Sakura Hotel Ikebukuro

It’s not luxury but affordable and VERY clean. Air conditioned and rather quiet too. No complaints at all if you’re looking for a low cost place to stay that’s central and has amenities in the area. Very close to Ikebukuro station, a major node in the public transportation system. Staff is super friendly and helpful. Laundromat on site that includes detergent. I’d stay here again if I’m looking for a no frills option. As for the breakfast it’s not worth it. Better (albeit more costly) coffee shops around. Lots of restaurants too.

I am very happy to have our stay at Sakura Hotel. I had booked 3 nights in a private room and 1 in a dorm. 5 stars for the room. Especially, with this price you can’t complain :-). The air in the dorm was not fresh and the smell was freshly put of Sox was disturbing. But it was not the hotel management’s fault of course. For one night it was ok for me. Also 5 stars for the service and courtesy:-). The highlight was the free sushi workshop organized by Japanese food and culture academy. Location is very good and easy to reach. Only some minutes from Ikebukuro station (west exit). Highly recommended:-)

This is a wonderful, budget friendly option in Tokyo. The room is small but we were only ever here for bedtime so we didn’t need much space. But they provide so much! Robes, disposable slippers, toothbrushes with toothpaste, combs, razors! We had a tiny fridge that we could keep drinks we bought from the neighboring 7-11 in as well! We also made good use of the on site washers and dryers after walking around in the rain and humidity. And the currency exchange machine in the lobby made it quick and easy for us to get yen on the go…the hotel location was just a quick walk away from the ikebukuro station as well, very convenient! The cleaning staff always made the room feel so fresh every night we returned too. We would love to stay here again next time we visit, it is a perfectly fine and affordable place to stay if you don’t need the extra frills that come with the more upscale places. Arigato, Sakura Hotel!!

Clean and good location hotel. It’s just that when I checked in, my bed was already used. Bedsheet, comforter and pillow were already used. Not sure whether they forgot to prepare my bed or someone used my bed. So i had to take new and clean set from another bed which was not occupied.

We really enjoyed our stay at Sakura hotel in Ikebukuro. Our double room was comfortable and had everything we needed. Breakfast across the road was the hotels restaurant which included toast and soups, with unlimited tea and coffee. The restaurant also did really tasty food for lunch or dinner. We also were offered a complimentary sushi making lesson for being guests at Sakura - it was a great way to spend a couple hours and we were well fed at the end of our lesson! Thank you again for a comfortable stay!

Second time living in Sakura Hotel when I travelled to Tokyo this time. Because of the good location at ikebukuro, I choose here again. It is so convenient to travel from ikebukuro to other areas in city since many subway train lines are here. Here is very comfortable for solo traveler! This time hotel provided slippers for customers. Good improvement!I will live here again for my future Tokyo trip!

Nice room. Convenient location near ikebukuro station. Average breakfast - basically just toast and coffee - but would stay there again.

|"We are from Canada, and my wife and I stayed at 'Sakura Hotel Ikebukuro' in Japan for five days. Our experience was excellent! The rooms were cleaned daily, and the entire place was well-maintained. The staff were incredibly helpful and friendly, always ready to assist us with anything we needed, including warming our food. The location is very convenient, with the subway and various amenities just a short walk away. We highly recommend this hotel for a comfortable and hassle-free stay!"|

A few people have asked where I stay when I go to Japan, since I stay for a longer duration than most vacationers. I am still not as confident as my other friends who do AirBNB, but they tend to stay for short durations 1-2 weeks versus 3-4 weeks that I do. In Tokyo, I found that Sakura Hotel & Hostel which has five locations in Nippori (near Yanaka), Ikebukuro, Hatagaya (Near Shinjuku/Harajuku and is Muslim friendly as it has a Muslim prayer room), Jimbocho (which I wrote about in 2015) and Asakusa (a backpackers hostel). In 2016, I chose to stay at a Sakura Hotel & Hostel in Ikebukuro. As much as I love staying in Jimbocho, considering that it is near Tokyo Dome, there were two major reasons why I decided to go to Ikebukuro. The primary reason is that your hotel room in Ikebukuro has a bathroom inside your hotel room, the one in Jimbocho does not. It's a shared bathroom. The second reason is that I wanted something with easier access to the Yamanote Line, the line the train line that encompasses Tokyo, so its much easier to travel. Sakura Hotel & Hostel in Jimbocho is near Jimbocho Station, which is the metro. And riding on the subway, you'll learn that carrying luggage through steep stairs can get a bit tough. Those are the primary reasons for me choosing Ikebukuro and also, Ikebukuro is a much more livelier area as Jimbocho is more peaceful (as it's known as a city for its book shops, thus the name "Book Town"). When arriving to Sakura Hotel & Hostel in Ikebukuro, you will noticed two buildings. One is where the check in and laundry area is located and the other where the cafe is located. Both buildings have hotels and you will stay at one or the other. What is convenient about Sakura Hotel & Hostel Ikebukuro is that Ikebukuro Station (West Gate) and the JR Yamanote Line inside the station is not far from the hotel. You also have several 7-11 convenience stores (great for money withdrawals), including a Family Mart and Lawson nearby. Also just to the left of the hotel is a pharmacy and numerous places to eat. It's very convenient. And your room is cleaned (around 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.), where you will find new towels each day. One time I dropped something under the bed and couldn't reach it, to find the item on top of the table as housekeeping, I suppose when they check under the beds, were able to retrieve it. They do provide you with slippers and one large towel, one medium size and two small. And you get two pillows. The place is quite convenient and clean and sure it's not a four star hotel, but for those on a budget and just want a room that is clean, private and just all you need for your travels, Sakura Hotel & Hostel Ikebukuro is definitely worth it!

