Review: First Cabin Haneda

My first night in Japan was at the First Cabin capsule hotel right inside Terminal 1 of Haneda airport. This is a good choice if you're arriving to Haneda late (particularly on an international flight), so you don't have to try to rush and get the last train while also trying to get your bearings and learn how the transit systems work.

I did have a hard time finding it. The airport wifi wasn't really working for me from Terminal 1 and I wasn't seeing it on the listings of what was on the floors of the terminal. I ran into a security guard who could tell I was a bit lost, who directed me down a back hall, around the corner from the escalators and across the way from a JP Post kiosk.

I failed to snap a pic, so this is from TripAdvisor

First Cabin seemed a bit higher class than a standard capsule hotel, with "capsules" that were about as tall as I was, with only one level of "capsules". Really, they were more booths than capsules.

This is probably a good improvement for a capsule hotel for most people, but I was a little disappointed, as I wanted to the full capsule hotel experience, no room to stand and all.

First Cabin provides sleepwear and slippers, though the sleepwear was a bit too small for me, and the slippers were cheap enough that they were ripping after just walking to the bathroom twice. You're allowed to keep them, and it's clear that the reason why is that they're completely disposable.

Japan loves disposable things.

One thing I hadn't expected were that the bathing facilities were basically...

Japanese Public Baths

Japanese public baths are a very communal experience. It's split by gender, but other than that, you're bathing nude with other people. There is a shared cleaning room, where people (in full view of other people) clean themselves before entering the bath, where they're all hanging out in the buff.

First Cabin has essentially this setup, however, in between the "cleaning" rooms and the bathing room, there are some showers. I'm unsure of this is a common feature or not, but the showers themselves were private.

Being a westerner, and a particularly reserved one at that, I wasn't really up for this. I ended up taking a shower at around 2am, when few people were around. I really, really needed it, as I had gotten much grosser than I would have expected on the flight (more about this exciting topic later).

Additionally, the "toilet room" is often separate in Japanese bathrooms, which was also the case here. At the entrance of the toilet room, they provide separate toilet slippers that you should change into (or so I've inferred).

Forced Checkout

One thing anyone should know before staying at a capsule hotel is that there is a forced check out time, regardless of how many days you stay.

Let's say you stay at a capsule hotel in Shibuya for two weeks, check out is at 11am and check in at 3pm. This means you need to gather all your crap and check out, hang out with your stuff, and then check back in sometime after 3pm.

Capsule hotels are, consequently, not the most convenient option for vacation lodging, which is unfortunate as they're sometimes reasonably cheap. I might have considered staying at one for a longer period of time if this wasn't the case. This wasn't an issue for me at First Cabin, simply because I was only there for a night.

That evening, I ended up booking a studio in Sumida via AirBnB for the entire period, though there was a very tempting cave for only $10/night, giving free reign to get your Grave of the Fireflies on.

I Kept My Bags

I've heard that capsule hotels, due to the limited room in the "capsule", want you to leave your bags with the front desk. I was prepared to submit to this, even if it wasn't my favorite thing in the world, but surprisingly nobody mentioned anything about it. I was in my capsule, bags in hand, before I even remembered that taking your bags was supposed to be a thing.

I was able to fit the bags next to me and still have plenty of room to sleep.

Perhaps, due to the larger capsules at First Cabin, they don't follow this policy that is standard elsewhere, or alternatively, maybe I slipped through with my bags completely by accident. Either way, I was happy to keep them in my posession.

Summary

I was happy with First Cabin. It is perfect for what it's supposed to be--a place to crash on your way to Other Places(tm). I'm personally hesitant to do the public bath thing, and anyone staying there should be aware of it before they decide not to stay at the more upscale (and consequently more expensive) hotel in the other terminal, but this is just a cultural difference and personal preference, not a valid criticism of the hotel.

That being said, I may be visiting a hot springs near Fuji, if I can build up the courage. I might not see the point of overcoming my inhibitions for just a basic bath, but real hot springs are a real part of Japanese culture I'd like to experience.