First Cabin (Osaka, Japan)

This futuristic budget accommodation is a cross between a capsule hotel, a hostel and a business hotel.  Dimly lit corridors are filled with small rooms (almost “pods”), separated by gender (guys don’t have access to the girls floor and vice versa). The rooms themselves don’t have lockable doors, but rather a thick sturdy curtain to block everything out (note that this place isn’t as quiet as a hotel due to the lack of a door but not us it as noisy as a hostel, consider earplugs if you’re a light sleeper). Drawers under the bed (not quite high enough to fit my carry on luggage in, but certainly wide enough to fit plenty of bits and pieces) are lockable. The rooms are small, but have everything you need – a large (comfortable) bed, small side table, mounted tv (with a headphone jack next to the bed), and clock/alarm.

 

There are small communal “chat rooms” (mobile phones are not to be used in the rooms) with comfy floor seats and vending machines.  Shared toilets (complete with auto hot seats) and a large “make-up” room compete with handcreams, hair dryers and hair straighteners (not sure that the guys floor has this!). There is also a “spa” room – a typical Japanese communal bath room, with a sauna and a onsen bath. Not sure if there were private showers – I didn’t look.

Location is good, above the Namba station complex (but be aware this station is quite large, it’s about a 10 minute walk from the airport line). Plenty of shops in the area, although it took me a while to find somewhere for dinner. Overall a fantastic experience, and much  better than some of the other budget hotels I’ve started at in the Osaka area.