Reviews of HIBARI GUESTHOUSE 1 stars

I loved staying here! It felt very homely and cosy - the kind of guest house where people say "itte rasshai" and "tadaima" to each other. The staff were very hospitable and added a personal touch to my stay. It seems that once a week, the housekeeper cuts some fresh flowers and arranges them on the table. It felt more as if you were staying in someone's house than in a hostel. It was so easy to make friends, too, and that was definitely the best part! The place was largely clean, and the facilities were very good. I loved that there was a water dispenser with icy cold and boiling hot water, which was so perfect for cups of tea, coffee (free) or instant ramen. Which, by the way, you can conveniently purchase from a little table in the lobby, alongside other small essentials in case you've forgotten any. You can rent a large towel, but you also get a small free one. There are several supermarkets, restaurants and conbinis close by, as well as a bus stop and a train station, with a train that gets you into Sendai in 15 minutes. The neighbourhood is very pleasant if you fancy a stroll there, too. I had an amazing time and would love to come back! Please enjoy staying at Hibari Guesthouse :)

If I had to be picky, the kitchen was perfectly usable but had very little countertop space. None of the toilets have sinks (you have to leave the toilet and use the sink separately), but that seems to be a general Japanese thing, from what I've seen? Bear in mind that this guest house is quite close to the train track, so you will hear the trains at night. I liked it, I found the ambient noise nice and calming, but if you are very sensitive to noise, you might want to bring some earplugs.

Staff were super friendly and went out of their way to make sure guests are comfortable, facilities were top notch (they had the most spacious shower room I've encountered while travelling in Japan) There's a fully stocked water cooler that provides ice cold mineral water any time of day

Not a major issue but some hooks/tables in the shared toilet room would be nice for hanging jackets/valuables without putting them on the floor (although the floors were perfectly clean anyway so all good)

Friendly staff, very affordable, safe

Maybe a private room should have a lock such that the user can lock up the room when they are away during that day. Maybe it’s a local regulation preventing this arrangement

shared spaces were clean and nice, room was comfortable, staff was kind

Very friendly staff.

Nohting comes to mind. Good value for money, decent location, comfortable beds and shower.

Staff were friendly, fluent in English, and even gave me recommendations for cherry blossom viewing, which turned out to be a wonderful blessing

The property was insanely clean and only a short walk away from the nearest station.

Everything there works appropriately (since the information given before the arrival, until the assistance after)! The place is organised, has a simple, but good structure and a staff that is always already to help (Miki, specially)!!

The friendly host

Limited indoor shower place

Everything was perfect, really clean and comfortable!

very clean and nice welcoming staff to the place, pretty comfortable bed and nice and quiet at night time

Hibari Guesthouse was surprisingly nothing short of amazing and one of the most wonderful experiences I ever had in my life and probably will ever have wherein travel is concerned. It is hard to believe that I had stumbled upon a jewel having made absolutely no research prior to arriving in Japan. All of the staff at Hibari Guesthouse had made sure that every moment of every day of my vacation was to be perfect as they put so much effort to take care of my every need--from amenities, travel information to general host-guest relations and services. I had stayed and booked to stay with them for an entire month (29 days) and even then it all feels still too short for living a slice of heaven. I had a longtime personal vacation planned to visit Japan for more than a year and ultimately decided to tour around the prefecture (province/state) of Miyagi and having Sendai city as my main travel hub point and praying on the plane ride over hoping I had made the right choice thinking and planning over many months of a vacation in Okinawa or Kyuushu instead. This hostel made my vacation/travel nothing short of extraordinary and made me realize i had made the best choice in my life. The staff were extremely wholesome and their friendliness and guest services was astonishingly homely. (Both Japanese and English speaking friendly) It was perfect.

The accommodation was a little far (30mins) from Sendai city core.

Very comfy bed and well setup place, about a 10min walk from the train station. Host was super friendly and helpful, and the place was very clean and tidy.

The host was very friendly, she has good recommendations!

At 2 am someone opened my curtain and woke me up with all the lights on, asking everyone if they were in the wrong bed.

Being woken up by the personnal at 2 AM who asked me "who are you?" Then leaving without turnkng off the light (So also annoying for the others clients) Whereas I checked-in the same evening so few hours ago and he presented me the hostel was not the best experience.