Owl Tokyo - Hostel

“Worth the Price!”

I stayed here for 6 days. What you need to know: Clean room, clean bedroom, near the train station, accessible to the convenient stores, and friendly staff. There's also a real Owl (I suppose is the CEO of this hotel). I will recommend this to solo travelers or people who are in budget. Bring your … more

I stayed here for 6 days. What you need to know: Clean room, clean bedroom, near the train station, accessible to the convenient stores, and friendly staff. There's also a real Owl (I suppose is the CEO of this hotel). I will recommend this to solo travelers or people who are in budget. Bring your towels too! (Towels are charged if you borrow one)

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“Comfortable, Decent Hostel”

I stayed here for several days and had a fairly good time. At reception I was asked to pay for my online Expedia reservation in cash even though the website listing said they accepted credit card. It was a distressing interaction as I pleaded to use my credit card because the cash that I had was re… more

I stayed here for several days and had a fairly good time. At reception I was asked to pay for my online Expedia reservation in cash even though the website listing said they accepted credit card. It was a distressing interaction as I pleaded to use my credit card because the cash that I had was reserved for other things and I had no easy or cheap way to withdraw more cash.In the end they allowed me to put the entire stay on my credit card. Anyways, here's a pro/con list for you. PROS: - Decently priced - Close to public transportation (Nippori JR station) - Very close to restaurants and supermarkets - Friendly staff that speak a variety of languages - Very clean- with an army of staff doing a full clean of the space every morning (I think this is a little too much, you could scale it back to every other day). - An abundance of showers and toilets- I never once had to wait for something. - Free coffee/tea/water/apple juice in the lobby (they have a dispenser machine that does it all). CONS: - Don't expect to do any cooking here. There is only a microwave and a small fridge with very little counter space to do anything. The microwave is intended to heat up pre-made meals purchased outside. - The mid-day and 1am closure of the lounge/common area isn't helpful - especially if you need to have a voice conversation with someone in a different time zone in the middle of the night. - If you're at all worried about animal rights then it might be difficult to see their pet owl in the lobby corner. - Even though its close to public transportation, it is somewhat on the edge of things, so you'll need to either walk 30-60 minutes to some attractions or take the metro/JR. - Wifi in the lobby wasn't very strong To conclude, I think the pros outweigh the cons and you'll have a pretty good stay here.

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“Good stay but animal cruelty”

Overall decent stay, property it clean, rooms in pods for your bags, great location, nice staff, good bathrooms. I docked a couple points because of the live owl they keep in their common room. I guess because it's "Hotel Owl" they feel the need to have an actual owl but I felt so awful for him. He… more

Overall decent stay, property it clean, rooms in pods for your bags, great location, nice staff, good bathrooms. I docked a couple points because of the live owl they keep in their common room. I guess because it's "Hotel Owl" they feel the need to have an actual owl but I felt so awful for him. He sits tied to a perch 24/7 in the corner of a lit room with signs encouraging visitors to pet him on the head. He looked so depressed and hopeless. When I asked staff if he is ever let away from this perch, let outside or generally cared for they said no and basically looked at me like I was crazy. I tried to inquire if he had been rescued/injured, basically understand why they keep him here basically as a pet but don't much care for him other than providing him with food and water and they basically shrugged me off like I was nuts, said he was fine and he doesn't want to move or go anywhere. Seemed totally unnecessary to have this poor owl there as a prop, I just felt awful for him. If not for that, would have given five stars.

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“Dont stay for more than 1-2 nights!”

We arrived one afternoon from a long trip back from Hiroshima, It is VERY close to Nippori station which is excellent because this station links directly with Narita airport. Approx 5-10 min walk to station. The staff seemed nice, but unlike any other part of japan (including Tokyo) that we have … more

We arrived one afternoon from a long trip back from Hiroshima, It is VERY close to Nippori station which is excellent because this station links directly with Narita airport. Approx 5-10 min walk to station. The staff seemed nice, but unlike any other part of japan (including Tokyo) that we have been, they were not very talkative. They didnt seem interested in where we had been and they didnt show us any interesting things in the area, etc. Fortunatly we were a little tired so we didnt mind this too much. There is NO private storage of luggae in this hotel! The cases are left by reception, in plain view of every visitor (on the visitor side of reception!). They said they watch them but I personally think it would be very easy to wheel a case out of the door without noticing, they are not secured at all to anything. There is an owl in the corner of reception, right beside the rubbish bin. It is tied up to a post. When we arrived the poor thing was chewing at the rope attaching it to the post. It seemed a little stressed. I am a veterinary nurse and i did have to bite my tongue at the site. The room is clean and there is a little shoe cupboard to remove shoes before entering the dorm area. We stayed in a 4 bed dorm. (mixed sex) and unfortunatly the have put the shower room inside the dorm, which is a small room anyway, so you can hear EVERYTHING. doors opening and closing and curtains constantly being opened and closed. Loud footsteps on the ceeling and people in the next dorm putting plugs in and out of walls all night. When people leave early in the morning, you can hear them come in and out very clearly. The room we stayed in was close to reception and all night you could hear the front door chime. I undertstand that it is not the hotels fault for other guests being noisy, but it is definatly worth mentioning. The walls seem to be paper thin. The toilets are situated outside the room. Unfortunately the 'beds' are extremely thin. I stayed on futons for the whole 6 week trip to japan, but these are not comfortable beds. My bed had a long black hair in it, so I am not sure if it was cleaned before I arrived. The coffee in reception tastes awful, There is a map on the wall showing the area which I thought was nice. Overal, unfortunatly i would not stay here again, just too noisy and not comfortable to sleep. The good thing about this hotel however is that it is SO CHEAP! If you are on a very strict budget and dont mind being a little uncomfortable then go for it!

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“Great accomodation; poor owl”

Only noticed the live owl in the corner of the lobby because my girlfriend pointed her out. Poor thing shouldn't be kept there for people's amusement. Otherwise nice hostel, service is good and beds were comfy. 3 stars because of the animal abuse.