Sakura Hotel Ikebukuro

We need a place to rest for the night. The hotel staff are friendly and welcoming. The restroom are furnished with toothbrush and paste, comb, towel. It is an old japanese style hotel. Furnitures are old. No complain as we need a place to rest and continue our journey. A good budget hotel at an expensive Tokyo city.

I stayed in one of their single rooms. The room was okay spacious, quite larger than some new budget hotels. The bed is a double, about 1.4-1.5 meters wide. The front desk staff all spoke good English and provided good instructions. However, that's about it for the good. The overall experience was quite unpleasant, here's why: My room was on the second floor. It seems higher floors are hostel rooms so for 'hotel' rooms, you don't have much choice in terms of flooring. Not that I care about the view or something. It's just the windows were not well-insulated so the noise from the streets can be heard in the room easily on the lower floors. Yes, the hotel in on the inner streets where not much goes on. But remember the hotel has an semi-open air restaurant on the ground. The restaurant actually got quite busy at night. Speaking of noise, even though the ceiling was high, for some reason I can still hear every movement from upstairs - Dragging of chairs, walking, stumping, flushing toilets, etc. This is due to the building being old and materials being thin. The hotel room doors have auto shutting and lock mechanism and it was very loud. Whenever one door is open and shut, it can be heard in other rooms. This made it very hard for me to fall asleep. The door also don't have any insulation either. Every day from 10 to 3 is the cleaning hours. But the cleaning crew showed up so early at 8 am and just stayed outside my room chatting because my room faced the storage room for cleaning supplies. This was bothersome. I was woken up by them and went to get breakfast. For breakfast, you only get toast and coffee. To be honest it was quite plain and not worth my time, so i did not go back the next day. The rooms are equipped with a TV and a fridge. The electrical outlets are under the table only. If you plug your charger there it's easy to forget. It would be better if there is electricity near the bed. The bathroom was very old-looking. hot and cold water have 2 separate nobs and was hard to adjust. There was no hook whatsoever in or around the bathroom to hang towels. I could see there used to be hooks but the was torn down, left a mark, and never replaced. The room felt dirty in may areas. Visible dirt, strange black liquid stains on the wall. I don't understand why they don't clean it. It' not hard to reach. Just looks disgusting. Overall, I did not feel comfortable and did not want to stay one more minute. This was the only hotel in Japan that made me feel that way. I usually get this feeling when I stay in a property in some backwater town in South America or something. I understand this is a budget hotel. However, it should have the price to match, maybe 4 to 5 thousand yen per night. I was charged 22000 Yen for 2-night stay here. And for all of the above reasons, it was a rough first night. The next day, I browsed online with my sleep-deprived eyes and found that nearby 3-star hotels were mostly just 7-8000 Yen per night. So I just booked another hotel, moved out and abandoned my room here.

This is my second time to stay in a Sakura Hotel in Tokyo, but first time here in Ikebukuro branch. Still did not disappoint. I was looking for a value-for-money small hotel that fits my budget and very accessible to Tokyo Dome as I will watch a concert there for two days. This was the perfect choice. It was about 5-6 minute walk from Ikebukuro station, has 2 buildings (1 main and 1 annex). The room was small and basic as with any other Japan business hotel, but it's comfortable and got everything you need nonetheless. They also serve small breakfast with coffee/tea, some toast, some soup, which is fine by me too as I don't often eat breakfast. The staff was very pleasant and kind too, and gave me a discount on overtime fees since I extended my stay for about 3 hours. Planning on staying here again for my future Tokyo Dome concert watching plans. :)

Great hostel, they have group rooms and single rooms available. Staff were very friendly and helpful. Rooms were clean and quiet. My only complaint would be that the rooms were a little old and smelled a little musty but that can't be helped with an aging building. Some reviewera complain about the AC only going down to 20c but I found that still got the room plenty cold. Staff cleaned rooms daily. Location was great, close to convenience store and food. Ikebukuro station is a short walk away and goes anywhere you need. Shout out to Koma, he was such a great staff member. He gave me recommendations for things to do around Tokyo. He also invited me to cook for the hotels international dinner night, I had a great time prepping dinner for them and partying. Will definitely return if I come back to Tokyo.

Check-in was done in a flash, and the hotel clerk was able to preemptively answer all of my questions. The laundry machines automatically add detergent, which was a blessing, and the dryer was more effective than expected. The showers have great pressure and stay nice and hot. The aircon cooled the room quickly, and although the bed was not put together by staff, it took me all of one minute to lay out the sheets and get a pillowcase on the pillow. They have toiletries if you need them, and a vending machine on the lobby. The location is also very convenient if you're coming from Ikebukuro Station. All in all, I would highly recommend this location while travelling.

We stayed 4 nights at the Annex Building. We had 2 rooms and they're cleaned daily. Bath comes with all essentials. Kettle and hair dryer can pick up from the front desk. Staff are friendly and helpful. Allowed us to keep our luggage there before our check in time. There's a nice cafe below our block. 7-11 is just down the road. Pharmacy and Family mart and at the other end. Ikebukuro Station, Sunshine City and Narita Airport Shuttle bus stop are within walking distance. Also, many eateries are nearby.

The Sakura Hotel is best at its price in Tokyo and is easily accessible from every where and just 5 minutes walk from the Metro station.The staff is very professional and provide you all information needed to make your stay comfortable. They have a large Cafe Restaurant and best thing is the Lounge Kitchen at the Dormitory floor which is very well equipped The Dormitory beds are of steel frame thus is not very comfortable and makes noise for the lower occupant.

I appreciate Sakura only because they consistently offer longer term rental options in Japan. Beyond that, Sakura Hotel Ikebukuro is an absolute disregard for basic human standards. I’m aware of the discrimination faced by gaijin, but no one should have to pay to stay in such filthy, moldy conditions - not even for a single night. It’s shameful that anyone allowed this room to be rented out in that state. Giving two stars just for the lovely staff. Anything else about this establishment does not deserve any.

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.