The Unique Experience of Our Stay In Hiroshima, Japan

Have you ever stayed in a hotel and felt this was the most unique experience of your life? Well, we had such an experience when we stayed in Hondori Inn in Hiroshima, Japan. And by unique, I mean a little bit scary at first and then realizing, WOW, this is awesome.

Japan

Japan, the land of the rising sun. This is the first thing I have heard about this country, when I was around 10 years. It was in the General Knowledge book that my brother studied. When we lived there for 4 years, each experience we had was something to be cherished. This is one such beautiful trip down the memory lane.

Shinkansen To Hiroshima

We had reached Hiroshima by noon via the famous Shinkansen / bullet train. This awesome mode of fastest transport in Japan is the best option if you want to cover a large distance in a short amount of time. Though it is an expensive way of travelling, it is very efficient and an experience you can never forget.

We took around 4 to 5 hours from Atsugi (where we lived in Japan), to reach Hiroshima whereas transportation by road would have taken us around half a day at least. Ah, the comfort of travelling in Shinkansen is an experience, unparalleled.

First Glance At Our Stay In Hiroshima

After reaching Hondori in Hiroshima, we followed Google Maps and reached the building tugging our bags behind us. There was a building in front of us, which said Hondori Inn. But unlike usual places where we had stayed so far in Japan, there was no reception area or anybody to give us any further instruction.

Usually, when we travel to such places, we read a lot about where we stay and the places we are planning to visit. But this trip was a quickly planned one, as we were leaving Japan the same month (March) and so tying up many loose ends before our travel back to our home in Kerala, India. So, we just confirmed our stay at a place with really good reviews and a reasonable rate.

We waited around 15 minutes in front of Hondori Inn, reading up more on where we landed and what to do. After that, we went ahead when we felt this was totally a normal routine to have regarding this stay.

When We Learned How Unique Our Stay Is

What we quickly realized was that, Hondori Inn was a place where there are no hosts to receive you and it’s all us on our own. Specific instructions were left at each place, and being in Japan for the past 4 years, we were quick to follow them. The idea is simple but unique. Every facility is at your fingertip. Use it wisely, leave no mess.

In other words, leave it as you found it.

I remember it to be a 3 floor stay, with our room at the third floor. There was a washroom at the same floor and a common kitchen at the first floor. It seemed to be just us in the whole entire building. Fascinating. (Read as scary).

Devu was 4 years at that time and was very excited about the whole thing. My husband was happy with the new experience. While I was sharing with them the happy emotions, inside I was thinking about the different ways this could go wrong.

When We Realized We Had Company

Leaving the bags in our room, we set out for our day to travel to The Peace Memorial Park. After coming back from the visit, we decided to explore the various levels of the Inn. It was then we saw a beautiful kitchen stocked up for cooking, a laundry area and a dining room.

While we were in our room for the night, we heard people talking downstairs. Talk about the excitement of investigation for Devu. This turned out to be a lovely old couple who were visiting from Australia. Devu, excitedly showed her stones she collected that day, when they said they too like collecting stones from all over the world.

They had amazing stories to tell us about World War II and its impact in Hiroshima. But, they were leaving Japan the next morning. Devu, who had found herself a fellowship in stone collection, was sad to see them go.

Hondori Inn

This stay was located in Hondori in Naka-ku, Hiroshima, Japan. This was located at less than 1 km from the Peace Memorial Park. Which you can read more here at” A Visit To Hiroshima & Miyajima“. The trams (street cars) connects these places and so connectivity was really good. The walk to the tram stop was just 4 minutes.

The Hondori street in which this Inn was located was a shopping arcade. During the 2 nights we stayed there, it felt wonderful browsing through the various shops. We bought some accessories, which to date are my favorites. We also had some delicious food from an Indian restaurant, “Ganesh”, which was just 1 minute away from Hondori Inn.

When I Started To Actually Enjoy

Realizing that this was just like any other place we have stayed in, but just set up so efficiently that there was no need of any staff, did wonders to my mind. The windows to our room opened to the street below, and we had a topside view to the Izakayas below. These are a type of informal Japanese bars, which serves food and drinks late night as well. Recently, when I watched the show, “Midnight Diner : Tokyo Stories”, in Netflix, this is the memory that comes to my mind.

This is also the first time I saw Netflix in my life. I was so excited and couldn’t settle on a single series. The show we finally fixed to watch was “The Big Bang Theory”.

The Beautiful Memory of Hondori Inn

Looking back it was one the most unique experiences we had while staying in Japan. Staying in a place which is a hotel, but you have the full freedom of the place. Treat the place like your own home, with nobody else to supervise except your own conscience. And, when going back home from the stay, nobody to say bye or thank you to, but still leaving the place happy thinking about next person who would be surprised at the welcome here.