It was a 20 min walk back to the station from the historical park and I was tired again after a long day of exploring. This was my last full day in Japan and I was looking forwards to a final nights sleep in my Fukuoka capsule hotel. I didnt know the startling surprise that was waiting for me when I arrived. As this is a local station the next local train was due at 5.57 so about a half hour wait. When it did come it was completely packed full as its not as frequent and makes all the local stops. I was very tired and I couldnt stand all the way to Hakata, and this train was very slow making all the stops. I gambled getting off at Shin-Tosu I can switch to one of the more expensive bullet trains with my pass which shouldnt be as crowded and hopefully I can get a seat. I got off at 6.15 and the next train was at 6.39 so I might as well have stayed on the packed train to Hakata. When it did arrive there were barely three people on the train so I had time to sit and relax but the ride on the bullet train is only 20 mins to Hakata. My capsule hotel wasnt that far and was even shown on the station map of nearby amenities. It wasnt too difficult to find and seemed a bit subdued from the outside. As I stepped in the place was very old and dated. There was nobody at the reception so I asked in the restaurant who called someone over. An old man came to the desk who seemed as though he had been sleeping and just got up. This was only 7pm. He didnt speak much english but had a copy of my reservation from booking.com and gave me my capsule key. I wasnt bothered with chat and just wanted to go up, shower, and get some rest. The elevator up was also very old and creaky. When I went to the 4th floor capsules the place was not very well kept and looked dated about 20 years. The capsules looked like early versions from the 80s as I'd stayed in very nice capsules in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hiroshima before. They just had hanging drapes and didnt seem too private as other capsule hotels have roll down blinds that can lock. The atmosphere was just very dingy. I went over to the lockers and they were only wide enough to hang your clothes, not put my backpack in there. Everything was telling me just to leave. This place was not safe, nowhere to put my stuff, and worst of all, nobody was staying here. I went to the bathroom just to look having already decided I wasnt staying. It had black tiles and a small light bulb to make it appear even darker. There were no spa type bathing facilities, just one shower head to be shared by everyone if more than one person wanted to have a shower, and an open bathtub with no curtain. This is supposed to be a communal bathing area. I forgot to look at how the toilets were in a room on the other side. I just did not feel comfortable staying here. I did not want to get robbed on my last night after a good trip as there was no where to store my belongings when I slept or went in the shower. Most of all I was very put off by the fact that nobody was staying here, despite being on the tourist map at the station and only a few minutes walk away. I was going to try and get my money back, as I had just paid the guy 3000Y ($37.50) but even if he didnt give it back, it was better to write it off as a loss and experience and find somewhere nicer, clean, and safe to stay. At first he didnt understand and thought I couldnt find my capsule, but when I kept indicating no and that I wanted my money back he wasnt happy about it. He was trying to show me something on his Japanese printout about a "no show" which I wasnt, and I was expecting him to keep 10% or more and not give the full amount back. We werent able to communicate with each other but he gave me the 3000Y back although he wasnt happy about it. Thankfully I left, shocked at never having had an experience like that in all my years of travel where I walk out of a hotel after only 3 mins !!!!!! Now I was wondering what am I supposed to do on my last night, when I'm tired, hungry, and supposed to be at the port at 7am??? There were lots of large hotels close to the station but as this was Japan they could be asking upwards of $200 or more for the night. I had no choice and wanted something nice. I went into the first place I saw and had told myself I was going to give myself a budget of 5000Y ($62.50). This was a clean, brightly lit, 80s styled hotel with two female receptionists. They spoke some english and told me surprisingly their room rate was only 4700Y ($60). More reassuring other people were staying here as they were coming to and from the elevator. One front desk lady spoke perfect english and was helping me with the map to work out my route back to the port for my early morning ferry. As I came out of the elevator to my room on the top floor I saw the building had a triangular design. All the walkways were open to the central atrium on the ground floor and open to the sky above with no roof. My room was quite pleasant and just what I needed for a good rest. It was a single room, slightly more spacious than the tight Chisun Hotel I had stayed at on my first nite in Kumamoto. This was only one block away from the terror I had just walked out of There was a desk with a large flat screen tv and typical hotel amenities of kettle and telephone. The bathroom was also quite nice. There was an outer washroom with a sink and electronic toilet. A sliding door led inside to the bathing room. There were two bathing options with a small western style tub or a sit down stool asian style beside. I had a good panorama view of the night skyline and was able to watch the morning sunrise. They even gave me a free bottle of water which is expensive in Japan and I was on my final amounts of cash. It was quite an unexpected turn of events and I still couldnt get over the experience of the capsule. I've stayed in very run down places before, but this is Japan where standards are very high, and presentation is very important always immaculate I would expect something of the standard of the capsule in SE Asia but not Japan where living standards are very high. I am even more surprised that the first hotel was considered 'tourist class'. However, I was very put off by the fact that it was completely empty and it just didnt feel safe. I usually check tripadvisor before making reservations but I made an assumption that being Japan standards would be high. Later when I checked the last english review was in 2009. I wrote an unfavourable review advising people to be careful and not to stay here alone. I wrote a similar review on booking.com where I made the original reservation as they bear some responsibility for the standards of accomodation they are providing. To date they have not published my review. This tells me not to trust hotel booking sites as they are selectively only printing favourable reviews, and to stick with impartial sites like tripadvisor where my review was published in its entirety. There are actually very nice capsule hotels throughout Japan and I've since found a very nice one in Fukuoka close to the station and the ferry port. It has a choice of standard capsule rows as well as more private room type capsules. I'm actually tempted to go back to Fukuoka just to stay here as it seems so cozy and what I was looking for in my capsule experience that night Here is their website with more photos : http://wellcabin.info/gaiyou.html