After a long day exploring Kyoto, we were really looking forward to get some real rest and a good night sleep. Click here to read the previous part or click here for the overall #KyotoAkuDAtang stories.

Deciding on where to stay was not an easy task for us when we were planning for the trip.

I was told that many first time visitors to Japan indulge on the unique experience of a Japanese Guest House a.k.a ryokan style accommodation especially in traditional Kyoto. As much as I wanted to go through the experience of a traditional house + authentic Japanese food + Japanese bath at a rokyan, the fact remains that we cannot really afford any of these expensive guest houses. Even the normal-out-of-kyoto-in-the-middle-of-nowhere ryokan we saw on Agoda is beyond our budget. It is not a secret that hotels in Japan are very expensive!

Still wanting a “something different” experience, I figured out that staying in a “capsule hotel” for one night would be the next best thing. Capsule hotel is literally “extremely small capsules” that provide just enough space for one person to sleep. A truly no-frill style accommodation. In fact to some extent it resembles a corpse drawer in a morgue! At that point, I had some difficulties convincing my wife to explore staying in a capsule hotel for one night.

After a long debate, she finally knocked some sense into me and I started to see the disadvantages of a capsule hotel such as space of our huge luggage, privacy to pray, claustrophobic, etc. Finally Alhamdulillah thanks to Agoda, we discovered something that still has some elements of a capsule hotel but provides a bit of luxury (and space!). To top things off, it is an aviation-themed hotel! Perfect for an aviation blogger lah 🙂

Introducing the FIRST CABIN KARASUMA KYOTO!

“The first cabin” is a new compact hotel reflecting the image of first class and business class of airplane.“Check-in” desk. The front office staff all dressed in ala stewardess uniform. Cute but a bit camera shy!

Too bad the male and female cabins are separated, so no chance of “mile-high club” enrolment lah!

For about RM200 per person, we chose to stay at the First Class cabin. The only major advantage of first class is bigger ‘capsule’/space which was what we needed to put our stuff.

Here’s a quick preview of my capsule 402 in the First Class male cabin.

A nice comfy super single bed with two fluffy pillows. Super clean, just like what one would expect from a Japan hotel. Free towel and robe 🙂

A side table. Only in first class.

In-flight/room entertainment. A flat screen LED TV with noice cancellation headphones. Also there are a few plug points to charge your devices conveniently.

Welcome message. Please relax slowly ye! Jangan rush rush bila relax. 😛

Quite a number of free tv programmes but mostly in Japanese. There are english movies for pay per view. And under the pay for view tab there are “japanese movies that do not need translation” hehe No i didn’t subscribe any of those despite having to sleep alone that night!

As you can see, there is no door, only curtains! But no worries as every “passenger” are required to use a magnetic card to enter the cabin’s main door. You only have to trust your fellow cabin mates lah. For valuable items, locked drawer is available underneath the bed.

Thankfully, the common area — lounge and restaurant are comfortable space accesible for both male and female guests. We had our dinner here while exchanging travel stories and planning for the next day.

Free water and affordable self service drinks.

Vending machines at the common area.

Edamame for late-night snacks.

It was a long day 1 in Japan for us, after having dinner both of us went back to our respective cabins and I went straight to the male common bathroom facility that comes with private cubicles for shower.

Grooming area — with free basic toiletries!

Saw this pasted on the wall of the shower area. Interesting but I was sleepy and we have another full day of exploring Kyoto the next day, so straight to bed!

To check out the best price for this hotel or any hotel in Kyoto, click here.