Firstly, when I booked an Annex room I wasn’t told in the confirmation that it was a totally separate building from the location on the map in the hostel listing. So when I arrived I had to walk up 5 flights of stairs in a hot building with no elevator to find the reception (why is reception on the 5th floor?!) only to be told I had to go to another building.
Second, the listing said share showers were included. It didn’t say you have to pay ¥100 for 4 minutes of running water (you can stop the water to pause the time). This wasn’t the end of the world but it would’ve been nice to know before I booked.
Third, the showers and bathroom smelled of mildew and people were being disgusting. The walls are paper thin and I was near the showers so I could hear people spitting and nearly vomiting they were hawking up stuff so hard, IN THE SHOWER. Disgusting!
Fourth, men were on the same floor as women so it really felt unsafe. The 2nd floor was painted blue (for boys I thought) and 3rd pink, and white I appreciate they threw gender stereotypes out the window, it was very uncomfortable to run into strange men in the halls.
Fifth, the neighborhood is so unsafe. There’s garbage all over the streets and it smells like urine everywhere. On my way there I easily passed about 25-30 homeless looking men lurking about. Some were sleeping, some were drunk, some were just standing in the road... I think there’s some sort of cafe facility nearby for them, but it really felt unsafe.