Darilyn F.
Yelp
I adore old cities and historic buildings but don't love antiquated hotel facilities. Especially beds that need mattress replacement, and older bathrooms that have not been updated. Old cities like Tokyo, are filled with hotels that could use a few updates.
A friend recently told me about this fairly newer hotel that he stayed in last year, in the heart of Shinjuku. Looking at the calendar...this spring ended up being an excellent opportunity to check it out.
Modern, sleek and convenient are the words I'd select to best describe this property. From the moment you enter the first door to the lobby, you felt it. By the time you made your way through the second lobby door you were sure of it. I knew we were going to enjoy calling this place home for the next 9 days.
Base camp here is ideal because it is just a 6 minute walk from the Shinjuku train station , 5 minute walk from the Shinjuku bus terminal & 4 minute walk from the subway station. Exploring Tokyo, easy!
First stop, lobby bathroom. Cool, the door opened to the stall and the cover lifted like a spaceship :)
The check-in process was seamless. I liked the fact that the reception desk staff was not well versed in English, possibly indicating less tourists and more local guests. I don't stay in American hotels in Japan for this reason. The hot hand towels that they greeted us with, were refreshing after a long journey.
The elevator ride to the upper floors was quick. Modern elevators are always nice, this one was roomy by Tokyo standards. A normal elevator has one or possibly two panels of buttons facing the front of the door. This one had four panels, two in front and one on each side. Designed for ease. I also liked the idea that the property was set up to place your room key on the indicator to access the rooms. This property is located in the heart of a busy city so it was comforting to know that you had to be a hotel guest to come up to the rooms. Feeling safe in Japan is definitely not an issue, it's safe. But always nice to know that if you weren't suppose to be there, it wouldn't happen.
Once upstairs, the hall areas are decorated in dark hues, ambient lighting, with a modern feel. Each floor has a vending machine, an ice machine, washer & dryer. No pool or gym.
The rooms are not as large as an American hotel. The bed is new and comfortable. The city views from the rooms are magnificent, great aerials of Shinjuku.
The bathroom is the star of the show. After long days of catching trains, cabs, buses and subways and many, many miles of walking...I loved returning everyday to this strong shower head and deep soaking tub. The long scrub towels reminded me of my grandparents house. The shampoo, conditioner & body bath were of good quality, not necessary to bring your own.
Rooms are equipped with a safe to store any valuables. A refrigerator, which we used everyday when purchasing some of the high quality fresh fruits that the area has to offer. If you need to iron, call the front desk, they will deliver it in less than 5 minutes. It is such a cute compact iron. Complimentary bottles of water & drip coffee pouches were brought to the room daily. Tasty and quite nice. I like strong coffee, this one was medium but we found it a pleasant way to rise!
Another cool feature that I haven't seen in any hotels abroad is that each room comes with its own complimentary smart phone and free internet. Handy for us because we didn't notify our phone provider that we needed internet before we departed.
It was really nice to discover that they placed this phone equipped with unlimited WiFi on the desk. This became useful for navigating our way around to the places we mapped out on our itinerary. Why didn't they mention it when we confirmed or checked in? So it wasn't necessary to pay for International roaming or WiFi charges on our phones after all. An unnecessary added expense and good information to know ahead of time. It ended up being a good thing, that we forgot.
The parking in this hotel was designed for Batman & Robin's bat mobile. It was often fun to watch the parking attendant navigate the efficient use of limited space in a big city.
The breakfast buffet is a separately owned restaurant. Hotel guests are offered the breakfast at a discounted rate. You can also select rooms that include the complimentary buffet. We didn't select to have it everyday but when we did, we found it a pretty awesome thing to look forward to the night before a well needed rest. The food selection offered here is another review on its own!
The cost to stay here depends on your room type but it is moderate. It's not a grand property but perfect if you ever find yourself visiting the area. It's an absolute great find that deserves to be recognized.