Name: Shiretoko Iwaobetsu Youth Hostel
Address: Iwaubetsu, Onnebetsu-mura, Shari, Shari, Shari, 099-4356, Japan
Rating: 6

Smoking areas

Heating

Television in lobby

No elevators

Reception desk

General

Slippers

Rooms

Laundry

Safe-deposit box

Luggage storage

Services and amenities

Breakfast

Common kitchen

Restaurant

Vending machine

Meals

Hiking

Recreation

Parking

Beach/pool towels

Pool and beach

Fax and copy machine

Business

Skiing

Winter sports

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the hostel

Room amenities

Mendeleyevo Airport

Nemuro Nakashibetsu Airport

Shiretoko Iwaobetsu Youth Hostel

Shari

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

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3-beds

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4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

If you are looking for cleanliness and luxuary, I don't recommend this hostel. But if you are looking for a place to relax, meet people and feel the nature close to you, this is the place!

There's nothing here to interrupt you from reconnecting yourself to the world natural heritage. You can see deers (sometimes brown bears and foxes, too) walking around the hostel from the room window. No TVs, no signals for mobile phones, no convenient stores around the hostel. Even no buses stop at here in winter season! The toilet is old "vault" style, and there are stink bugs everywhere in the bedrooms. I have stayed here for 4 times, but never had bitten by bedbugs, though.

If you don't mind the inconvenience and bugs in your room, you can surely enjoy staying at this warm hostel! Staffs are very friendly and helpful to make your plan for the next day. They also organises several kinds of nature tour every day. My recommendation is sea-kayak tour. If you like to go for a full-day hike, this hostel also has a good access to Mt. Rausu.

If you pay 2,500 yen for dinner, you can have a gorgeous and fresh seafood landed at the Utoro port. It is a little expensive for the supper at youth hostels in general, but you would say it'scheep after you finish the full-course dinner of salmons!

I would say this is the best place to be away from the bustle of the cities! Stay here for 3 days and you'll hate to leave.

Reconnect yourself to Nature

Pros
-Dinner is quite nice, specially the "special dinner", for 1000 Yen more than normal.
- Location is really good and busstop near by
- Hosts make sure you connect to other fellow travellers

Cons
-Dated, very much

It delivers what you expect...

This hostel is located in small village called Iwaobetsu. It far from normal, city life so you can admire close contact with real nature. From here you can a lot of option for hiking, staff can help you to plan your route. You can also rent here a bicykle.

Youth Hotel

I was really looking forward to staying at this hostel - based on its location - and booked three nights. When I arrived I was in for a shock - this place might have been in good condition and welcoming 20 or 30 years ago, but it is now in a sad state of decline, as evidenced by the listing floors, peeling paint, broken fittings and yes - still bed bugs (I only worked out what the red spots are covering my body after reading the other reviews - I thought I had just been bitten by something nasty while I was walking).

The sadest part is that this place could be great, as it is away from the town in the wilderness, so much so that there were bears outside the hostel on two nights. But the manager of the hostel obviously does not care if the businesses fails, as they have made no effort in making it welcoming or clean, despite some very friendly, helpful staff working there. The bathroom is disgusting and the rooms dingy. It was so hot in my room I had to sleep with the window open and nearly choaked from the fumes of the diesel generator running all night.

I ate dinner on the three nights I was there, and I think the food is prepared with care and attention but varies wildly in quality. The first night the baked fisk Hoake(?) was delicious, but on the next night I was service some boiled mush that was apparently fish and some prawns that were so withered and dry they must have been caught fresh last century.

And yes, the bed bugs. Horrible.

The only good thing is it is possible to hike 4km to the trail head for Mt Rausu, for those interested in hiking, although another option - maybe better - is that there is a very cute, clean hikers cabin at the start of the trail head (behind an ugly hotel) that looked like a great place to stay.

All in all it is sad, with some effort and a bit of work this could be a great place to stay.

Oh, and be warned - no phone reception, no wi-fi, no internet.

great location, but dirty and dingy

If u want a budget trip its not exactly cheap compared to the nicer hotels around the area which is only an extra 1000 to 1500 yen more per night.
For two person during a night stay,we paid 15700 yen excluding rental of towels costing us 200 yen per piece. If u compare the food,the ambience and the overall experience staying there,all i can tell u is dont ever try its the worst experence one'd ever had.
 For starters the toilet is shared and has the most foul smell One'd ever encountered.Even the thought of going to the toilet makes one want to puke for days.The bathroom only can only be used from 4pm to 10pm and yet u are paying quite an expensive rate for a hostel accomodation when U cant even maintain ur own personal hygiene!
Dinner is not worth the 3000 yen that we paid for it with some cheap vegetables,cheap meat and burnt fish(One fish shared by two person) served to us. The only most expensive dish was the crab which had to be shared between 6 people. In my own personal opinion it seemed to be the smallest crab that i have ever seen in Hokkaido. Lastly it felt like i was are in prison where i had to clear the plates my self after paying such a high price for such cheap and bad tasting meal! During the night,be prepared for the invasion of bedbugs in your sleeping mattress. If u feel that u have too much blood in ur body and feel like donating some blood do a good deed and go to the hospital instead of giving it away for free to those sick bed bugs!

It totally ruined my vacation and changed my past perception of Japan being a clean and tidy country. I will never go back there in my entire life.

Shiretoko Iwaobetsu Youth Hostel

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