Enjoy A Retro Kobe Vibe At The Artsy Yume Nomad Hotel!

Is It Japanese-Style? Western-Style? An Peculiar, Stylish Shared Space

The shared living room can be freely used 24 hours a day. You can spend time there alone or mingle with large groups, and it is a place you can treat as though it were your own home. There is also a cafe, though it does not have set hours.

There are books, as well as a guitar, casually tucked away in the corner of the living room. You can use these as you like, too. This kind consideration is invigorating for tired travelers.

Behind the living room, there is a traditional Japanese-style room, so take a closer look at the altar for praying to ancestral spirits, as well as the tokonoma alcove. In the summer, you can enjoy a beer on the outer terrace, too. How visitors want to enjoy Yume Nomad is left up to them, perhaps.

Choose from a Private Room or the Dormitory

There are private rooms and a dormitory at the hostel. If you made your reservation through the homepage, the rates are:

Private rooms: 4300 yen for one person, 6400 yen for two people
Dormitory: 2500 yen for an eight-man room, 2700 yen for a four-person co-ed room, and 2800 yen for a four-woman room

The rates are quite reasonable, and you can get discounts by making your reservation through the homepage.

A Quite Original Kitchen and Washroom

There is a communal kitchen which has a fridge, kitchenware and seasonings, so you can have peace of mind even if you plan to stay for quite a while.

The highlight is this photogenic washroom, which feels very artsy and handcrafted. There are also shared shower rooms and bathrooms, so follow the rules when you use them.

The Owner, Ms. Mikami, Talks About how Yume Nomad Got Its Start

Yume Nomad’s owner, Ms. Mikami, is a unique and remarkable lady. When we asked her about how the guesthouse got its start, she said that “After the inn operated by my grandmother shut down, no one lived in it for close to 20 years, and I want to leave something behind there.” Ms. Mikami has the heart to make the wishes of her kind grandmother a reality. “First I worked out the concept by myself, but gradually more and more people came to help me, and I feel like it wasn’t much of a struggle to open the hostel,” she said.

Since the hostel has opened, she says that 70 percent of guests have come from overseas, particularly from Korea, America and the UK. Some guests also come through on stopovers from cruises on the Seto Inland Sea. The above photo is of work that guests made during a penmanship workshop in the Japanese room. These workshops are not held at specific times, but happen spontaneously, when someone wants to give it a try. Yume Nomad values those sorts of experiences.

Hallway Art by Guests and Staff

Apparently, when one guest at Yume Nomad stopped into a local bar, the person next to them said “Thanks for coming to Kobe,” and bought them a beer. Such charming episodes, which can seemingly only be experienced at hotels in central urban areas, are part of the charm of staying at a hostel with local roots.

The Owner’s Recommendation! Go Shopping in the Local Shotengai Area

Yume Nomad has a fully-equipped kitchen, and there is a supermarket very close by. However, since you’re so close to a shotengai, why not do your shopping there and cook at the hostel? This is the owner’s recommendation, Higashiyama Shotengai, which is four or five minutes away on foot.

The shotengai has fruit vendors, fishmongers, greengrocers, butchers and more, with sales conducted face-to-face, as they have always been. People may not understand English, but you can get by fine using simple Japanese and gestures. Why not choose to stay at Yume Nomad in the working-class Shinkaichi district, and experience a “home away from home” in Kobe? You’re sure to make memories that will stay with you for a long, long time.

During the dream D