This place is a hole. I'm not sure how much more I could hate this hostel. I had 14 emails back and forth with the staff, insuring me 4 friends and I could stay together in the same room. When we arrived they said they'd have to split us up. I would never have booked if we couldn't stay together! They kept 4 of us together until my other friend arrived, shuffling us around 4 times to disgusting rooms that were smelly, dank army barrack type rooms with metal bunks and no privacy curtains. On the second night the man above me coughed all night, rattling the shaky bunk bed. 4 out of 5 of us got sick from the disgusting conditions. When I was lastly moved to a "room" with my last friend, it was a right triangle stuffed with 2 bunk beds, no room to walk or open your suitcases between! No wifi could reach it and it never seemed to get dry, smelling perpetually damp. We tried to wash our clothes once but the dryer could not even dry them after over 4 hours! The 300 yen "breakfast" across the street is just toast, you're better off getting something delicious at the 7-11 on the corner. There's no lockers to keep your belongings safe and no common room to hang out with friends other than the dated small lobby next to the desk. There's not enough showers or restrooms on most floors either. If I could g be this place negative stars, I would. Spend your money on somewhere nicer you can sleep in peace and not come home ill, you'll be glad you did!

LOCATION: This place is in a great location! Really close to plenty of restaurants, bars, etc. STAFF: The staff is really friendly and speaks English. I stayed in a double bed with three friends, which we didn't have trouble with. The only issue is that we had expected a different setup. ROOM: You have the ability to turn the fan and air conditioning on. The beds aren't the most luxurious, but definitely enough to rest your head after a long day. I would suggest only bringing a carry-on sized suitcase as it is easier to fit under the bunks and conserve space. UTILITIES: There are two men's restrooms and one women's restroom. There are three showers that each offer shampoo and body wash. (Many travels seem to leave their delicate belongings in here, even though the hostel indicates they will be removed.) They provide disposable paper towels and a few sinks. The kitchen area wasn't used, but it's available. BRING A TOWEL, you have to rent them for 100 yen here. You also have to set your own bed and bring the sheets down after your stay. OTHER: Check out is by 10am. The restaurant across the street which is part of the hostel offers a VERY limited breakfast. Toast, jam, and a soup. Coffee isn't bad.

This is a review for the mixed dorm. Avoid at all costs! Going to start by saying that I understand that this is a budget hostel. However, I've stayed at many other hostels (including in mixed dorms) in Japan, and for the same price, I have gotten much better accommodations. The only positive thing I can say is that their location is good (right next to Ikebukuro station, and an airport bus stop that goes straight to Haneda airport), and the staff are all fluent in English. ...which is actually more frustrating because the way our group was treated wasn't due to a language barrier or misunderstanding. We booked months in advance. My friend contacted before booking that we had a group of 5, but one person would arrive a few days later. After several emails, the hostel confirmed that we would all be able to stay together, provided that we move rooms once in the middle of our stay. We thought we were all set, and booked with them. When we arrived to check in, we were flat out told that it was impossible for us to stay together and that we would be separated into 3 and 2 different rooms. Because our 5th person was coming in later, than meant that 3 people would be in one room, and 1 person would be alone in another until the 5th person arrived. Even though we brought up the fact that we arranged everything in advance and tried to show them the emails, they were adamant that there was nothing they could do. Because we didn't want one person to be alone, the staff eventually backed down and said that if we were willing to change rooms THREE times during our stay, the 4 of us could all stay together until our 5th person arrived. Resigned, we headed upstairs where we discovered that each of the mixed dorm rooms on the floor had EIGHT BEDS. People were constantly leaving and there should have been more than enough beds to accommodate our group of 5. In retrospect, I now believe that instead of being unable to accommodate our group's very reasonable request, they were unwilling and couldn't be bothered to try. The rooms themselves are very cramped and run down. The beds were metal rods and squeaky. There were holes in the walls - at one point, the circular grate in the wall fell out we just had a giant hole. There was no space for storage or to put your suitcases. If you were in a bottom bunk, you could open your suitcase flat and it would barely slide under the bunk. If you were in a top bunk, you could try to shove your closed suitcase into a crevice between the bunk and the window. The "hallway" between the beds was barely big enough to open a suitcase in - and when you did, no one could walk around it to get out of the room. The doors also slammed very loudly and anytime anyone left the room, we were woken up by the slamming door. The rooms were also badly ventilated. They had a ventilation fan, but even with it running full tilt, the room smelled musty at best. Also, due to the amount of people crammed into the space, it usually smelled of BO. The blankets were also dirty. We saw a staff literally dragging it across the floor, before tossing it up into a newly made bed. The sheets were clean at least. This might not matter for some, but as a woman, I feel the need to post about it. Most of the people staying in the mixed dorms were men - some of them walked around in their underwear and were not always mindful about space, including sometimes sitting in our beds or hanging their underwear up in the shared space. It was a very uncomfortable atmosphere and we had to constantly remind the other roommates to keep to their own space. One roommate made sexual advances on me and my spouse, but I felt that we were unable to bring it up to staff because they were so unaccommodating to begin with. Thankfully, the only perk of our many forced room switches is that we got away from him. As a result of being in an unclean, cramped, and uncomfortable hostel, we ended up leaving early every morning and staying out as late as possible. While we ultimately had fun in Japan, our time in Tokyo was truly exhausting due to not being able to rest or relax at Sakura hotel. As an added bonus, all of us left the hostel with a terrible cold - probably due to the cramped conditions and added stress.

