A thirty-minute bus ride from Beppu Station, Kannawa is famous for the Jigoku Meguri, a tour of all the jigoku (hell) hot springs dotted around the area. The tour is definitely one of the can’t-miss attractions of Beppu, and I am glad to tell you about a great youth hostel here.
Beppu Yukemuri-no-oka Youth Hostel officially runs under Japan Youth Hostels, Inc., and is managed by a cheerful, humorous, and talkative young man. Although I was staying here by myself, I never felt lonely at all due to the friendly people I encountered at the inn, including the owner. Here you have breakfast and dinner, which are served, in the dining room with the other lodgers. I had many interesting conversations with the owner and some guests every morning and evening, and that added extra significance to my trip.
The hostel has four rooms in total: three in western style and one Japanese room with tatami-mats. All rooms were very clean, look new, and have air conditioning. They also have Wi-Fi in the living room downstairs, but you can catch Wi-Fi depending on the room you are staying in, which makes it very convenient for people who have some work to do during the visit. The whole building is bright so it is a very comfortable space to stay for women and men of all ages. The fact that there are many earnest repeaters to the hostel proves it all.
Basically all the lodgers have to share a washroom, except for those who get to stay in the one room that has an attached toilet and sink space. However, it is usually assumed that you go out for showers since the area is famous for having dozens of high-quality-but-cheap hot spring facilities around, so the shower room in the hostel is normally closed and unusable unless you ask the owner to open it. During my stay, some of the lodgers, the owner, and I would head out to a hot spring together at night, which was also an exciting night out.
Location-wise, the Kannawa Bus Station is a three-minute walk away, and six out of eight of the famous hell hot springs are within a seven-minute walk distance. This means that the inn is literally located right in the middle of a tourist spot, making the access to the entertaining tourist sites in the north of Beppu City easier.
My stay in Yukemuri Youth Hostel was extremely enjoyable, with the great environment for me to work in, the opportunity to rest my tired body from the boiling summer heat, and the space to relish the time with the new friends I’ve made. The inn holds many fun events with guests every New Year’s Eve as well, so you might want to try and book a stay on that specific day and make your travels in Beppu even more special.
