas, so it ensures that everywhere else stays clean. They have marked slots with your name and room number (2 per room) so you know which one is yours. I thought that was very cute! In the hallway between the front and back, there is a wall of paper cups, a cold thermos, and a hot water boiler. There is a bag of sugar if you need it (for coffee I'm presuming), and a microwave for your food. They have a shared fridge section in the back for your food, and a marker to label your things. There is also a designated area towards the back for you to put your luggage and do your laundry. I thought that was especially helpful since I was on the 2nd Floor and had 2 big luggages. The lockers that they have are a little small, so you best have your own lock for your luggage if you are worried about safety. (Tho they also have a 24/7 security camera in this room, so you can feel more at ease). They have bigger cubicles for the bigger bags (which is what I used) for my luggages.

UPSTAIRS: I recommend just taking what you need upstairs (like clothing). They provide mostly everything essential tho, towels & hair dryer (in the room), shampoo, conditioner, body wash (in the shower), Q tips, disposable toothbrushes & toothpaste (limited 1 per person), and even hair curlers (in the shared sinks area)!

Over all, I think it was a pretty good decision on our part to go and stay at Narita Sando Guesthouse. Rooms - they were small but you only really stay there to sleep so I guess it's okay. It can exactly fit 3 futon so I think it would be pretty cramped with 3 people. Good thing it was just my friend and I so we had some wiggle room. The futon was nice and fluffy. I love sleeping on the floor and this was one of the best sleeps I've had. The guesthouse also had a nice dining area/lounge downstairs where I was able to plug in my computer and work. Microwave and water dispenser are also available so you can buy food at the grocery store or konbini and heat up up here. They have a washer and dryer available as well as luggage storage.

Service - they're very easy to contact (LINE or Google if you don't have LINE). One elderly guest locked himself out of the room and couldn't remember his code. We were able to resolve it quickly. However, I'm not giving them full stars because they didn't let us check in early so we can leave our luggage before we set out again. We had to pay 700 yen at the train station to store our luggage and then another 700 to pick them up the next day. We had to spend 1400 yen because they didn't let us come in earlier than the check in time so we could store our luggage :/

Location - it's about a 5 minute walk to the Keisei and JR station so I would say that's a good thing. You can also easily walk north to the temple area.

Overall, I would still give it 4 stars because I'd definitely stay there again on my next trip to Chiba. The location and the quality is one of the best you'll get at...

Digital lock on the door was buggy - took multiple tries to get in. The moment I opened the door, the worst blast of body odor hit me. It was clear that the staff just let whatever bedding (stained btw) and the accompanying odor fester in the unventilated, sultry summer air. The wooden baseboards looks nice, but is moldy upon closer inspection. There are so many instructions plastered all over the entrance and common areas that it's hard to see where you should look. Funnily enough, there was a Japanese guest who couldn't figure out how to check in to their room because of how confusing the instructions were.

By the way, the bathroom sink is made for ants.

There is no sound-proofing at all. E.g. you can hear the laundry and people walking all around.

Door to the luggage storage room is unlocked and unsupervised, and the cupboards fit backpacks at best, not your standard carry-on suitcases.

Don't understand all the comments about convenient location - it was still a good 15 minute trek from the nearest station.

Good luck to anyone with bad knees trying to get up the steep flight of stairs.

This place is really meant for your typical backpacker on a...