The hotel is conveniently near the Ikebukuro station and for the price they offer very affordable. The rooms are small and simple but clean and also get cleaned everyday. They have a restaurant on the first floor which is always full of people and seems really popular with the local people. I did not opt the breakfast buffet but I did once have yummy hawaiian pancakes there. The staff is friendly and give out 24h, 48h or 72h metro tickets (not applicable for the Jr Line though). The wifi worked fine but was slower in the evening when everyone seemed to use it. We washed our clothes in the laundry room for around 200 yen but I can't really recommend it because they smelled like chlorine afterwards and were still damp after the dryer. There are a lot of options near the hotel (7/11, restaurants, bars, shopping malls..) so you will never get bored or hungry in Ikebukuro!

This place is great if you are looking for a no-frills hotel. I am pretty low maintenance and traveling solo so I only needed a place to rest my head that was clean, safe, and in a good location! The staff (like many people in Tokyo) are extremely nice and helpful. They let you know all about the hotspots and helped me find all the places I needed to go to. It's right up the street from a station so it's at a good location and not far at all from where all the action is. Plenty of places to eat and shop at nearby as well! Rooms are not huge but I didn't feel cramped at all! You're on vacation anyway so you should be out and about most of the time. The breakfast is very low key but it's fine for something light. Today is my final day here and I am excited to try a real traditional Japanese breakfast at a nearby place they recommended!

I posted this review to Trip Advisor and it was rejected. Please be wary of them and their reviews. This is my honest experience. Pros: Location is good, staff speak English, and housekeeping cleans daily.  Cons: Friends and I were traveling as a group of 4 with another friend joining us later. Reservations were made months in advance and we were told we could stay together and our friend could join us later. We might have to move rooms but that was something we were willing to work with if it meant we could be together. Well, none of that happened. We were moved several times, for no real reason, and in the end we had to be split into a group of three and two. No attempt at compensation was made. Walls were thin (we heard people snoring through the walls and doors), beds were uncomfortable, there were holes in the walls, hardly any space to store luggage, rooms were not sercure (if you wanted to keep things safe you had to haul your luggage down to the lobby every time you left and the staff felt pretty indifferent) everything smelled bad unless the fans were on and windows constantly open. Dorms were mixed sex and my spouse and I were hit on by a creepy foreigner. Nothing happened, but I did not feel comfortable. At one point a staff person came in to our room at 7am to change sheets on an unoccupied bed. She was dragging them on the ground as she walked in, and woke several ppl up.Our cards were deactivated during our stay accidentally. I feel that this place is advertised to Japanese people as a crash pad as the only JP ppl we saw were salarymen and it's falsely advertised as a "international hostel" to foreigners. The salarymen were very kind and nice, but it was still very clear that there were no young Japanese travelers. For the amount my friends and I spent each night combined (approx $150) we could have done far better. Never going to this place again. One more thing: There were very little space to relax outside of the dorms and the dorms themselves were very small and cramped.

We have a double bed on the third floor. The room is small but clean. I appreciate the floors and bathroom are cleaned daily. The location is awesome, the area is not too crazy busy. Lots of restaurants nearby. Minutes from the train. The staff are polite. No complaints if you are on a budget.