Ao’s Skyview Base: Hilltop Stay With Hiroshima City Views
日本語版はこちら → https://ao-happy.net/skyview-base-hilltop-stay-hiroshima-ja/
Ao’s Skyview Base is our guesthouse on a hill in the Koi area of western Hiroshima. It is about five minutes on foot from JR Nishi-Hiroshima Station, yet from the top you look out over the whole city. This post is a plain tour of the place: the view, the rooms, how we share the house, and the steep last stretch of the walk, so you can decide whether it suits your trip.
The view from the hill
The view is the reason this house feels the way it does. From the living room and terrace you see the city spread out below, with the mountains behind it, and on clear mornings you can watch the sun come up over Hiroshima from the terrace.
After dark it turns into a very different picture, with the lights of the city and the buildings around Nishi-Hiroshima below you.
Guests are always happy with photos taken from in front of the house, so please take one while you are here. And if the weather is good, you can see the sunrise!
Inside the house
The house is big enough for a family or a group of friends to spread out and talk without worrying about the neighbors. Only one group stays per day, so you will not share the space with other guests.
Living and dining room
The living and dining room has long tables and plenty of chairs. We provide appliances and tableware, so you can cook and eat at home. There are also several places to eat around the station, a short walk away, including our lunch favorite Okiu.
Tatami rooms on the first floor
There are two connected Japanese-style tatami rooms on the first floor, and together they sleep up to five. Guests sleep on futon, the traditional Japanese bedding laid out on the floor. With five people, up to three share one room.
Coming soon (as of November 6, 2026): we are preparing a private plan where each guest has their own room. A tatami room would be set up with one futon for one person, like the photo below.
Western-style rooms on the second floor
Upstairs there are three Western-style rooms, A, B and C, each for up to two people.
Standard plan: who sleeps where
For small groups, we set up the tatami rooms first. This is what we usually prepare, and the numbers show how many guests sleep in each room. If you would like a different arrangement, just let us know before you arrive.
| Guests | Tatami rooms | Room A | Room B | Room C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 | – | – | – |
| 3 | 3 | – | – | – |
| 4 | 4 | – | – | – |
| 5 | 3 | 2 | – | – |
| 6 | 4 | 2 | – | – |
| 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | – |
| 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | – |
| 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | – |
| 10 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
The standard plan takes up to ten guests.
Private plan: one guest per room (coming soon)
In the private plan, each guest has a room of their own, and the plan takes up to five guests. As of November 6, 2026, it is not open for booking yet.
| Guests | Tatami rooms | Room A | Room B | Room C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 | – | – | – |
| 3 | 2 | 1 | – | – |
| 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – |
| 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
One of your hosts stays upstairs
Either Ao or Rieko stays on the second floor. So this is a stay with a host on site, but you are the only guests in the house. We are around if you need something during your stay.
We clean and prepare the house with care for every stay, and we look forward to welcoming you.
The last 30 meters are steep
We want to be upfront about this. The house is on top of a hill, and the last 30 meters or so before you arrive are a steep climb. These photos show the walk, with arrows marking the way.
If you are traveling with small children, large luggage, or have any concerns about your health or stamina, please look at these photos carefully before you book.
Is this the right house for your trip?
Skyview Base suits people who want to split their time between central Hiroshima and Miyajima, because Nishi-Hiroshima is on both the JR Sanyo Line and the Hiroden tram network. It also suits families and groups of friends who want to sleep in tatami rooms, eat around a big table, and talk in the evening without worrying about anyone else. If you like having your hosts close by to ask about places to eat or how to get somewhere, that is a good fit too.
It suits you less if the climb would be hard for anyone in your group, or if you would rather have a house entirely to yourselves with no hosts on site. For that, we also run Ao’s Retreat Base in Ushita, a traditional house in a quiet residential area, rented out as a whole to one group per day.
Planning your days from here
A simple way to use the location is to give each direction its own day. For Miyajima, take the JR from Nishi-Hiroshima, walk to the pier at Miyajimaguchi, and cross on the ferry. For central Hiroshima, the tram from Hiroden Nishi-Hiroshima runs straight to the Atomic Bomb Dome and Peace Memorial Park, so you can skip Hiroshima Station altogether. If you are arriving by Shinkansen, JR Nishi-Hiroshima is one local train away from Hiroshima Station.
Please remember that the walk home from the station ends with the hill, so plan on carrying less on your day trips. For dinner, you can stop at one of the restaurants around the station before you walk up the hill.
Getting around from Skyview Base
The house is on the west side of the city, between central Hiroshima and Miyajima, so it works for both. Times below are rough estimates: the walk to the station, the ride, and any walking after it. Waiting time is not included.
| To | Route | Approx. time |
|---|---|---|
| Hiroshima Station | Walk 5 min to JR Nishi-Hiroshima Station + JR Sanyo Line about 11 min | About 15 min |
| Peace Memorial Park / Atomic Bomb Dome | Walk 6 min to Hiroden Nishi-Hiroshima tram stop + tram about 18 min to Genbaku-Dome-mae | About 25 min |
| Miyajima | Walk 5 min to JR Nishi-Hiroshima Station + JR about 18 min to Miyajimaguchi + walk about 5 min + ferry about 10 min | About 40 min |
| Shukkeien Garden | Walk 5 min + JR 6 min to Shin-Hakushima + walk about 8 min to Hakushima stop + tram + walk 2 min | About 25 to 30 min |
If you are coming in the fall, our autumn leaves guide covers Miyajima, and we also wrote about Shukkeien Garden.
Check-in is from 15:00 and check-out is by 10:00. More photos and the details are on the Ao’s Skyview Base page.
