IM Guest House — Hotel in Osaka

Struggling to find lodging on Golden Week, I found this thinking I was in luck. I check their website directly and read I can call them or send an email. The email says it would take 48 hours to get a reply. I figure the quickest way to sort the booking is to call them directly. You know, the way most hotels worked until the internet came around.

I call the night before, I clearly and repeatedly ask to book a bunk bed for the next night. I give her my full name and tell her I’ll be arriving between 7-9 pm. She says okay, all is good, see you tomorrow.

I call her the next day at 8:30 pm, excusing myself because I got lost on a route in kyoto and was just then in the station ready to depart to Osaka. I give her my full name, she says don’t worry I will wait for you till 10 pm. I thank her for her kindness and understanding and head over.

I arrive just before 10pm from kyoto station, tired from a long days sightseeing and carrying a large backpack. She greets me and asks me my name, I tell her. She looks bewildered and asks me if I’m making a booking? I clarify, sensing something is not right, that I’m checking in for the bunk bed I reserved a day ago. Still bewildered and nervous she tries to clarify again some information and then blurts out that they are full. No bunk beds, all reserved, gone.

I look at her and tell her, what am I supposed to do now? I’m fuming and it’s clearly visible in my face. It’s not like the lady was 18 years old and never saw the age when calling to reserve a hotel was done. She’s a fully fledged mature person. Trying to answer my question she tells me there is a dogo onsen a few stops away (10:30 pm at night right now, in what is the busiest time of the year) that has a large room where you can sleep on the floor (i’m assuming tatami floor) with another 14 people. She tells me it’s popular with locals and foreigners for about 2000¥ the night. I tell her to look up the place and it’s name, I want her to find me a solution to the problem she/her guesthouse has created. She finds it and shows me, I tell her to give them a call to check if they have space. Bumbling about she never made that call, all the while I’m mad and frustrated at the whole situation and trying to think of a solution to my problem while having 4% battery on my phone.

She eventually comes into some sense and calls, I’m assuming her boss. Talks to him and tells me satisfactorily that she can give me a space at the attic of the guesthouse, she’ll get some sheets and make a bed and tells me it will cost 6,600¥ the night. There are two people at the entrance/lobby/living room where we are talking, clearly hearing and seeing the whole situation, they join in and decide to write down what she is saying to be very clear in our communication, the receptionist lady’s english is markedly japanese.

Frustrated and furious that she is now turning this around to get me to pay more for a problem she created in the first place I tell her No. She snaps and looks at me dead in the eye like I offended her and tells me “No thank you!” And tells me it’s time for me to leave.

I can’t believe this, I’m outraged. Worst nearly lodging experience I have ever been in.

I stay where I am, finishing every last drop of tea there is in my cup before grabbing my stuff and leaving as slowly as I can.

Before leaving I tell her, this situation was her fault for not communicating clearly that if I made a phone reservation I had to pay in advance, because I obviously would have done so. I walk out and spend the next 2 hours trying to find lodging at a rate I can afford but everything is booked up for tonight and at 12 o clock I resign myself to finding a Manga Kissa (cafe) to spend the next few hours before getting an early train back up to Tokyo. My phone literally dies the moment I arrive to the place called Aprecio manga cafe.

I never found that Dogo Onsen...

IM Guest House is an older hostel with firm beds and firm pillows. Admittedly, I did not sleep as well as in the hostels I stayed in during my Kyoto and Tokyo stays, but that being said, I'll still give this place 5 stars. Why? Because it was close to the cheapest option but with better reviews than the cheapest option.

The host Nami is the reason for those glowing reviews, and the reason for mine. She speaks English (since I don't know Japanese), makes you breafkast (toast, spreads, hardboiled egg, tea or coffee), gives you recommendations, teaches you Japanese, and is committed to providing her guests the best experience possible. Nami is the sweetest and enhanced my Osaka experience! If you want a community feel where everyone comes together for breakfast every morning, which allows you to meet other great travelers, IM Guest House is the place to be. Through breakfasts, I met a couple from Switzerland who had amazing stories and even invited me to their place when I visited Switzerland! Shout out to Markus and Joanne, looking forward...

I am writing this review sitting on the rooftop watching the sunset, listening to a parade and its beautiful. ||Dont expect this to be a fancy hotel, its small its quaint little rooms with little beds. I came in off season in the last week of June so had the entire room and bathroom to myself. ||The lady running this place is lovely and always shows up during the day unexpectedly. My brother and I arrived a little early for check in (at 2 instead of 3) and she just found us on the street and checked us in!! Finding the place from the station was easy enough and its proximity to it made exploring the city super easy. ||Something about this area of osaka is super comfortable to me and reminds me of home. ||This is not a place for if you want something fancy, but if you want simple hostel style accommodation i would recommend. ||I definitely would like to return to osaka just for this hostel, but i can tell it might get a little cramped in tourist season. Come when its quiet and its lovely!||Also...