Shaq Bighouse — Restaurant in Kanazawa

This spot was such a nice find in Japan where we have been struggling a bit to find backpacker accommodation. Where to start, the guesthouse itself is spotless, the facilities are great with a big kitchen and living/dining area (very unusual inJapan). There are loads of maps/ tourist information in a variety of languages which came in handy. The bedrooms are nice and again super squeaky clean with lockers available for keeping smaller items locked up - not that you need to in Japan! The main selling point for the guesthouse is Shaq himself, a natural host with fluent English and a really professional but interactive approach with his guests. We found him so helpful, fun and welcoming and it creates a nice open atmosphere which encourages all guests to interact with each other too.||The location is great, 15 mins walk from the station, 5 mins walk to Kanazawa park & castle and an abundance of restaurants in the local area. There is a 7/11 convenience store across the road too which is 24hours. There is a scrapbook in the hostel of recommended restaurants to choose from, we went to 2 of them and they were great! Thanks for a...

Hot damn I loved this place. Probably the most "home-y" hostel I've stayed in. I stayed in one of the bunk dorms, and while they didn't really heat the upper floors too well, the comforter on the beds more than made up for it. They had a policy of taking your shoes off if you were going to the 2&3rd floors, but they provided slippers that you could wear anywhere in the hostel (which means my boots got some well needed rest)

The location of the place is actually pretty wonderful. I'd say it's in the center of most things, with it being about a 10 minute walk to Kanazawa castle, downtown, and a few of the shrines. In 15- 20 minutes you could make your way to the Kanazawa gardens (don't remember the name) or the Geisha district.

Overall, definitely would stay there again. 10/10

(also owned is super nice. Got to meet him and he's...

Of every hostel I stayed at in Japan, Shaq Bighouse was the best. Shaq (real name: Saitoshi) started the hostel just under a year ago after returning from the states. He told me that his number one priority was his guests enjoyment, and it shows. The night I arrived, the hostel wasn't busy, so he moved me to a private room. He took me barhopping, and was generally an excellent host. The next night, when the hostel was much busier, he took a large group of us out.

The hostel itself has comfortable beds, clean washrooms, and since the first floor of the building used to be a restaurant, there are very good kitchen facilities.

If I am in Kanazawa again, there's no where else...