Guesthouse U-en — Hotel in Osaka

The best hostel I've ever stayed at! U-En is an incredible little guesthouse conveniently located minutes away from the Shin-Fukushima and Fukushima station. It's down a little alleyway off the main road and very charming.||||The first floor is a little cafe with fantastic coffee and delicious pastries freshly baked every morning. We ate there every day and it was so wonderful to be able to just walk down the stairs and get breakfast before getting ready for the day. They were also having an anniversary event, so anyone who bought a cup of coffee received a small bag of homemade cookies. ||||The staff are incredible. They obviously care a lot about the guesthouse and their guests and were always helpful and friendly.||||We booked a private room for the 4 of us. While the space was small, it was very clean and well curated and worked perfectly for our group. The common space, which had sinks, toilets, and showers, were always clean.||||There were also a ton of great food options right near the hostel (ask them for recommendations!). There was a popular local oden place nearby, but unfortunately the wait was a bit long so we ate at a soba restaurant that was great. There's also a 7-Eleven close by (on the way to the station) for budget options, or a quick bite to eat.||||I wish I was able to stay longer. I definitely want to come back and highly recommend Guesthouse U-En for anyone...

I thought this hostel was just okay - and compared to the other places I stayed in Japan, was definitely my least favorite.

For me, the biggest downside was security. The rooms are locked manually, requiring you to choose to lock them every time you enter or exit. As is always the case at hostels, this means you don’t have any choice about whether or not your room is locked, be that during the day so your belongings are safe, or at night when you’re sleeping. In the two days I stayed, the door was almost always left unlocked when I came back to the room. Each bunk has a small lockable box, so large enough for valuables, but not for all of your belongings. This is locked with a combination lock they provide.

When the woman checked me in, she read all of the codes out loud (to the front door, bunkroom door, and to the personal lockbox). I wish she had just pointed to them on the paper, as it meant that anyone could hear and access those spaces (although I guess with the exception of the personal lockbox, the door was never locked anyway).

The other thing I wasn’t thrilled about was that the duvet was not fully wrapped in a cover - instead, it was basically inside of a fitted sheet, so half of it was exposed. This didn’t feel very...

My traveling in Japan went from Airbnb, capsule hotel and lots of other various forms of accommodations. But this hostel is one of the best deals in terms of value for money and coziness for sleeping and resting after long days of adventure or even sleep ins (heaps better than capsules!!) on those much needed rest days from long partying or long hikes!

The staff are really friendly with a coffee shop downstairs that serves amazing top grade curry! (a bit spicy if i must say) and coffee other than that not much on the menu but good for your lazy day in or a quick and easy breakfast.

The only issue i have with this hostel is their rental system which i don't mind given the price but staying in other hostels before some offered free utilities such as towels, laundry and lockers for free. Whilst this one is for 100 yen or so depending on the rental.

All in all my last complaint didn't really bothered me that much at the...