Nau speak: Kyoto Day 2 - Part 1- Starting the day at 9Hours

For the duration of my stay in Kyoto, I stayed at 9Hours capsule hotel.

Most of the capsule hotels in Tokyo are tailored towards businessmen who's long hours of work and the obligatory post-work drinking with colleagues and clients may lend them towards missing the last train home. Many even go so far as to prohibit women outright, which may be intended to differentiate the capsule hotels from love hotels, though I don't really see how a couple could do too much in a capsule- it wouldn't be impossible to get down and dirty in a capsule, but it wouldn't be ideal- and in a class conscious society like Japan I don't feel many women would be particularly enthused by the prospect, but I digress. Capsule hotels are often a budget friendly option for people who need a place to sleep, but due to the prohibition of women in many it makes it difficult for a lass like myself to get the full experience.

Luckily, 9Hours is a different animal entirely, a capsule hotel that bills itself as a luxury capsule hotel and offers boarding for both sexes. The floors are segregated by gender, so ladies needn't worry about some creep keeping you up with his furious fapping (or snoring) late into the night in the capsule next to your's or peeping in on you while you rest. To be fair, having never stayed in a non-luxurious capsule hotel, it's hard for me to say if this hotel is truly opulent, but it was nice? Sorry, I just find the term luxurious applied to a capsule hotel a bit silly. In essence you're paying for a sleeping pod, which is a bit sci-fi and fun, but you're also opting out of having a private hotel room to yourself. No matter how swanky the pod, you're still 3 feet away from your neighbor in any direction, so you can only hope they aren't the type who saws logs all night long. The bathrooms/showers are shared, and while irrefutably many steps above the hostels I've stayed in, they aren't exactly overwhelming in their extravagance. They do offer a large, deep bathtub, as well as hair dryers and other amenities, which is lovely if you choose to make use of them. I didn't, but that's just me. Other women were happily blow-drying their hair or taking long baths. For me, this was primarily a place to rest my head and store my belongings (they have space to store your things in the lobby area). For my purposes, this was a great find and affordably priced with sufficient amenities and a few perks that were of great use.

They even provide pajamas!

One of these perks was their bike rental, easily available at the front desk. I rented a bike for the day and in a few short minutes was mobile! I highly recommend this route for exploring Kyoto, as you get a completely different view of the city than you would from the bus, taxi, or train.