Love the authentic experience of travelling but want to avoid the budget nature of traditional hostels? A new sort of hostel is emerging - enter the Bunka Hostel in Tokyo.

We’ve seen design hotels and their many and varied boutique iterations – but what about design hostels?

Space Design’s new hotel has been designed to offer the design loving traveller an authentic Japanese experience, without the pratfalls of budget hostel accommodation. Targeted at the ‘flash-packing’ crowd, the cohort of travellers who may enjoy an adventure but also like to indulge in a little luxury, the Bunka Hostel has been imbued with a sense of contemporary Japanese style.

Rather than superficially showcase a cliché collection of stereotypically ‘traditional’ Japanese design flourishes, Space Design opted to have the hostel reflect modern Japanese design ideals and the sensibilities, creating a sense of shared comfort.

An invisible code crafted to have guests experience an imperceptible sense of serenity is present throughout the design of the spaces. Custom-designed bunk beds, much larger than iconic-yet-claustrophobic-micro pods found in capsule hotels, allow guests to indulge in both a sense of traveller charm, and a contemporary level of style, comfort and privacy.

Japanese tiles on walls and floors throughout the seven levels radiate unobtrusive cleanliness and minimalism, recalling Japan’s design and cultural philosophies. Stacks of authentic sake cups in the ground level bar invite guests, the public, and onlookers to peer inside the window to modern hostel style.

Get the specs for this project here.