Hostel Zen — Hotel in Yokohama

So I booked this place on the evening of my arrival. I knew I wasn't going to arrive before the reception shut so I emailed beforehand and within minutes I got a reply with no problem this is your number please go straight to your room. Ideal! After a train journey and half arrived but following Google maps. This takes you to there other set of rooms, I went to my room only to find someone else. This was all very strange and didn't feel like a place I wanted to stay so went back downstairs found a common room sign and had a look through the door. Some saw me and typical Japanese style wanted to help (plus he spoke English!). He took me to the main building and showed me that my name was on the board. Now during the day there is a small English sign saying the reception is around the corner but it could be made clearer!||Anyway the room was nice, tatami matting. The bed/mattress was comfortable. TV had some channels which were in English and AC. The shared facilities were clean and to a good standard. Didn't use the laundry or kitchen.||Breakfast was OK, perhaps I just miss the western style of breakfast. Toast (1 or 2 slices), boiled egg, half a banana and a drink. Yes it will do but typical Japan.||Only a 5min walk from the train station. I'll be back if I'm...

So I booked this place on the evening of my arrival. I knew I wasn't going to arrive before the reception shut so I emailed beforehand and within minutes I got a reply with no problem this is your number please go straight to your room. Ideal! After a train journey and half arrived but following Google maps. This takes you to there other set of rooms, I went to my room only to find someone else. This was all very strange and didn't feel like a place I wanted to stay so went back downstairs found a common room sign and had a look through the door. Some saw me and typical Japanese style wanted to help (plus he spoke English!). He took me to the main building and showed me that my name was on the board. Now during the day there is a small English sign saying the reception is around the corner but it could be made clearer!||Anyway the room was nice, tatami matting. The bed/mattress was comfortable. TV had some channels which were in English and AC. The shared facilities were clean and to a good standard. Didn't use the laundry or kitchen.||Breakfast was OK, perhaps I just miss the western style of breakfast. Toast (1 or 2 slices), boiled egg, half a banana and a drink. Yes it will do but typical Japan.||Only a 5min walk from the train station. I'll be back if I'm...

Don’t judge a book by its cover.

This hostel is located on the edge of a “slum” district which has seen many generations of poverty. Arriving at night, it can be a scary seeming place. Homelessness, drunkenness and disability not seen so much elsewhere in Japan are on display and you might get your fair share of funny looks.

The hostel is within an old apartment complex that smells strongly of cigarette smoke, is grimy and full of the city’s unwanted.

The rooms are small and don’t match the lovely pictures of bright and spacious rooms. They are however clean and free of the smoke smell elsewhere in the building. The toilets are also clean and well stocked, the shower not so much.

Despite all this, you will wake up in the hostel to a very different place. The woman who serves the breakfast is lovely and feels like a long lost mother taking care of you. The breakfast itself is a simple affair but it is served with care and love and can be enjoyed on the terrace surrounded by little plants.

The people on the street will smile at you and the stray cats of the neighbourhood will come out to grace you with their presence.

Maybe not for the faint of heart or solo women, but this place is worth a stay to see something different in Japan, and fantastic value...