Shinshu Kyokai Mission Dormitory

I have lived here three months now. It’s a really nice place to live, if you don’t have any couple, or pet (not that those two are interchangable).
First of all, the room. They have room with lanai, and without lanai. I didn’t measure with a rollmeter, only by footsteps. It’s about 240 sq. ft (no lanai) and the lanai is about 90 sq. ft addition to your room. Since this dorm is strictly 1 occupant per room, it’s quite large. I agree with the earlier reviewer that maybe the rooms used to be for 2 people. For furnishing, I got 1 bed, 2 closets, 1 desk, 1 chair, 1 study lamp, 1 standing fan, 1 carpet, 1 mirror attached to the door, 2 shelves, 1 drawer, 1 bin. If you want, you can put a small fridge (under 4.0 cu. ft) and a microwave inside your room without any additional charge.
If you’re renting one, just make sure you have the one with windows opening to the street or to the dorm’s garden instead of the rooms with windows opening to your neighbors’ backyard. Those neighbors on Young Street can be very loud when they have arguments. They don’t argue all the time, but it’s still a nuisance for me, because my window and my lanai open to their backyard. When they’re calm, ‘though, my room gets really nice.
At days, I got plenty of lights from the glass door that open to my lanai (well, it can get hot around noon sometimes but that’s why you’re in Hawai’i, right?). At nights I would just turn the lights off, open a window next to my bed, and see the skyscrapers of Waikiki. Airplanes would pass above those skyscrappers. Not so bad for a room in an old dorm.
Dorm rule: no couple/​roommate, no pet, no alcohol, no smoking inside the building (you can smoke in the VAST parking lot). It’s the dorm for a Buddhist temple, but anyone can apply in a semester lease.
Rent: $ 600/​mo (no lanai), and add another $ 50 if you want the lanai. Shortest possible stay is 7 days ($ 230/​7days). You can stay in two-​weekly term too ($ ⁴⁶⁰⁄₁₄ days). Prices are current as of 2013.
If you want parking, add another $ 45. There’s a bike rack to lock your bike upon. It’s free, of course, and it’s always crowded. Don’t be deterred by wheels and other remnants of stolen bike still attached to the rack. It’s safe, trust me. Those wheels are good reminder to lock your bike always, anywhere, anytime. Also, the main gate is closed after 10pm.
Amenities: a lot. Free water, electricity, gas, internet. Bathroom is shared and available on each floor. All are cleaned everyday by the old lady who manage the residents. Her name’s Myra and she lives with her husband, Del. They also have a small dog which won’t bother anyone. There’s a living room with a TV on each floor and a sofa, but this being a dorm you can imagine the smell of the sofas, especially on the male floors (1^st &2^nd).
Kitchen is also shared & opened from 6am-​10pm. You get a fair-​sized drawer for your utensils and whatnot, and there’s a big fridge for everyone to use. It’s not too cold ‘though, so I only used it for first couple weeks and bought mine eventually. In the large dining room (fits for about 50 people), there’s a microwave, vending machine, and a pingpong table. The dining room also has a lanai which is pretty cool for a solemn, solitary breakfast.
The internet is accessible from anywhere inside the building, but access from my room is somewhat dissatisfying. There’s a wi-​fi modem on each floor but the one on my floor is barely functioning. Me being a browsing-​freak just can’t stand it sometimes. I have to go to the living room if I want to stream anything. In all the living rooms and the dining room, the speed is quite decent.
Coin-​operated washers and dryers are available near the dining room. There are two of those each. Washer will cost you 5 quarters/​load, and dryer 3 quarters/​load. You can use the drying line, which I do all the time.
Security is good. You need a key to enter the building and another key for your room. Don’t lock yourself out, or you’ll have to ask Myra to open your room for you and you’ll be charged $ 1 – 3 each time, depending on what hour in the day and what day in the week. The gate closed at 10pm each night as I’ve mentioned above, and there’s a gap on the stone-​gate specifically made to pass human and his bike only. I use it almost all the time since I transform into Batman riding Batcycle occasionally.
The dorm’s located just a couple yards from the busy South Beretania + Punahou. You can reach Foodland, which open 24/​7, in no time. If you fancy some walking, within 15 – 20 minutes you can reach Walmart and Ala Moana Center. If you cook/​like East Asian food, you can walk to Asian Grocery in 10 minutes (just after South Beretania + Keeaumoku).
If you have no vehicle whatsoever, don’t worry. Bus stop for Bus 1 and 6 is just across the street, and on Punahou, another bus stop for Bus 5.
All in all, it’s a good deal, this dorm, which is a rare thing in Honolulu. The building may look old, but it’s well maintained and have high overall value.

Oh yeah! This is where I first lived when I was a student at UH. This is the place for affordable rent. There are 3 floors. The bottom 2 for guys, and the top for women. During my 2 year stay, the rent started at $ 410 and escalated to just over/​under $ 500. The price and the website picture made me hesitant to move in here, but it’s well worth it. I would like to talk about this place as it was when I first moved in but that wouldn’t be very beneficial to you readers.
First off, the rooms are very well sized for the price. They are single rooms, but back in the day, I think the rooms were for double occupants. Hence, when I moved in here, there were two desks, and two closets. You can ask to have a desk removed if you want. The rooms are as clean as can be, but I always seemed to have trouble with dust wherever I lived in Hawaii, and this place is no exception. Some rooms have newer curtains, and others not. I just mention this because mine were very sun dried and I felt that if I unhooked them they would stand upright. There’s a carpet over the floor which I found not to my liking. In every room the carpet seemed to be in the same condition which is old and dusty. I ended up rolling it up and putting it in the closet. Overall, the rooms were a welcome relief.
The bathrooms and the kitchen are community shared. There’s also a social area on each floor. Around the time I was leaving, they were finishing up in renovating the showers. You don’t want to know what they were like before this. There’s 4 showers on the second floor and 3 on the first. Take your pick. There are enough toilet stalls here that I never had to wait to use them. Overall in terms of the bathrooms, I don’t know the condition they are in now, but I got by with them. They are cleaned everyday.
I can’t really say much about the kitchen because I never really cooked here. Just used the microwave. It does have everything you need in a kitchen, and there are community refrigerators and pots and pans to use.
The lounge has a TV with cable, and from what I heard newer seating in the area. There’s a laundry area. This is probably the place where I had to wait the most.
A ping pong table and vending machine is in the dining area along with a couple community use computers. I always seemed to experience technical difficulties while using them. I just used the wireless connection that the dorm provided. There’s also more than enough seats in this room.
In term’s of overall cleanliness, this place passes because from my experience they have controlled all cockroach infestation. Inside, I saw one big sucker once but it was dead. You’ll find them outside though. Initially, I had problems with these micro ants that would scout my room, but I never really had any problems with bugs after I wiped down my living area. They seemed to disappear eventually. Just try not to invite them with food laying around. The person to thank for the cleanliness is Myra and her husband. They live at the dorm and they do a respectable job.
In terms of management hospitality, I found them to be nice. If you find a problem with something, make sure you tell them because they will only help fix it if you tell them. Also, at the end of the semester, they have a party to celebrate and some volunteer mission people come and provide free food. Overall, some people think they’re rude, but they never bothered me.
In terms of who stays here, it varies, but when I left there were lots of graduate students. They go to various schools in the area. Some are foreign language students that are there short term to learn English. Not many Oahu locals stay here if any.