hotel,
Recently, I visited Japan for a modeling project. Since our (with some Filipinos I worked with) flight back to Manila was very early, we decided to spend the night at the airport. Good thing that they have a capsule hotel inside. I was finally able to experience it.
Nine hours has different branches around Japan but the one that I visited was the one located inside Narita International Airport's Terminal 2. Checking in at nine hours was quite expensive, although it's expected since you are in Japan and the hotel is located inside the airport. A night costs around 4,000 pesos (female bed, breakfast included). You can check at other booking sites and book in advance to get discounts. (Above photo courtesy of Booking.com)
Upon checking in, you will be given a kit which contains a robe, towels, toothbrush, toothpaste, slippers, and a key to your locker. Let's get inside now.
Upon entering, there's a map with instructions on the capsule hotel experience. I'm done checking in, so now, I'm in the locker room.
Here is where you will leave your luggage. And other things you wouldn't need in the capsule. We had balikbayan boxes with us which obviously wouldn't fit the lockers. No worries; they have a separate stockroom where they let us put it. I left my luggage in the locker room but I still brought my small backpack with me in the capsule which contains essentials such as my money and passport. Safety first!
After going through the locker room, you need to change to the slippers that they provided. You can leave your shoes inside your locker as well.
The bathroom comes after the locker room. The toilet is separated from the showers. Oh my, I just love the Japanese bidet technology.
In between sections are the trash bins. There's also a bin where you can drop your used towels but I wasn't able to take a photo.
They recommend that you take a shower and switch to the robe that they provided before you sleep in the capsule. The shower room is really nice. Soap, shampoo, and conditioner are available and the shower has a heater. There is also enough space to place your things. Hair dryers are also available under the sink by the mirrors.
After taking the shower, you can now sleep in your capsule. There are numbers on the floor that will help you find your capsule. It's still a common space so you need to stay quiet.
Found my capsule. It's a single bed with a pillow and blanket provided. At the foot of the capsule is a handle which you can pull down to close your capsule. If you are worried about getting claustrophobic, I am, too. As I enter my capsule, it turns out that it wasn't as scary as I expected. The pull-down handle is just a curtain and not an actual door. So you know that there's still an open space on one side. Next, you can actually sit inside and it's easy to turn, so it's not as small as I thought.
At the head part, there is a 220v outlet provided (I was able to charge my phone), light settings (off-dim-brighten), and volume settings for the relaxing sound that they provide. I utilized it and it actually helped me fall asleep. The last part, I'm not really sure what it was for. Let me know in the comments if you do. ;)
My Experience in a Capsule Hotel - Nine Hours Hotel in Narita Airport (Japan)
Recently, I visited Japan for a modeling project. Since our (with some Filipinos I worked with) flight back to Manila was very early, we decided to spend the night at the airport. Good thing that they have a capsule hotel inside. I was finally able to experience it.Nine hours has different branches around Japan but the one that I visited was the one located inside Narita International Airport's Terminal 2. Checking in at nine hours was quite expensive, although it's expected since you are in Japan and the hotel is located inside the airport. A night costs around 4,000 pesos (female bed, breakfast included). You can check at other booking sites and book in advance to get discounts. (Above photo courtesy of Booking.com)Upon checking in, you will be given a kit which contains a robe, towels, toothbrush, toothpaste, slippers, and a key to your locker. Let's get inside now.Upon entering, there's a map with instructions on the capsule hotel experience. I'm done checking in, so now, I'm in the locker room. Here is where you will leave your luggage. And other things you wouldn't need in the capsule. We had balikbayan boxes with us which obviously wouldn't fit the lockers. No worries; they have a separate stockroom where they let us put it. I left my luggage in the locker room but I still brought my small backpack with me in the capsule which contains essentials such as my money and passport. Safety first!After going through the locker room, you need to change to the slippers that they provided. You can leave your shoes inside your locker as well. The bathroom comes after the locker room. The toilet is separated from the showers. Oh my, I just love the Japanese bidet technology. In between sections are the trash bins. There's also a bin where you can drop your used towels but I wasn't able to take a photo.
They recommend that you take a shower and switch to the robe that they provided before you sleep in the capsule. The shower room is really nice. Soap, shampoo, and conditioner are available and the shower has a heater. There is also enough space to place your things. Hair dryers are also available under the sink by the mirrors. After taking the shower, you can now sleep in your capsule. There are numbers on the floor that will help you find your capsule. It's still a common space so you need to stay quiet. Found my capsule. It's a single bed with a pillow and blanket provided. At the foot of the capsule is a handle which you can pull down to close your capsule. If you are worried about getting claustrophobic, I am, too. As I enter my capsule, it turns out that it wasn't as scary as I expected. The pull-down handle is just a curtain and not an actual door. So you know that there's still an open space on one side. Next, you can actually sit inside and it's easy to turn, so it's not as small as I thought. At the head part, there is a 220v outlet provided (I was able to charge my phone), light settings (off-dim-brighten), and volume settings for the relaxing sound that they provide. I utilized it and it actually helped me fall asleep. The last part, I'm not really sure what it was for. Let me know in the comments if you do. ;)
My overall experience in a capsule hotel was good. The place is very clean and organized. For someone who is used to the hotels in Manila, I would say that it's expensive; but it definitely is cheaper than the hotels around Japan (not considering the dormitories).
For the cons of my experience, I couldn't do most things that I normally do as compared to being in a normal hotel room, like talk to my roommate or play music. The monotone theme also made me feel like I'm in a high-end prison (no offense meant, though)--the guests are just not friendly among each other and everyone is wearing gray button-down robes while the whole place is just white, gray, and black.
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